Goonhavern Primary School Governance Statement

2023-2024

The last school year has been as busy as I can remember from my point of view. A highly successful Ofsted visit and report ratified the Governing Body’s belief that Goonhavern is a superb primary school and one which I am proud to be part of. There are always areas of improvement to work on, the inspectors were able to outline a few areas on which to focus which started immediately.

My subsequent focus and energies were then largely taken up by the recruitment process for a new Headteacher. I am delighted that we were able to secure the appointment of such a dynamic, caring and insightful leader in Mrs Hatch. The Governing Body have complete confidence in Mrs Hatch’s ability to lead us through the next academic year; we are lucky to have her in our school community.

As I write we are in the process of electing a new parent governor. New ideas and experiences in the Governing Body are always welcome and I look forward to seeing a new face around the table in the near future.

Richard Morse
October 2023

2022-2023

I am delighted to confirm the recent additions of 2 co-opted governors to our Governing Body, this will take us to a full compliment. Our 2 new members will bring a wealth of educational experience to our board and they are most welcome. 

It is a real pleasure to be fully back into “in-person” school monitoring visits rather than the virtual world we have been so used to recently. This essential role of governance allows oversight into specific areas of the school’s performance and is, in my opinion, much richer for taking place at school where we can get a true feeling for the environment at Goonhavern. 

I am satisfied that our budget is being appropriately allocated and utilised. I am very grateful for the chairing of the Finance, Staffing and Buildings committee by Mrs Adele Bull who leads direct oversight of this area of our Governance responsibilities.

Richard Morse
October 2022

2021-2022

The Governing Board of Goonhavern School continues to provide oversight of the strategy and ethos of the school together with ensuring robust financial scrutiny of the budget. This has continued throughout the pandemic with virtual visits from Governors together with in-person school monitoring visits (when allowed), where individual Governors meet with teachers and pupils to assess areas of the curriculum they are responsible for. Additional funding from the government related to the pandemic has been carefully and appropriately spent with excellent progress in reading as a result.

I am proud to lead a team of volunteers who care about the education and welfare of the pupils at Goonhavern. We are always on the lookout for new members of the Governing Body; if you know of someone (not a parent of a current pupil) who may be interested in finding out more then please get in touch via the school.

Richard Morse
February 2022