St. John’s Governing Body works in collaboration with the Headteacher, Head of School and Senior Leadership Team in order to ensure that we provide the best possible education for all our students. All governors are volunteers.

The Governing Body is the school’s accountable body and through our work we:-

All our governors serve four year terms, apart from the Headteacher who remains a governor for the duration of his (her) employment.

The categories of governor are as follows:

Foundation Governors who are appointed by the Archbishop.  Our role, is to ensure that, whilst carrying out our duties as governors, we have the responsibility of assisting the Archbishop by sustaining and developing the Catholic ethos and distinctive Catholic nature of our school. Foundation Governors are appointed not elected. However like elected governors we serve four year terms, at the end of which the Archbishop will decide whether to reappoint us or not.

Parent Governors who are nominated and elected by the parents of St. John’s

Staff Governors who are nominated and elected by the staff of St. John’s

Local Authority Governor who is appointed by the Local Authority (Kent)

Co-Opted Governor who is a person appointed by the Governing Body and who, in the opinion of the Governing Body, has the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

Our governors meet regularly both as a whole body and in smaller teams.

At the six whole governing body meetings we discuss issues that have been debated at the various team meetings, as well as making decisions about a wide variety of matters that impact upon St. John’s. 

The Learning and Development Team consider all aspects of student learning and how best to further it.

Resources Team discusses, and makes decisions regarding, the utilisation of all resources, including staff.

Strategy Team oversees the strategic planning and future direction of St. John’s.

Decisions made by the above teams that have a financial impact are referred to the:

Finance Team who meets to oversee the way in which the school allocates and spends the annual budget.

All data from team meetings is referred to the whole governing body for their consideration, and in some circumstances, voted upon.

In addition to the above we are responsible for staff recruitment and retention, setting targets for student achievement, regulating staff conduct and discipline and drawing up an action plan after an Ofsted inspection.

We also work in pairs, meeting with senior leaders, in order to track the progress of students throughout St. John’s and we have individual governors responsible for all aspects of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), Pupil Premium, Governor Training and Development and Looked After Children.

As well as our formal responsibilities we enjoy attending the wide variety of events that take place throughout the academic year.

Governors are passionate, committed volunteers who seek to act in the best interest of every student at St. John’s.

If you have any questions regarding the working of our governing body, or becoming a governor, please contact either the Clerk to Governors, or me Tony Thomas (Chair of Governors) via the school office.