This final HSS blog of the calendar year is from our new Chair of Governors, Sarah Evans and our Vice Chair, David Mowbray.  David recently stepped down as Chair after over five years of service.  

As we fully bed into the new school year and see Christmas rapidly approaching, we wanted to contribute to the always informative and illuminating High Storrs blog. Over the years we have heard from many different contributors to the High Storrs community: the wonderful and inspiring students, the staff, our inimitable Headteacher Claire Tasker, and our Minerva Trust CEO Bev Matthews. In this blog we wanted to shed some light on the work of the governors at High Storrs School.

At High Storrs, we have a governing body of 15 members who come from all walks of life, all of whom have the common bond of a commitment to and affection for this unique school. Many of us have or have had children at High Storrs. Some governors have been in post for a year or two, and some for a decade or more. 

The role of any school governing body is to play a part in the strategic vision of the school. In practice, for us this means meeting twice a term to talk with school leaders about different aspects of school life: from how works to the magnificent school buildings are going to what learning and teaching looks like for the children; from safeguarding procedures to budget issues. We look at the successes of the school and also talk about a vision for the students, and how the student experience can be improved.

In pre-Covid times, we would undertake school visits to see how life was for students in school, visiting a department in turn and speaking to staff, attending lessons, and speaking to children. We missed these visits very much over the pandemic and are looking forward to being able to resume them soon. They showed us, like no meeting could, the vibrant and stimulating ethos of the school, and were a good way to have open discussions about school life for all students.

No school is perfect, and one of the jobs of the governor is to join in the conversation about how to aspire to and achieve improvements in the experience and outcomes of all students, and these are the conversations that we most relish.  

We try to attend as many school events as possible, so do come and say hello to us at Open Evenings and cultural events – we love talking to parents and students!  

Sarah Evans and David Mowbray

Chair and Vice Chair of the High Storrs Governing Body