Local Governance

The aim of the Governing Body is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for education and financial performance at the school. The three core functions of the Governing Body are:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff

• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent

The ethos of our school is captured in our motto “Enjoying, Learning, and Achieving Together” and in the REFLECT values: Respect, Enjoyment, Friendship, Leadership, Endeavour, Cooperation, and Trust. 

As governors, we are committed to this ethos, and to making sure that our school promotes British values of equality, freedom, democracy, tolerance, personal responsibility, and the rule of law. 

In addition, we promote and encourage the distinctively Christian character of Pluckley, as a Church of England school. 

Governors are critical friends to the schools’ leadership team. By undertaking regular monitoring of all aspects of school life, we should not only discover progress and achievement, but also lack of progress and underachievement, if and where it is occurring. On this basis we can provide challenge, as well as support, to the senior leadership team, as appropriate. Monitoring visits and regular meetings of the Governing Body are reinforced by regular training and extensive support from TKAT (the academy chain to which our federated schools belong).

Each year the LGB produces a Governance Impact Statement, summarising their activities and achievements over the previous academic year.

Pluckley Impact Statement - 2024-25

There are several categories of governor. Parent governors and staff governors are elected by the parents and staff respectively to offer their particular skills and perspectives. Appointed governors are drawn from other parts of the Pluckley communities to provide connections with the wider world and additional professional skills and experiences, while Foundation governors have particular responsibility for the Christian ethos of the school at Pluckley, and the ‘REFLECT’ values across the school.

We currently have 7 governors:

• 1 Headteacher
• 1 Staff governor
• 1 Parent governor
• 1 Foundation governor
• 3 Appointed governor

Vacancies:

• 1 Appointed governor
• 1 Foundation governor
• 1 Parent governor

Chair of Governors: Mrs S. Simpson, a Foundation governor sharon.simpson@pluckley-tkat.org

Vice-Chair of Governors:  Mrs J. Alexander, an Appointed governor 

Current Constitution for Pluckley

There are five meetings of the full Local Governing Body each academic year. They receive reports on the performance of the school from the Head Teacher, and consider monitoring reports produced by individual governors on all aspects of the life of the school, including pupil progress, attainment, behaviour, and wellbeing, as well as the ethos and values of the school.

The governors are judged by Ofsted, alongside the Head Teacher and her team, for the quality of Leadership and Management at the school.

All governors are volunteers and give up a considerable amount of time in the service of the school.