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 three 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.
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 2022-23
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
To: May 2023 |
None | None |
| Dan Berryman
Vice-Chair of GB (Elected Oct 2021) |
Local Authority Governor |
LA | From: April 2017
To: July 2023 |
None | None |
| Carolina Davey | 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
To: Sept 2024 |
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 |
TF’s family has a business in plumbing and bathroom trade (J&W Hinton ltd) Parent in school is director of building company – Robyland – this company also has a trading account with TF’s family business. | 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 |
| Craig Holleworth
Chair of SIMCE Committee |
Parent Governor | Parents | From: Oct 2019
To: Sept 2023 |
None | None |
| Alex Hulme | Parent Governor | Parents | From: September 2022
To: September 2026 |
None | None |
| Paul King
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 |
| Andrew Price | Associate Member No voting rights | Governing Body | From: Sept 2016
To: Jan 2023 (left school for new appointment) |
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 |
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.