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Governors

 

Our Governors are interested, proactive and closely involved in the life of the school.

The role of school governors is to set strategic direction, to hold school leaders to account for improving performance, and to make sure money is well spent. They provide the Headteacher with both challenge and support in all aspects of leading and managing the school.

The Headteacher has a duty to report all the significant happenings of the school to the Governing Body through regular committee meetings and reports as follows.

The Full Governing Body meets once a term

The four sub-committees each meet twice a term. They are:

  • The School Improvement and Monitoring/ Curriculum and Ethos Committee (SIMCE) – responsible for setting targets, monitoring standards and ensuring that the curriculum is balanced and broadly based. All curriculum subjects have Governors linked to them so that the Governing Body is kept fully informed.
  • The Resources Committee – responsible for monitoring the managing of the school’s finances, the appointment and performance of staff and the school’s premises. We ensure that within the composition of this committee they have the financial skills to oversee the financial management of the school.
  • Finance Committee – this is a smaller, working party group made up of Resources Governors and associate members to collect and report information for the Resources Committee.
  • The Chairs’ Committee – which comprises the Chair of the Governing Body, The Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher as well as the Chairs of the other two committees and holds an overview of the structure and performance of the Governing Body as a whole.

Other special committees will be formed in the event that they  are needed, such as for disciplinary,  Headteacher recruitment, grievances etc.

Governors are appointed to serve according to various categories:

  • Parent Governors: selected by election and drawn from parents and carers of children at the school
  • Staff Governors: selected by election from teaching and support staff paid to work at the school
  • Co-Opted Governors: appointed by the governing body to represent community interests
  • Local Authority Governors: appointed by the local authority
  • Foundation Governors: appointed by the school’s founding body (the Diocese of St. Albans) named in the school’s Instrument of Government
  • Associate Members: appointed by the governing body to attend committee meetings and/or full governing body meetings due to their particular skills or experience.

There are Parent Governors to whom you can turn if you have an opinion or enquiry to express. If you have a specific problem, it can usually be resolved by first approaching the Headteacher.

Our Governors 2023-24

The term of office is 4 years

Name Category Appointing Body Date appointed + term

date stepped down (where appropriate)

Relevant Business and financial interests

Material interests

Governance roles in other educational  institutions
Anne Pulford

Chair of Governor Body (Elected Oct 2021)

 

Foundation Governor

 

PCC From: June 2019

Re-elected by PCC and Diocese May 2023

To: May 2027

None None
Carolina Davey

Chair of SIMCE Committee

Staff Governor Elected by school staff From: Sept 2022

To: Aug 2026

None None
Rev’d Sarah Forrest Foundation

Ex Officio

PCC From: Oct 2020

 

None Ex-officio Governor at St John the Baptist Primary School, Great Amwell
Teresa Fowle Associate Member

No voting rights

Governing Body From: March 2022

To: March 2026

None
Maureen Freeman Foundation Governor

 

PCC From: Oct 2022

To: Oct 2026

None None
Helen Gillingham

 

Headteacher

Ex Officio

Governing Body From: Sept 2018

 

None None
Alex Hulme Parent Governor Parents From: September 2022

To: September 2026

None None
Paul King

Vice-Chair

Chair of Finance and Resources

Co-opted Governor Governing Body From Sept 2021

To: Aug 2025

Managing Director of French and Jupp’s Maltings, Stanstead Abbotts None
Catherine Moorcroft Associate Member       No voting rights Governing Body From: Autumn 2022

To Aug  2026

None None
Janet Mulholland Clerk to Resources and SIMCE committee Governing Body From Sept 2021 None None
Simon Scott Clerk to FGB Governing Body Team manager at Serco Clerk for FGB at another school
Joanne Phillips Parent Governor Parents From: September 2022

To: September 2026

None None
Gini Trower Co-opted Governor Governing Body From Oct 2021

To: Sept 2025

Owner of The Walled Garden, Stanstead Bury Farm. None
Lauren Penrose Parent Governor Parents From June 2023

To: June 2027

None None
Nev Rees Parent Governor Parents From: June 2023

To: June 2027

None None
Peter Cuffaro Co-opted Governor Governing Body From October 2023

To: October 2027

Local business man None
Lydia Hunt Local Authority Governing Body From October 2023

To: October 2027

None Headteacher of St John the Baptist CE VA Church, Great Amwell
Joshua Chesterman Co-opted Governor Governing Body From October 2023

To: October 2027

None Teacher at St Andrew’s C of E School

 

Governors can be contacted freely, by letter of phone call, via the school office.

The Governors are constantly working to be more visible and approachable and to that end produce a Governors’ newsletter to update the school’s stakeholders on Governors’ activities.