Governors
Lower Park School Governing Body
Who are we?Chair of Governors: Colin RichardsVice-chair: Paul Banford
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| Name of Governor | Date Appointed | Appointed By | Current Category of Governor | Current Term Ends | Voting Rights | Attendance at Scheduled Meetings 2017/18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Coulson | Sept 2002 | Ex-officio | Headteacher | n/a | Full | 16/16 |
| Val Eaton | Nov 2003 | Support Staff | Co-opted - renewed Jan 2019 | Jan 2023 | Full | 9/9 |
| Colin Richards | Oct 2011 | Parents |
Parent - re-elected Sept 2015 |
Sept 2019 | Full | 12/12 |
| Sandra Sharpe | Sept 2012 | Governors | Co-opted - renewed Sept 2016 | Sept 2020 | Full | 6/8 |
| Nigel Jay | June 2012 | Governors | Co-opted - renewed June 2016 | June 2020 | Full | 9/11 |
| Paul Banford | Oct 2013 | Parents |
Co-opted - Sep 2017 |
Sep 2021 | Full | 9/10 |
| Steve Hardicre | Jan 2014 | Governors | Co-opted - renewed June 2017 | June 2021 | Full | 7/7 |
| Kevin Lambert | Sept 2015 | Parents | Parent | Sept 2019 | Full | 6/7 |
| Barbara Chadwick | Sept 2016 | Staff | Staff | Sept 2020 | Full | 8/10 |
| Paul Kelly | Nov 2017 | Parents | Parent | Nov 2021 | Full | 5/6 |
| Carol Williams | Feb 2018 | Co-opted |
LA appointed Mar 2018 |
Mar 2022 | Full | 5/7 |
| Nicola Spragg | Feb 2018 | Parents | Parent | Feb 2022 | Full | 3/3 |
| Vacancy | Governors | Co-opted | ||||
| Kirsten Wolffsohn | Dec 2018 | Parents | Parent | Dec 2022 | Full | n/a |
| Former Governors who have served on the Board within the past two years | ||||||
| Clara Kenyon | Feb 2014 | LA | Co-opted | Aug 2017 | ||
| Roger West | Sep 2001 | LA | LA | Aug 2017 | ||
| Leanne Johnson | Jan 2014 | Parents | Parent | Jan 2018 | ||
| Adam Alexander | Oct 2016 | Parents | Parent | Oct 2018 | ||
What do we do?
The Board of Governors' core functions (as definded in the DfE Governance Handbook 2017):
1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
2. Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
We are the ‘critical friend’: our role is to challenge and support as part of the leadership and management of the school. We are responsible for ensuring the school meets all its statutory requirements, ensuring the curriculum is relevant, approving academic targets, appointing staff, reviewing and approving school policies, agreeing and monitoring the school budget, overseeing the Performance Management of the staff and the Head Teacher.
The Governors have a responsibility to ensure the safeguarding of Lower Park's children. We aim to be informed of issues and progress in the school through formal and informal visits; all governors have to pass an enhanced DBS check.
Stucture of the Governing Board
The Full Governing Board typically meets five times a year. Much of our work is delegated to four key committees:
- Finance
- Personnel
- Pupil & Curriculum
- Environment & Community
Our committee membership and Governors with Special Repsonsibilities are reviewed annually. The current membership and responsibilities details can be downloaded from this page.
School Strategy Plan
Each year at the Review Day in October, the Governors and staff review the previous academic year and agree what the Main Priorities for the coming year should be. These are then formulated into the School Strategy Plan which is the basis for curriculum planning, budgeting, staffing and resourcing.
Each priority is mapped against the remit of each committee so we can agree strategies, resourcing, etc. and review progress in specific areas each term. The Summary of the current School Strategy Plan can be downloaded from this page.
Governors Register of Interests
Governors are required to state any relevant business and pecuniary interests, which may affect their role in the school. This includes: governance roles in other educational institutions and any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and school staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives). These must be published in a Governors Register of Interests, which is available to download using the link at the top of this page.
Minutes of Governors' Meetings
Please contact the Headteacher to request to view a copy of minutes of Full Governing Board and Committee meeting minutes.
Contacting Governors
The Chair of Governors may be contacted via the School Office.
