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