Governance and Leadership
Welcome from the Chair of Governors
It is my pleasure to welcome you to our Federation website.
You may question what is the meaning or purpose of a Federation. The Oxford Dictionary definition of a federation is that it is the result of two or more organisations uniting for a common objective - in this case the benefit of our students.
The Stockton Borough First Federation was formed in April 2006 when the governing bodies of Abbey Hill School & Technology College and Westlands School united. The two schools remain substantially independent in their internal affairs, whilst sharing some common services and management, in particular the Executive Head Teacher and the Governing Body.
The role of the Governing Body is to be the critical friend of the schools in order to raise standards and hence benefit our students. We do this in many ways, but primarily by:
- Setting the strategic direction
- Ensuring accountability
- Monitoring and evaluating school performance
As already mentioned by the Executive Head in his welcome, our commitment is to produce the highest possible outcomes for our students, whatever their individual abilities and ambitions. Currently only 2% of our students obtain employment and besides providing life and social skills, one of our principal goals is to improve this employment rate. We are working to achieve this in a number of ways, one of which is to work in partnership with outside agencies and companies. Perhaps you can help us achieve our goals by formally joining, or working with, our Governing Body.
Please enjoy your journey through our website and if when you reach the end, you are sufficiently enthused to comment or consider joining our quest to improve the future prospects of our students then we would be delighted to hear from you.
Colin Whittaker
Chair of Governors
Stockton Borough First Federation
