BECOME A PARENT GOVERNOR AT PLYMPTON ACADEMY

 

We are delighted to welcome you and your child to our school community. Our goal is to ensure that your child achieves not only fantastic academic progress, but also has a wonderful experience of school life at Plympton Academy.

Parent governors play a vital role on school governing bodies, holding the unique position of having a parental viewpoint of the school. Through the children, they have first-hand experience of the delivery of the curriculum and this enables them to bring a different perspective to the strategic management of the school.

We currently have a vacancy for a parent governor on our Academy Advisory Board (AAB) which we would like to fill as soon as possible. Parent governors serve a four-year term of office and the AAB on which they sit meets three times per year.

The AAB has a vital role to play in making sure every pupil receives the best possible education. This is achieved by ensuring that governors have the necessary skills and commitment to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. The particular skills that governing bodies need will vary and will include personal qualities and capabilities, such as the ability and willingness to learn and work as part of a team. It is expected that governors will make use of the various training opportunities available to them and play a full part in the work of the AAB.

Whilst previous experience of school governance is useful, this is by no means a pre-requisite for this role as full support and induction training is provided. Most importantly, we seek a parent governor who has a passion for the inclusive education that Plympton Academy provides and is keen to work in a supportive but challenging way with the Senior Leadership of the school, to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality education for children of families in our local community.

If you are interested in becoming a governor and wish to discuss this, please contact Mrs Kathryn Rogers at the school on governance@tsatrust.org.uk.

 

 

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The TSAT Governance Model is different to the way a governing body in a non-academy or traditional school undertakes governance.
Essentially, there are two elements to the governance of the TSAT academies – local governance which is delivered via the Academy Advisory Board (AAB) and regional governance, delivered via the Regional
Governing Bodies (RGB).

There is an Academy Advisory Board for each school and each Regional Governing Body is linked to a
Director or Education a covers a cluster of academies; The Board of Directors is the final decision-making body which sits above the Regional Governing Bodies.

Local Governance - Academy Advisory Board (AAB)

The AAB consists of a group of people made up of Parents, Staff and Community members, with a minimum of 6 and maximum of 9 in addition to the Headteacher. A member of each AAB will be invited to sit on the Regional Governing Body.

The TSAT Board has established five key roles for the Academy Advisory Board:

• To advise/act as a critical friend to the Headteacher

• To advise the Regional Governing Body about local issues they need to consider that affect the academy

• Represent the interest of the Academy community in the running of the Academy

• Represent the Academy in its community

• Provide support to the Principal in undertaking appropriate day to day procedures that are essential to the life of the Academy

The main purpose of these roles is to enable AABs to be able to express and act on local views and issues – views of parents and the community etc.

The five roles translate specifically into the following tasks that the AAB undertakes:

• it acts as a key link between the academy, parents and local community

• it supports the work of the academy in the community

• it supports the Principal and Academy Leadership Team in the development and implementation of the Academy Development Plan and other relevant plans, ensuring that the TSAT ethos remains at the heart of the academy community

• it helps on the ground with the implementation of certain academy policies

• it offers challenging but positive and proactive support to the Principal

• it regularly reviews the academy's performance in relation to the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

Introduction

January 2022 was a significant month for Plympton Academy as we joined TSAT [Thinking Schools Academy Trust]. After a period of consultation, the governors approved moving into this multi-academy trust as TSAT closely aligns with our values and ambitions for the academy moving forwards.

The Academy has seen the development of the site over the last few years: with the new school teaching block and the Michael Morpurgo Performing Arts Centre, we are providing an environment supporting students to become resilient, independent and confident in their learning. Throughout this time the Governing Body has worked alongside staff, students and parents to give students the best opportunities we can, allowing students to reach their own potential.

During the COVID pandemic there have been challenges. The Academy has embraced different ways of ensuring our students have access to virtual learning on-line, which is still being accessed today as the pandemic is still affecting teaching access and provision and flexibility of learning is key.

In order for the Academy and the students to thrive, the governors work to ensure that there is a focus on quality teaching, encouraging positive attitudes and behaviour of the pupils, ensuring that we have equality of provision and sound safeguarding practices.

Anyone interested in finding out more about being a parent governor please email governance@tsatrust.org.uk

 

Regional Governance - Regional Governing Body RGB

The South West Regional Governing Body governs Plympton Academy. For information on the role of the RGB and its members please follow the link here.

 

The Board of Directors

For information on the role of the Board of Directors, members and minutes please follow the link here.