A GROUP of school governors are heading to the capital after being shortlisted for a national award.

The governors of Sir John Barrow School are finalists in the National Governance Association Awards for Outstanding Governance 2017.

A number of governors from the Ulverston primary school are going to the awards ceremony at the House of Commons on Thursday.

They are shortlisted in the Outstanding Governing Board in a Single School category.

The National Governance Association Awards celebrate best practice in governance and clerking. They are held every two years and are open to government-funded schools in England.

Last year Sir John Barrow School gained the Governor Mark National Award. The governor mark is a kite mark, similar to Investor in People and Sports Mark, which provides an external evaluation of the quality of governance.

In a statement, the school's governing body said: "We are very proud to have reached this stage in the competition, which is intended to recognise, reward and celebrate the best of school governance.

"This recognition highlights the dedication of our team to the school, and the commitment of all of our school community to supporting the school and helping us to deliver high-quality education for our pupils. Thank you to all pupils, staff, parents and carers and others who have supported the governing body by engaging with us as we do our job."

The governors said their nomination focused on their three principles of delivering outstanding governance: community and stakeholder engagement - regular and quality communication with staff, pupils, parents and carers and the wider school community; quality information - making sure all of our decisions are underpinned by the right information, using hard data and information from school visits, and by staying abreast of local issues affecting us; the right expertise - strong recruitment and regular and relevant training of governors.

Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governance Association, said: “At NGA we value the commitment and skill of all those governors and trustees who give up their time to volunteer in schools. The collective hours of their voluntary service to their communities makes life better for the children of this country.

"Our finalists for the Outstanding Governance Awards 2017 all demonstrate how good governance and clerking can be. They show how they make a real difference to the achievement of and opportunities for children and young people.

"It takes commitment, skill, teamwork and clarity of direction to do what these people do and we are proud to celebrate them at the House of Commons."