About Us

Many people are not clear about what exactly the Board of Governors does. What is our role? What are our responsibilities? If you have ever wondered about these things (or perhaps you are considering becoming a school governor yourself?) read on.

Our purpose

In the Governance Handbook*, The Department for Education describes the role of the governing board as:

[to] provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.

In order to make sure we do this effectively, we have three core responsibilities:

• We need to ensure that the school has a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction
• We need to hold the head to account, while supporting and strengthening leadership
• We need to oversee the financial performance of the school, making sure that money is well spent

A skill-based approach…

These days, selecting new members of the governing board is very much about finding the right people with the right skills. We welcome governors from all backgrounds and walks of life and we believe that a diverse range of skills and experience makes for a more effective board of governors.

We regularly look at our skills and capabilities as a group, and this is an important consideration when we think about our training needs and when considering the appointment of new governors. Governors need many skills, in areas such as finance, strategy and the ability to understand data. No one individual has all of these, and we work as a team.

Our committees

We meet once a term for our main meeting, which includes our termly strategy meeting too. If we have particular short-term projects to work on, we may form small working parties who get together to achieve a specific goal. We have a finance committee who approves the school budget and meets to discuss anything to do with finance and personnel. We also have a pupil progress committee, who look closely at anonymised pupil data. We work closely with the head, who is an essential member of the governing board and is on all committees.

Being a governor is a demanding but rewarding role – it’s a great way to be involved with and give back to the local community. If you have any questions about governance or would like to know more about becoming a governor, come into school and we can arrange to give you more information.

*DfE (2017) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/582868/Governance_Handbook_-_January_2017.pdf

Attendance at Full Governor Meetings (Academic Year 2019 to 2020)

Name: Mr. Mick Cobham.

Appointment: Co-opted Governor.

Current term of office: 01-09-2019 until 31/08/2023.

Committees: Pupil Progress (Chair)

Other roles: Science, KS2, CPD, Training Co-ordinator, Head Teacher Appraisal

Attendance: Can be seen on the governors attendance record below.

Does not sit on any other educational institution governing body.

Has no business and pecuniary interest related to the school.

Name: Mrs J Brown.

Appointment: Co-opted Governor.

Term of office: 01-02-2017 until 31-01-2021.

Committees: Pupil Progress

Other roles: Literacy, SEND, Equality, Funds

Attendance: Can be seen on the governors attendance record below.

Does not sit on any other educational institution governing body.

Has no business or pecuniary interest relating to the school.

Name: Mrs E Mumford.

Appointment: Parent Governor 

Term of office: 18th-12-2017 until 17-12-2021.

Committees: Vice Chair of the Governing Body

Other roles: GDPR, Safeguarding, PSHE

Attendance: Can be seen on the governors attendance record below.

Does not sit on any other educational institution governing body.

Has no business or pecuniary interest relating to the school.

Name: Mrs Karen Grundy

Appointment: Parent Governor and Chair of the Board of Governors

Current term of office: 04/10/2019 until 03/10/2023

Committees: Pupil Progress

Other roles: Looked After Children

Attendance: Can be seen on the governors attendance record below.

Does not sit on any other educational institution governing body.

Has no business or pecuniary interest relating to the school.

Name: Mr Tim Hawley 

Appointment: Local Authority Governor

Current term of office: 10/02/2020 until 09/02/2024

Committees: Finance and Personnel 

Other roles: 

Attendance: Can be seen on the governors attendance record below.

Does not sit on any other educational institution governing body.

Has no business or pecuniary interest relating to the school.

Name: Mrs Justine Wright 

Appointment: Co-opted Governor

Term of office: 02/03/2020 until 01/03/2024

Committees: Finance & Personnel 

Other roles: 

Attendance: Can be seen on the governors attendance record below.

Does not sit on any other educational institution governing body.

Has no business or pecuniary interest relating to the school.