Governance
RSD is a Voluntary Grammar school and the governors are responsible for all aspects of the school. The governors are the employers of all members of staff and responsible for carrying out all the statutory duties and responsibilities demanded of other grant-aided schools.
In addition, they are responsible for entering contracts, arranging services, ordering materials and equipment, insuring and protecting members of staff, buildings, facilities and equipment, dealing with financial issues as they arise and undertaking the duties described in the foundation documents.
The fact that the governors are the owners of the school and required by their foundation documents to promote the values on which they are based, gives them a profound sense of trusteeship and engagement. Many governors have strong personal and family links with RSD and are wedded to the fundamental values and principles of the school.
A Voluntary Grammar school has a larger degree of autonomy in terms of the governance of the school compared to many other sectors. The governors are individually and collectively accountable for the management of the school’s finances and, as such, they monitor the use of available resources carefully, to ensure funds are used to the best effect and in accordance with the principle of ‘best value’. Governors’ autonomy as employers and managers of their own resources, plus their affinity with RSD, makes them well-placed to respond swiftly and flexibly to change.
The Full Board of Governors meets four times a year to set the strategic direction for the school and to review progress. Much of the work is then taken forward in sub-committees throughout the academic year. These are:
- Executive
- Finance, Salaries & Audit (FSA)
- Grounds & Premises
- Admissions
- Teaching Appointments
Governors’ commitment to RSD is unstinting and in recent years they have invested in a broad range of infrastructural improvements, a full refurbishment of Boarding and the extension of both the curriculum offer and the extra-curricular life of the school.
| RSD Governors | ||||
| Ven. Andrew Forster (Chair) | Dr Glenda Walsh (Vice Chair) | Mrs Judith Anderson | Mrs Karen Bain | Mr David Browne |
| Dr David Burnett (Headmaster) | Mr John Eddie | Mr Robert Eitel | Mrs Rowena Emerson | The Very Rev Kenneth Hall |
| Mrs Rowena Emerson | The Very Rev Kenneth Hall | Mrs Yvonne Halliday | Mrs Ethne Harkness | Mrs Glenda Leonard |
| Lord Ken Maginnis | Dr Derek Maguire | Mrs Linda McDonald | Mr Howard McLean | Dr Harold McNeill |
| Dr Harold McNeill | Mr Roger Patton | Dr Philip Steen | Rev Alan Thompson | Mrs Joanne Williamson |
| Mr John-George Willis | ||||
| Parent Governors | ||||
| Mr Keith Black | Mrs Tracy Boyd | Mrs Barbara Curran | ||
| Teacher Governors | ||||
| Mrs Wendy Chambers | Mr Keith McGuinness | Mr Iain Wilson | Mr Richard Clingan (Deputy Head, non-voting member) | |