Governor Recruitment
We are looking for two parents to join the school’s Governing Body.
Since the dissolution of the Wimbledon Primary Federation, in September 2023, the Governing Body has been required to operate as a ‘temporary’ board. However, we are excited to announce that the Governors are planning to become a substantive Governing Board from September 2024. This presents an exciting and opportunity to put yourself forward as a parent governor.
School governors have a strong focus on three core strategic functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of West Wimbledon Primary School
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and our pupils, and the performance management of staff.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure money is well spent
All parents and carers are eligible to be parent governors. We would also like to ensure that the governing body membership is reflective of the diversity of the parent community. We are particularly interested in recruiting parents who have experiencing of supporting SEND pupils either in their working lives or as a parent. This is to support our increasing proportion of pupils who attend West Wimbledon Primary School with communication and language needs.
No prior experience of being a governor is required and comprehensive training and support is available through Merton’s governor support services. All governors need to commit to attend the six or seven governing body meetings spread through the school year. These meeting are generally held on a weekday morning or, occasionally, in the evening. The term of appointment for all governors is four years. Direct expenses (like travel and childcare) are also covered.
If you are interested in putting yourself forward, then please have a look at the governors’ pages on the school website. Please then think carefully about the skills that you would bring to the Governing Body to support its effectiveness, and outline these in a personal statement on the nomination form (download here).
If only two nominations are received, then both these people will be automatically appointed. If more than two nominations are received, personal statements will be circulated to all parents who will then vote for their preferred governors. After this, there will be an opportunity to join the existing temporary Governing Body as an associate member ahead of the formal appointment to the substantive board in September 2024.
Previous parent governors have found being involved in the strategic governance of the school to be a very positive and rewarding experience. If you would like to have an informal conversation about what is involved please contact:
chris.tregilgas@westwimbledon.merton.sch.uk or steve.coventry@westwimbledon.merton.sch.uk
The deadline for receipt of completed Parent Governor Nomination Forms is Friday 26th April.
These should be returned to the school office via email to school@westwimbledon.merton.sch.uk