Governing Body
Chair of Governors Message:
As Governors we are very proud of our wonderful school and dedicate ourselves to supporting the whole school team in providing the best education possible in a caring, nurturing environment. Our shared school vision to be ‘an outstanding school in the heart of the community’ underpins all that we do and from this sound base we work as a cohesive team to support and challenge the school to continuously improve.
This includes providing a broad, balanced and creative curriculum and an excellent teaching and learning experience for all our children. We support the school ethos in maintaining the important traditions that uphold our British values, such as our Remembrance Service and School Council active involvement, alongside opening up wide and exciting opportunities that inspire our children to achieve their full potential.
Our Governing Body Team
1 - Rachel Watson
Type of Governor: Chair of Governors (Parent Governor)
Date of appointment: Jan 2020
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2024
Appointed by: Governing Body
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
2 - Louise Rowland
Type of Governor: Vice-Chair of Governors (Co-opted Governor)
Date of appointment: Jan 2020
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2024
Appointed by: Governing Body
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
3 - Kate Mason
Type of Governor: Headteacher - Richardson Endowed Primary School (Co-opted Governor)
Date of appointment: Jan 2017
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2021
Appointed by: Governing Body
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: Yes
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
4 - Marilyn Walton
Type of Governor: Co-opted Governor
Date of appointment: Jan 2019
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2023
Appointed by: Governing Body
Any declaration of business interests: Yes
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
5 - Brendan Redmond
Type of Governor: Staff Governor
Date of appointment: Jan 2019
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2023
Appointed by: Staff Election
Any declaration of business interests: Yes
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: Yes
Attendance for 2020-2021: 50%
6 - Glynn Parker
Type of Governor: Parent Governor
Date of appointment: Jan 2020
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2024
Appointed by: Parent Election
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
7 - Samantha Dawkins
Type of Governor: Parent Governor
Date of appointment: Jan 2020
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2024
Appointed by: Parent Election
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
8 - Dean Gazzard
Type of Governor: Co-opted Governor
Date of appointment: Sept 2021
Term of office: 4 years, ends Sept 2025
Appointed by: Governing Body
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: N/A
9 - Amanda Smith
Type of Governor: Clerk to Governors
Members stepped down within the last 12 months
1 - John White
Type of Governor: Co-opted Governor
Date of appointment: Jan 2020
Term of office: 4 years, ends Jan 2024 (Resigned Nov 2020)
Appointed by: Governing Body
Any declaration of business interests: None declared
Any governor roles in other institutions: None
Any relationships to school staff: No
Attendance for 2020-2021: 100%
Governors are expected to attend full governing body meetings half-termly. We incorporate School Improvement, Resource Management and Performance Management on a rolling basis; or as matters arise at each meeting.
1. School Improvement Committee
Members: All Governing Body Members
2. Resource Management
Members: All Governing Body Members
3. Performance Management
Members: Rachel Watson (Chair), Louise Rowland (Vice-Chair) and Glynn Parker
4. Complaints Committee
Members: Louise Rowland (Vice-Chair), Marilyn Walton and Samantha Dawkins
The Governing Body adopt, review and monitor a range of policies that govern the operation of the school.
Governors have a link to a specific area of school. This is dependent upon the school's priorities for each year. For this academic year they are as follows:
English: Rachel Watson
Mathematics: Louise Rowland and Samantha Dawkins
Curriculum: Louise Rowland
Safeguarding/LAC: Marilyn Walton and Samantha Dawkins
Anti-Bullying: Marilyn Walton and Samantha Dawkins
SEND: Marilyn Walton and Samantha Dawkins
Pupil Premium: Marilyn Walton and Samantha Dawkins
Attainment, Progress and Data: Rachel Watson and Brendan Redmond
Health and Safety: Dean Gazzard
Finance: Glynn Parker and Dean Gazzard
Sports Premium: Glynn Parker
Website Compliance: Glynn Parker
Strategic Objectives: All Governing Body Members
The governors build an annual plan yearly, which becomes the focus of support and monitoring activity throughout the school year. The elements of the plan are drawn from the School Self-Evaluation, the School Improvement Plan and the ideas drawn from our highly consultative Shared Vision process. The table below outlines our areas of focus last year and our objectives for this school year. For each of these areas, governors build connections with school leaders to understand the area in more detail and provide supportive monitoring activity to help ensure the best possible outcome for the objectives set.
As Governors we believe in building high trust, professional working relationships with school leaders to ensure our governance is helpful and valued. For us, it’s about working together productively as a high performing whole school team.
Strategic Objectives 2021-2022
1. To further improve outcomes so that:
- progress scores in Reading, Writing and Mathematics so that they are above zero for each cohort based on previous Key Stage outcomes.
- attainment in Reading, Writing and Mathematics so that they are at least in line with National averages.
- attainment in Reading, Writing and Mathematics combined are at least in line with National averages.
2. To further develop the curriculum to ensure all pupils build on their knowledge progressively over time.
3. To further improve outcomes through implementation of the revised EYFS Framework so that GLD at July 2022 is at least in line with National outcomes.
The Governing Body are very proud of the achievements of the school and believe that by working as a cohesive whole school team we can strive to ensure all children fulfil their potential and become lifelong learners.
Please address any enquiries to:
Amanda Smith (Clerk to Governors)
C/O Richardson Endowed Primary School
Main Road
Smalley
Derbyshire
DE7 6EF
01332 880317