Welcome to Long Field Academy. We became an Academy on 1st September 2012. Since that time we have taken every opportunity to keep the Academy under review, joining Spencer Academy Trust (SAT), on 1st May 2015. The benefits of our links with SAT are mutually advantageous for all parties; Governors, senior leaders and staff are linked with other secondary schools and primaries for sharing learning, school improvements and new government directives. Our students visit and are proud to be linked with other secondary schools.
What ofsted said about the governance of the school, february 2016
- "The governing body has a good range of skilled and experienced members. They hold school leaders to account for how well the school is doing and have made a good contribution to the improvements made."
- "The governing body receives regular updates on the school. They have checked the effectiveness of the use of pupil premium funding for disadvantaged pupils and the catch-up funding for pupils who need additional support in Year 7. This has contributed to the improvements that have been made in these areas. They understand that there is more to do in order to ensure that all these pupils make enough progress."
We welcome in-year applications from parents interested in visiting the school to find out if their child might benefit from studying at Long Field. We have welcomed some 'new' additions to our school community this year who will also be pleased to see you. We think you will be pleasantly surprised and inspired as are our students.
I would draw your attention to the feedback section on our website which you can access by clicking here. Alternatively please contact me through the school on 01664 561234 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I look forward to meeting many of the parents, students and friends of Long Field Academy during this next academic year.
Debi Williamson
Chair of Governors
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Long Field Academy Governors |
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Debi Williamson |
Chair of Governors (Appointed 1 April 2017) |
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Alan Jones |
Vice Chair of Full Governors and Chair of the FRHP Committee (Appointed 1 April 2015) |
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Parent Governor and Chair of the QSTLS Comittee (Appointed 1 April 2015) |
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Parent Governor (Appointed 1 September 2017) |
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Staff Governor (Appointed 4 November 2015) |
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Bernadette Smith
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Staff Governor (Appointed 1 September 2017) |
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Community Governor (Appointed 1 July 2017) |
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Community Governor (Appointed 1 September 2017) |
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Maria Bradley |
Clerk (Appointed January 2017) |
The Long Field Academy Governors aim to provide, together with our community, a centre of excellence with quality learning and teaching provision for all our pupils. All Governors were appointed by the Directors of The Spencer Academies Trust on the 1st April 2015 for a term of office for 4 years. There is a scheme of delegation between the Trust and the school which outlines our constitution and level of delegated functions. Together We Succeed.
Long Field Academy will, without excuse or compromise, provide the best rounded education to all of the young people in its care.
Governors envisage this being carried out through:
○ Outstanding learning delivered through outstanding teaching.
○ Constantly challenging all aspects of school life to ensure best practice is always prevalent.
○ Engaging parents in their child's education
○ Ensuring that statutory responsibilities are enacted by agreeing policy and monitoring its implementation.
○ Ensuring financial responsibilities are adhered to and using external audit to monitor this responsibility.
There is a scheme of delegation between the Trust and the school which outlines our constitution and level of delegated functions. This can be found in the documents section below.
our committee structure
As well as the Full Governing Body meetings we have two Committees which are the main conduit for the work of the Governors. The Committees are:
○ Quality of Standards, Teaching and Learning and Safeguarding
○ Finance, Resources, Health & Safety and Personnel
Details of Governors on Committee is given in the document section below.
When do we meet?
The Full Governing Body meets twice during the Autumn term, and once for Spring and Summer terms. Our Committees meet at half-termly to discuss particular matters. Dates of our Committee meetings are also given in the documents section below.
WHat do we actually do?
During each academic year, Governors will conduct monitoring visits to see how the overall performance of the school is doing. During these visits, Governors get the chance to speak to staff and students and see the school in action. Our Governors are also invited to attend a range of school celebration events, other productions and community events.
the department for education's core functions for a governing body are:
The DfE’s Governance Handbook was last updated in January 2017. Learn more here.
The DfE also launched in January 2017: ‘A Competency Framework for Governance’. This document outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for effective governance, but in brief can be shown as:
IN ADDITION, WE:
○ Provide a strategic view of the school by establishing a vision and setting the purpose and aims of the school within an agreed policy framework.
○ Appoint and conduct the performance management of the Principal.
○ Agree the school's improvement strategy, which includes setting statutory targets with supporting budges and staffing structures.
○ Monitor and evaluate the work of the school by reviewing the performance of the Principal, the effectiveness of the policy framework, progress towards targets and the effectiveness of the school improvement strategy.
○ Sign off the self-evaluation process and respond to Ofsted reports as necessary.
for the spring term 2017, we will be focusing on:
○ Our statutory duties and strategic planning including progress against school priorities; reviewing admission arrangements and a range of policies.
○ Tracking the progress being made of all our students in terms of our expectations and targets, across all the year groups and with different groups of pupils;
○ The school’s processes for reviewing the safety, behaviour and personal development of students including attendance;
○ Reviewing Stakeholder views;
○ Starting the planning process for next year's budget looking at the staffing structure needed to develop a broad, balanced and appropriate curriculum to meet the needs of our students.
During the autumn term 2016, we focused on:
○ Our statutory duties and strategic planning for the forthcoming year including elections, reviewing terms of reference and confirming our monitoring framework;
○ 2016 Performance Information/Data – looking at how our students did compared to national expectations.
○ The school's strategy for the use of the forthcoming Pupil Premium, Year 7 Catch Up Funding and Special Educational Needs/Disability (SEND) Funding that the school receives;
○ Progress towards priorities identified in the School Improvement Plan’s – ensuring our strategic direction and school priorities are accurate and reflect data and stakeholder views.
○ Ensuring that performance management and appraisals were conducted for all staff.
○ Reviewing the finances for the school.
○ Reviewing safeguarding arrangements.
We discussed a range of other ongoing themes such as Health & Safety, Policies and determining our role in external reviews such as Challenge Partners.
Chairs Development
Our Chair meets with other Chairs in The Spencer Academies Trust and provides a feedback report to the Directors of the Trust on the work of the LGB, including celebrations and challenges. This network provides the opportunity to find out what's new and what the expectations are on Governors going forward – both from the Trust, Government and Ofsted. Our Chair has completed the Leadership Development Programme for Chairs.
Governor training
Since September 2016, the following Training has been undertaken by one or more Governors:
○ Safeguarding including the Prevent Duty, Female Genital Mutilation and Safer Recruitment.
○ Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) – to keep abreast of latest legislation.
○ Induction - Effective Governance - which is an induction/refresher on the role of school governor.
○ Inspection Dashboard - how to interpret the performance data.
○ Preparing for an external review/inspection.
○ Conducting a School Visit.
○ Health & Safety – the role of Governors.
Membership
The Trust has supported our school with memberships to the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Freedom and Autonomy for Schools – National Association (FASNA) networks to ensure that we are as up-to-date as possible with any changes in policy and/or legislation in school governance.
clerking
Maria Bradley, our Clerk joined us in January 2017. Maria has access to a range of Trust support as well as the Trust network of Clerks who meet regularly to share best practice.
Clerking Competency framework
Introduced in April 2017 the new Clerking Competency Framework outlines the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to provide a professional Clerking service to the Governors.
Four competency areas covered in the new Framework are:
○ Understanding Governance
○ Administration
○ Advice and Guidance
○ People and Relationships
The new Framework recognizes the value of professional quality clerks and realises they are critical to the effectiveness of a governing board in fulfilling its core strategic functions.
To read the full framework, please click Pecuniary and Business Interest.
GOVERNORS DOCUMENTATION
○ Governor Members List and Committees
○ Governor Committee Meeting Dates 2017-18
○ Governor Attendance at Meetings 2016-17
○ Pecuniary and Business Interest
○ Qualifications & Disqualifications
○ Register of Business Interests
The new Framework recognizes the value of professional quality clerks and realises they are critical to the effectiveness of a governing board in fulfilling its core strategic functions.