The Governing Board

Aspire, Believe, Care, Achieve……

Vision

At Hester’s Way Primary School, we:

• encourage pupils to aspire and aim high
• believe that everyone deserves the same opportunities to succeed
• work in a happy, safe and caring learning environment
• achieve our aspirational goals and targets

Mission

Our Governing Board is made up of volunteers who believe strongly that education can improve everyone’s lives and also that primary school education should provide the strong foundation that all children need for a successful future.  We all have our own experiences of this and are proud to be able to give back to our school and its children by fulfilling the important role of governance as the ‘accountable body’ and also by being a driving force for continuous improvement.  Our role and responsibilities are explained more fully in the ‘Purpose of Governance’ below.

Our current intent is to strengthen the effectiveness and impact of governance, focusing on vision and strategy, accountability and finance, ‘ensuring by seeking assurance’, so that all HWP children achieve to their best potential and are equipped with the knowledge and cultural capital to enable them to succeed in life.

Purpose of Governance

“The purpose of governance is to provide confident and strong strategic leadership which leads to robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.

All governance boards, no matter what type of school or how many schools they govern, have three core functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.” – DfE Governance Handbook 2019.

Our main role is to support and challenge the Headteacher, the phrase often used to describe this role is ‘a critical friend’. We help them to set and reach targets and to strive for excellence across the whole spectrum of school life. This is actioned through school development planning, we use a Raising Achievement Plan (RAP) and Curriculum Leaders use mini RAPS. The school’s progress is evaluated termly through the RAP.  Also, the School’s Self Evaluation Form (SEF) is another working document that reflects the school’s recent journey and current outcomes.

Our legal duties include: setting strategic direction, policies and objectives; approving the school budget; reviewing progress against the school’s budget and objectives; appointing, challenging and supporting the headteacher.

The Governing Board meets regularly, at least once every term. The committees are Children, Learning and Families (CLF) and Staff, Finance and Resources (SFR). These committees feed into the Full Governing Board (FGB) meetings.

There are several categories of governor, appointed by different groups that have an interest in the school. These are Co-opted governors, the Local Authority (LA), Parents, the Head Teacher and Staff.  The Chair and Vice Chair are elected annually or whenever there becomes a vacancy.

Link Governors are linked to a specific area of school. Teaching staff and Link Governors meet and discuss plans, data, teaching and learning, children’s work and other relevant information.

Governors are committed to providing an excellent education and environment for all pupils to enjoy during their time at our school.

Chair of Governors: Mrs Helen Sexton OBE

Vice Chair: Mr Jonathan Glover

Clerk to Governors:  Ms Jodi Bradford

 

Children, Learning and Families (CLF) Committee – members below

Including Pupil Premium (PP), Attendance & Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND):

 

Staff, Finance and Resources (SFR) Committee – members below

Including Premises and Health & Safety:

 

Governor Information – Terms of Office and Interests:

 

Name	Type	Role	Elected by	Term of Office	Declaration of Business & Pecuniary Interests & Governance in any other schools
Mrs Helen Sexton OBE	Co-opted	Chair Elected 17.10.19	Governors	29.03.18- 28.03.22	None
Mr Jonathan Glover	Parent	Vice Chair CLF Chair Elected 17.10.19	Governors	11.02.19- 10.02.23	None
Mrs Pippa O’Connell	Co-opted	SFR	Governors	12.11.18 – 11.11.22	None
Miss Sian Barrow	Parent	SFR	Parents	08.03.18-07.03.22	Teacher in All Saints Academy
Mrs Jackie Harris	Staff	CLF	Staff	15.07.19-14.07.23	Member of Staff
Mrs Penny Morse	Additional Governor	Strategic advice	LA & Governors	01.01.19-31.07.20	CoG Down Ampney C of E Primary
Mrs Tracey Cotterill	Co-opted	SFR SFR Acting Chair Elected 25.11.19	Governors	11.02.19- 10.02.23	None
Mrs Lyn Chamberlain	Co-opted	CLF	Governors	11.02.19- 10.02.23	None
Mrs Jessica Briggs	Co-opted	CLF	Governors	15.07.19-14.07.23	None
Miss Kirsti Ashman	Head Teacher	Sits on all committee meetings, except during matters arising concerning HT role	Ex officio – automatically Governor as the Head	11.04.16	Member of Staff
Vacancy	Parent
Vacancy	LA
Governors left in the last 12 months
Mrs Kelly Ives	Parent	SFR	Parents	Now an Associate member
Mrs Elizabeth Rowbotham	Local Authority	SFR	Governors	Considering Associate member	None
Mrs Nicholle Barrowcliffe	Parent	CLF	Parents	Left

 

Subject	Link Governor	Teaching Staff
English	Jessica Briggs	Sarah Royle
Mathematics	Lyn Chamberlain	Emma Best
Science	Jonathan Glover	Ruth Swinton
Personal Development (RE, SMSC, BFV)	TBC	Catherine Coates
Early Years	Penny Morse	Emma Best/Alex Gilbert Green
SEND	Helen Sexton	Mel Richards
Pupil Premium/ Disadvantage	Jackie Harris	Sarah Royle
Safeguarding	Jonathan Glover	Kirsti Ashman
Attendance	Jonathan Glover	Kirsti Ashman
Finance	Tracey Cotterill	Kirsti Ashman
Safer Recruitment	Pippa O’Connell	Kirsti Ashman; Mel Richards
Health & Safety	Pippa O’Connell

Governor’s Meeting Attendance Records: 

Governor Meeting Attendance 2019 – 2020

 

Meeting	In Attendance	Apologies
Full Governing Board 16.09.19 8/11 73%	Kirsti Ashman HT Jessica Briggs Tracey Cotterill (dial in) Jonathan Glover Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Mel Richards DHT Sarah Royle AHT	Sian Barrow Lyn Chamberlain Jackie Harris
Full Governing Board 07.10.19 6/11 56%	Kirsti Ashman HT Jonathan Glover Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Helen Sexton Mel Richards DHT Sarah Royle AHT Sandra Sheppard GCC	Sian Barrow Jessica Briggs Lyn Chamberlain Tracey Cotterill Liz Rowbotham
Children, Learning and Families Committee 11.11.19 4/6 67%	Jessica Briggs Jonathan Glover Jackie Harris Helen Sexton Mel Richards DHT Sarah Royle AHT	Kirsti Ashman HT Lyn Chamberlain
Staff, Finance and Resources Committee 25.11.19 3/5 60%	Kirsti Ashman Pippa O’Connell Helen Sexton	Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill
Full Governing Board 09.12.19   7/10 70%	Kirsti Ashman HT Jessica Briggs Jonathan Glover Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Helen Sexton Jodi Bradford (Clerk to Governors)	Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill Lyn Chamberlain
Full Governing Board 13.01.2020 7/10 70%	Kirsti Ashman HT Jessica Briggs Jonathan Glover Tracey Cotterill Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Helen Sexton Jodi Bradford (Clerk to Governors)	Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill Lyn Chamberlain
Full Governing Board Future dates: 10.02.20 09.03.20 27.04.20 08.06.20 13.07.20

 

Governor Meeting Attendance 2018 – 2019

 

Meeting	In Attendance	Apologies
Full Governing Board 17.09.18 6/8 73%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Jackie Harris Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Gill Wilkinson (Clerk to Governors observing for induction)	Nicholle Barrowcliffe Kelly Ives
Children, Learning and Families Committee 01.10.18   4/4 100%	Kirsti Ashman HT Nicholle Barrowcliffe Jackie Harris Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Mel Richards DHT	None
Staff, Finance and Resources Committee 08.10.19   4/5 80%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Liz Rowbotham Pippa O’Connell	Kelly Ives
Full Governing Board 12.11.18 5/7 71%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Jackie Harris Pippa O’Connell Helen Sexton	Nicholle Barrowcliffe Liz Rowbotham
Full Governing Board Special Meeting 03.12.18 5/7 71%	Kirsti Ashman HT Jackie Harris Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Penny Morse	Sian Barrow Nicholle Barrowcliffe
Children, Learning and Families Committee 14.01.19 3/4 75%	Kirsti Ashman HT Jackie Harris Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Mel Richards DHT	Nicholle Barrowcliffe
Staff, Finance and Resources Committee 11.02.19   5/5 100%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill Liz Rowbotham Pippa O’Connell	None
Full Governing Board 11.03.19   9/11 82%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Lyn Chamberlain Tracey Cotterill (dial in) Jon Glover Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Mel Richards DHT Sarah Royle AHT	Nicholle Barrowcliffe Helen Sexton
Children, Learning and Families Committee 25.03.19   4/6 67%	Kirsti Ashman HT Lyn Chamberlain Jonathan Glover Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Mel Richards DHT	Nicholle Barrowcliffe Jackie Harris
Staff, Finance and Resources Committee 20.05.19 4/5 80%	Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill Jon Glover Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton	Kirsti Ashman HT
Full Governing Board 20.05.19   10/10 100%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Lyn Chamberlain Tracey Cotterill Jon Glover Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton Pippa Jones GCC	None
Children, Learning and Families Committee 10.06.19   5/5 100%	Kirsti Ashman HT Lyn Chamberlain Jonathan Glover Jackie Harris Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton	None
Staff, Finance and Resources Committee 01.07.19 5/5 100%	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill Liz Rowbotham Pippa O’Connell Margaret Wilkinson GCC	None
Full Governing Board 15.07.19   7/10 70%	Lyn Chamberlain Jonathan Glover Jackie Harris Penny Morse Pippa O’Connell Liz Rowbotham Helen Sexton	Kirsti Ashman HT Sian Barrow Tracey Cotterill