St John's CE Primary school is a member of the Oxford Diocese Bucks Schools Trust (ODBST) - a Multi Academy Trust (MAT). It is governed by a Board of Trustees ('The Trustees') who are responsible for, and oversee, the management and administration of ODBST and all of the academies run by it; including St John's:

The Trustees are accountable to external government agencies, including the Charity Commission and the Department for Education, for the quality of education provided by its schools. They are required to have systems in place through which they can assure themselves of quality, safety and good practice. As St John's is a Church of England school, the Trustees are also accountable to the Oxford Diocesan Board of Education (the 'ODBE') under the provisions of the Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 1991 and to the trustees of the school site to ensure that the Academy is conducted as a Church of England school.   In order to discharge these responsibilities, the Trustees appoint people who are more locally based to serve on a board (the "Local Governing Body") which has been established to ensure the good governance of St John's. 

The Local Governing Body at St John's is formed of eight Foundation Governors, two Parent Governors, one Staff Governor and the Headteacher. With the exception of the Headteacher, all governors are elected for a four year term of office.  Governors play a very valuable and important role in the support of our school. They meet regularly together and work closely with the Headteacher and the school staff. The responsibility for the actions and decisions of the local governing body lies with the whole governing body not with individual members. 

Foundation governors are appointed by the ODBE, which takes guidance on appointments from ODBST, which in turn takes guidance from the Parochial Church Council of St John's Church, to ensure that the religious character of the school is preserved and developed. Parent governors are elected by other parents at the school. They don't have to stand down if their child leaves the school before the end of their term of office, though they may choose to do so. Parents, including carers, of pupils at the school are eligible to stand for election as parent governors whenever such a vacancy arises. Both teaching and support staff paid to work at the school are eligible to stand for election as a staff governor. The Headteacher is a staff governor by virtue of the office. The Headteacher may choose not to be a governor but will retain the right to attend all governor meetings.

Appointment and Terms of Office

On conversion to an academy within the ODBST on 1st February 2018 all governors terms of office came to an end. They were all appointed as members of the Local Governing Body on 1st February 2018 and it was agreed that the expiry date of the original term of office, prior to St. John's becoming an academy, would be observed to facilitate orderly succession planning. 

Rev (Sqdn Leader) Christina Lacey resigned as a governor on 31 January 2022.  Mrs Sara O'Connor's term of office as a parent governor came to an end on 18 February 2022.  Mrs Ruth Wingrove resigned as a governor on the 2 October 2022.

The clerk to the Board of Governors is Mrs Sarah Penkethman of Bucks Minuting Limited. 

Governor responsibilities, meetings and attendance

Each governor is allocated one or more subject or areas to monitor as set out in the table below.

Agendas and minutes of all governor meetings are available for inspection in the school office.  The table attached sets out the number of Full Governing Body and committee meetings attended by each Governor during the academic year 2020/21 with the number of such meetings they were eligible to attend in brackets.

All governors are required to undertake regular training to enable them to exercise their duties effectively.  This is a vital part of being a school governor and by doing this we keep up to date with the continual developments that are happening across all areas of education provision.