The Governors are a diverse group of volunteers, each bring different strengths and skills but all having a common interest in and commitment to the school, its staff, pupils, buildings and the community of which it forms a part.

The Riverhead Governing Body has an Instrument of Government, agreed with the Local Authority, which defines its composition as being made up of:

• two parent governors, nominated and elected by parents of the school.
• one Local Authority (LA) governor, appointed by Kent County Council.
• one staff governor, elected by staff members.
• ten co-opted governors, elected by other members of the Governing Body.

Each Governor is elected or appointed for a four year term and would not be expected to serve more than two terms.  They contribute to all aspects of the work carried out by governors as long as they do not have a personal (business) interest in a particular area.

The Governing Body has deemed that it would like to have one Head Teacher governor, one staff governor and two parent governors on the governing body.  The Governing Body will then co-opt eight governors on account of their skills and what they can bring to the role. 

The Governing Body undertakes its monitoring and evaluation role through small teams referred to as Monitoring Pairs. The make up of these pairs is determined annually and for the finance, premises and pay & staffing pairs, there are formal terms of reference and delegations which are also approved by the Governing Body on an annual basis. Other than the formal pairs noted above, there are pairs who monitor against the School Development Plan targets, across year groups and for specific issues.

There is certain governor business (statutory and other) that must be performed within specific timescales. There is a rolling cycle of such business that the Governing Body plans annually and to that end, Monitoring Pairs meet as and when appropriate to report back on a timely basis to ensure that the school constantly develops and improves.

Lead Governor for Finance: Michael May and Will Swain.

Lead Governor for Health and Safety including Premises: Nic Pocknall and James Turner.

Lead Governor for Staffing and Pay Panel Governors: Karl Fuhrmann and Mark Skinner

Lead Governor for Safeguarding: Archanna Ramu and Sara Fazzin.

Lead Governor for SEND: Karl Fuhrmann and James Turner.

Lead Governor for Curriculum: Tiina Mutru

Lead Governor for Outdoor Provision: Karl Fuhrmann and Mark Skinner.

Lead Governor for EYFS: Karl Fuhrmann and Lesley Lee.

Lead Governor for Wellbeing: Sarah Munns

Other lead governors are appointed to ensure that the Governing Body monitors all relevant aspects of the workings of the school.

The Governing Body also forms working groups to address specific problems.

The Governors are supported in their work by a Clerk to the Governing Body.

The Governing Body of Riverhead Infants' School has two positions for parent governors.

Parent governors are elected by all parents at school to serve a term of office of four years. They must have a child present at the school at the time of the election but they may continue to serve after their child moves on to another school (often Amherst).

Although parent governors are elected by parents and can represent their collective views at meetings, they are not delegates and parents cannot mandate them on how they should vote or what they should say in governing body meetings. 

Occasionally parent governors are approached by parents with individual concerns. In these cases, the parents should be encouraged to speak directly to the Head Teacher.

Riverhead Infants' School full governing body meets six times a year, once a term.  The meetings alternate between 4.00pm and 7.00pm. All governors serve on one or more monitoring pairs. Governors seek to support the Staff and Head of the school through providing advice, support and challenge. This role is strategic and not operational. This enables the Head and Staff to manage the day to day running of the school.

Professional Negligence Statement

Advice given by governors at this school is incidental to their professional expertise and is not being given in their professional capacity.

Confidentiality Statement

Governors should respect the confidence of those items of business which a governing body decides and not disclose what individual governors have said or how they have voted within a meeting.