Welcome to Westgate Academies Governance section. 

Please find below details of how our Governing body is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

At Westgate Academy we are blessed with a very talented and dedicated team of supportive governors who have a broad range of skills. The headteacher of the academy is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school. The role of the Governing Body is to provide strategic management, and to support and challenge the work of the headteacher and other staff.

The Governing Body play an important role in monitoring and evaluating school performance and ensuring rapid progress is being made towards our improvement priorities. 

Our Governors play an active role in monitoring and evaluating in school. This usually involves  learning walks, lesson observation alongside the senior teaching staff, attending pupil profile data analysis meetings, pupil interviews and school visits. Many governors also attend Parents Evenings, School Productions, as well as supporting other functions within school, including Maths Day, Creativity Day and our Family Breakfast. All of these activities enable them to gain a real perspective of our school, and allows challenge to take place. 

Annual targets are set for the school's performance and for the headteacher's, as well as ensuring teaching staff have performance related targets. 

As an Academy, the role of the Governing Body in ensuring financial stability is paramount. Academies are provided with an allocated budget directly from the Education Funding Agency, and this covers costs such as staff salaries, school running costs, maintenance and equipment. The Governing Body is responsible for managing this budget effectively and ensuring best value. They can decide how many and what types of staff to employ, which equipment to upgrade or replace and what the priorities are for implementing new strategies and initiatives. Every decision made is to ultimately improve the outcomes for our children, and ensure our school is driving towards rapid improvement. 

We are very fortunate as an Academy to have such a great breadth of expertise of Governors, all of whom share the common aim of ensuring that Westgate Academy provides a stimulating and challenging curriculum and enriched experiences for its pupils.