kevicc governors
foundation governors
Page 32
KEVICC Governors –
what do they do?
It’s been a while since there was any
information in The Courier about the
Governing Body at KEVICC and, as
I’ve recently been elected as chair
of governors, I think now might be a
good time to let people know some-
thing about us.
Thereare15governorsat themoment,
occupying different categories in-
cluding parent and staff governors
(who are elected), Local Authority
governors, Dart Valley Learning Trust
governors, and community gover-
nors. Once we become governors, we
do not represent or speak on behalf
of our constituency; we are there as
members of it, bringing our skills and
experience to the governing body.
There is often confusion about the
powers that governors have, and what
they can or can’t do. We are not in
charge of running the college – that
is the job of the Principal and College
staff; however we are responsible for
having an overview of what goes on
in the college, which means that at
KEVICC our focus is:
• To ensure clarity of vision, ethos
and strategic direction
• To hold the Principal to account
for the educational performance
of the school and its pupils
• To oversee the financial perfor-
mance of the school and to make
sure its money is well spent.
Governors are not experts in educa-
tion; we are volunteers (we don’t get
paid) with an interest in the College
,and the time and willingness to be
involved. It is essential to have skilled
governors, and we do undertake
training in various aspects of being a
governor, but the main skills we need
are those to create robust account-
ability, not to do the College’s job
for it. For example, a governor with
financial expertise should use skills
to scrutinise the College’s accounts,
not to help prepare them.
We act as a corporate body and this
means that we are not, as individuals,
allowed to fight a cause on anyone’s
behalf and that we have no power to
act or make decisions as individual
governors – only as a body. Agreed
decisions become the decision of the
whole Governing Body, whether or
not an individual governor voted in
favour of the decision.
Our full Governing Body meets once
a term and there are two committees
which meet termly as well. Our com-
mittees are Learning and Standards
(which encompasses the curriculum,
students, learning, teaching, parent
communication) and Resources and
Finance which has the budget, sites,
buildings and personnel as a focus. It
is through committees and meetings
that we carry out our responsibili-
ties and minutes are posted on the
College website when they have been
agreed.
Communicating with parents is
something the governing body is
aiming to improve. We are updating
the governor pages on the KEVICC
website to include email addresses
and photos, as well as information
about governance. We send a repre-
sentative to meetings of the Parent
Voice (which used to be known as
the Parent Forum) and we analyse
the responses to the annual parent
questionnaire given out on academic
tutoring days. We also are planning to
be more visible at parents' evenings
and other occasions.
If you think there’s something you
think we should be doing – let us
know!
Kate Wilson
Chair of Governors
Foundation Governors –
what do they do?
The Foundation is a charitable trust
that gives grants to the College and
to students who cannot be funded
from elsewhere.
The grants are based both on finan-
cial need and for students with par-
ticular needs. Young carers and those
who contribute to the College or the
local community are given priority.
We have provided funding for tech-
nology equipment; the new football
pitch and books for the year 7 reading
scheme. Students from lower income
families can be helped with up to 50%
of the cost of sports kit, music tuition
and trips. Individual grants include
sport coaching courses; support with
a National Youth Theatre summer
school; a ski trip for a non able-bod-
ied student and the year 7 residential
trip.
We look favourably on projects which
are not only of educational benefit
to the applicant, but which also have
a social benefit – an ex-student who
Year 7
Okehampton trip
has designed a Child's Water Rescue
Aid for a Rural Bangladesh Project
was given a grant.
We encourage students and ex-stu-
dents to 'give back' by coming back
to the College to talk or mentor stu-
dents, or to send updates to us on the
outcome.
More information, and an application
form, can be found on the College’s
website under Foundation Governors.
