Dear Parents and Carers,
On behalf of the Governing Body, I welcome this opportunity to briefly introduce you to the work the Governing Body undertakes to ensure that your child(ren) will receive a sound primary school education.
We are fortunate that our school has all the attributes of a long-established village school and plays an important part in the rural community. Many of our existing pupils have parents and grandparents who also started their education here which means a wide cross-section of local people give their support. Great Massingham C of E Primary School draws a unique strength from its success in fostering a close knit, family atmosphere where staff, pupils, parents and governors work closely together to ensure that all our pupils have the opportunity to develop and reach their full potential.
Graded ‘good’ at the last Ofsted inspections ( Great Massingham December 2018, and Harpley in June 2021) , governors are proud to support this thriving village school and work hard, with the head teacher, to maintain the management practices and policies of the school and ensure that standards are maintained and improved as much as possible. The Governing Body is, therefore, rightly proud of the achievements of the school, not only in terms of good academic achievement but also in the solid foundations it provides in preparing its pupils for the remainder of their formative education.
Our staff work hard to provide the children with a happy and caring atmosphere which prevails in all classes. They adapt well to the constantly changing requirements made upon them to provide a wider curriculum and to ensure the safeguarding of our pupils.
The Governing Body has a range of powers and duties laid down by various Education Acts. In the main, these responsibilities relate to:
• Setting targets and promoting high standards of educational achievement
• Setting the strategic framework within which the school operates
• Management of the school’s delegated budget
• Ensuring that the curriculum for the school is balanced and broadly based
Governors discharge the above responsibilities, together with many others, through two full Governing Body meetings each term. These formal meetings are supplemented by a series of sub-committee meetings dealing with more specific issues. A number of governors also have individual responsibilities within the school such as Special Educational Needs, Health and Safety, Attendance and Safeguarding.
In September 2013, Great Massingham C of E Primary School began a partnership with our neighbouring village school, Harpley C of E Primary School. The Head Teacher of Harpley became the Head Teacher of the two schools. Both schools are Church of England VC schools and both villages are very proud of this status.
Following success of the partnership, the governing bodies of both schools agreed to form a federation. After full consultation with all stakeholders during the Summer Term 2015, the federation began on 21 st September 2015. It is called ‘The Great Massingham and Harpley C of E Schools Federation’.
The Federation means the two schools now have just one Governing Body or Board. By combining the two governing bodies we have been able to draw on a wider range of expertise and put everything on a firmer footing for our two village schools and their future. You can read more about the past year and the work of the Governing Body by reading our Annual Governance Statement. Click here for the Federation Annual Governance Statement
Who are we?
The ‘Great Massingham and Harpley C of E Schools Federation’ consists of a total of sixteen governors categorised as follows:
The headteacher
One staff governor
Two Parent Governors
One appointed local authority governor
One Bishop’s Appointed Governor
Two DBE/PCC Governors (one for Harpley and one for Great Massingham)
Eight co-opted governors