GOVERNORS  NEWS..............GOVERNORS  NEWS............GOVERNORS  NEWS

The Governing Bodies of both the Infant and Junior schools held a joint meeting in St. Mary's Church Hall on Monday 14th September to discuss an issue that all schools and governing bodies are being encouraged to consider very carefully; i.e. the future recruitment and retention of Headteachers and Deputy Headteachers.

This is necessary to our schools as Anna Cumbers, Headteacher of the Infants School will be retiring at the end of the school year in July 2010.

One of the biggest challenges facing all schools is how to attract and retain excellent school leaders.  Recently this challenge has become more pronounced with around 50% of headteachers due to retire within the next 5 years.  In addition, the situation is even more difficult in London as a consequence of the cost of living and the particular challenges associated with London schools deterring potential applicants.

The Government, through the Department for Children, Families and Schools (DCSF) is committed to exploring innovative and successful ways of ensuring that good leadership is secured for all schools.  As such, they expect all Governing Bodies to discuss 'succession planning'and to be aware of the challenges they are likely to face in the future.

We resolved to continue our discussions in further meetings during the weeks and months ahead and will keep you informed of any significant developments in due course.  In the meantime we have decided to form a joint working party made up of governors from both schools in order to explore this issue further.

GOVERNORS  NEWS..............GOVERNORS  NEWS............GOVERNORS  NEWS