Ripon Cathedral School Governing Body

Governor Information

The day to day management of this school is the responsibility of the Headteacher but the Governing Body is responsible for overseeing all aspects of school life and has three statutory responsibilities:

• Setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Our Governing Body has twelve members comprising of the Headteacher and eleven governors, all of whom are volunteers. We work closely with the Headteacher to achieve our shared vision of securing outstanding educational provision which gives every child at the school the best possible start in life.

We are appointed or elected in a number of different governor categories, representing the various groups with an interest in the school. We bring different skills and experience to the Governing Body (associate governors are appointed specifically for the skills they offer) and share a keen interest in the education of the children at Ripon Cathedral School and an enthusiasm to help achieve the school’s vision.

 The Current Members of the Governing Body of Ripon Cathedral School – 2024-2025

(See foot of page for governors who have served in the last 12 month period whose term of office has now ended.)

We have a very structured system for our organisation and arrange meetings accordingly:

1. The Full Governing Body

Meets four times a year (once per term plus a meeting at the start of the year for administrative purposes) to receive and discuss reports and ask questions of the Headteacher, senior staff and fellow governors. Minutes of these meetings (minus any confidential items) are available from the school office if required. 

2. The Curriculum Committee

As with Full Governing Body meetings, the agenda for Curriculum Committee is flexible enough to take into account changing priorities and concerns.  However, the committee regularly receives updates on curriculum and standards, reports on Senior Leadership reviews, and carries out policy review and approval. It also deals with requests from staff; reviews professional development needs and discusses the governor monitoring visits before reporting to the full Governing Body.

3. The Resources Committee 

Again, the agenda for this committee is flexible to take into account changing priorities. However, each meeting includes detailed budget monitoring, both for the current and next academic year, and an update on the balance of the school’s current account. Governors also review capital projects, approve payments, review charging policy, approve the budget management policy, review staff performance procedures and prepare, adopt, monitor and review all staffing policies. They also receive reports on premises which are maintained by GFM (on behalf of the PFI Company). 

The governors ensure financial transparency. In addition to budget monitoring as explained above, they undertake financial benchmarking and complete the Schools Financial Value Standard annually. Please click here for a link to the schools financial benchmarking service.

4. The Distinctiveness Committee 

The Distinctiveness Committee's main focus is the evaluation and monitoring of the impact of the leadership and management of the school as a church school. This includes the extent to which leaders and managers at all levels, including governors, articulate and promote a distinctive vision for the school that is based upon the Christian character of the school. This work includes monitoring of Collective Worship and Religious Education and the preparedness of the school for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools by the Diocesan Education Team, which takes place approximately every 5 years. In our previous inspection (June 2015) we were judged to be a good church school with some outstanding features. 

5. Other Committees

The members of the Staff Discipline, Staff Discipline Appeals and Pupil Discipline committees meet as required. The minutes of these committees are not submitted to the Governing Body and it is sufficient for the Governing Body to be advised that a meeting has taken place. 

Roles outside meetings

To ensure that the Governing Body meets its strategic responsibilities to the school, governors are also called on to fulfil a range of roles outside our meetings including involvement in:

• Recruitment
• The exclusion process
• Fast track attendance meetings
• Health and safety (H&S)
• Policy review
• Accommodation strategy
• Governor monitoring
• Special Educational Needs (SEN)
• Safeguarding 

As part of their induction, governors will be asked to complete information summarizing their availability during the day as well as a skills audit. This is then used to ensure that as many governors as possible are given opportunities to gain experience of a range of roles. In some cases, working parties are set up to focus on particular issues that need investigation or detailed attention, such as changes to the school uniform or a particular premises issue. These groups are made up of governors depending on areas of interest, expertise and availability.

In addition to attending meetings, all governors make regular monitoring visits to the school to meet staff and children and check progress against the school’s plans. We also attend events and celebrations at the school.

We are always keen to hear from parents, carers and others interested in the progress of the school or perhaps interested in joining the Governing Body. If you would like to contact the governors for any reason, or would like more information on how we manage Governing Body business, please write to us at the school (address your envelope to the “Clerk to the Governing Body”).

 Additional Information

Click here to access School Policies

A Guide to the Governing Body Please note the email in the Guide is incorrect, use cofg@riponcathedral.n-yorks.sch.uk Thank you