Governors

Welcome to our Governors’ section.

Please find below details of how our Governing body is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

We have also provided a Register of Governor Interests and an Annual Statement of Issues for your information.

Foundation:

Rev Ruth Colby ex officio

Peter Golightly (Chair)

John Hunter

Staff:

Lindsey Fisher

Lisa Hampson

Richard Tomlinson (Head) ex officio

Parent:

Clare Clough

Vacancy

Co-opted:

Nick Baseley

Clare Gough

Safeena Higgins

Irina Richardson

Tracy Strutt (Vice Chair)

Paul Verner

Vacancy

The Local Governing Body – Roles and Activities
The Local Governing Body (LGB) of East Bridgford St. Peter’s CofE Academy consists of governors who, with the exception of the headteacher, are residents of the communities of the catchment in which the academy is situated. They are either appointed according to the skills they bring to the LGB or are nominated to represent various stakeholder bodies including parents, staff and church (Foundation), There are, from time to time, Associate Members who act in a more limited capacity. The Governors at the academy are very active, undertaking most of their work through a structure of formal committees and informal groups. All the Governors at St. Peter’s are highly motivated and committed to the ethos, standards and success of the academy, most having specific, individual responsibilities. Governors recognise their legal, ethical and community responsibilities to the whole school, including the children, staff and parents. They also recognise the special position that being a Church school brings and the links between church and school are very strong. The LGB meets each term and considers business items submitted from the academy, multi-academy trust, local authority and from members of its own Governing Body. The latter demonstrates that it has an active, not a passive, approach to school governance. When necessary it will convene special meetings to consider specific or urgent items not appropriate to a scheduled termly meeting.

LGB Attendance 2019/2020

Standards of Governance
Governors are fully aware of the obligations and responsibilities that their roles bring, and are constantly looking to improve the quality, standards, efficiency and effectiveness with which they fulfil these responsibilities. The constantly changing nature, law and requirements of school governance are recognised to place an obligation on school governors to be adequately trained and kept up to date. Governors at St. Peter’s are committed to training, both in areas of a general nature and related to their specific areas of expertise and interest.

Communication with Parents and the Community
The Local Governing Body is currently seeking ways to fill the communication gap created by the demise of the annual governors’ report to parent and the annual Parent-Governors’ meeting. There is a constant interaction with parents through the Parent Governors and the Chair of Governors. Parent Governors have adopted a proactive approach to their roles, including an annual presentation to parents of children in the Reception Class. The Governing Body have implemented a regular ‘Governor-Parent Focus’ newsletter’ to promote and communicate the work of the Governing Body to parents. Photographs of Governors are on public display to facilitate recognition and contact. There are important links from the Governing Body to the Parent-Teacher Association –and the Out-of-School Club. A Parent Governor contributes a monthly news item about the School to the Village Magazine to promote the school in the context of its village setting and to keep all village residents aware of the activities and successes of one of its key assets. The Governing Body also has strong links with the Parish Council.

Church Links
The academy, and its Local Governing Body, prides itself in being a Church of England School. It has close links with its local church from which it takes its name. The LGB actively encourages the Christian nature of the school, and the understanding of other religions, within its day-to-day activities. The academy has enjoyed support from the Priest-in-Charge of the Parish and has been encouraged to use the church as part of its worship and learning whenever possible.

Curriculum Links
Governors at St. Peter’s are involved not only in issues of school governance, but are actively involved in the whole school curriculum. All governors have at least one curriculum subject, linked to the academy's School Development Plan, for which they provide a link between the LGB and the curriculum lead teacher with whom they will liase on a regular basis thereby facilitating both the delivery of the curriculum across the school and providing a knowledge resource for the whole LGB. Governors undertake regular visits to the school. Although historically these have been of a general nature, they are now focussed on curriculum link responsibilities of individual governors. The outcomes of these visits are reported to the termly meetings of the LGB. Governors are assisted in their visits by guidance produced by the LGB aimed at maximising the benefits to both Governors and teaching staff.

Local Governing Body Committees and Roles

Operations Committee (OC)

OC was formed in 2016 through the amalgamation of two former committees, Finance & General Purposes and Pupil & Personnel. This process reduced duplication and provided a more seamless support to the academy and its headreacher.

OC meets at least every term with a broad remit covering finance, health and safety and risk management issues, and its membership has the expertise to fulfil these roles. It considers all aspects of finance and budget control, with specific members involved in the annual budget setting and LEA service buy-back processes. F&GP monitors monthly budget statements and internal audit outcomes. It also monitors and advises on catering finance.

OC is also responsible for isues relating to staff and pupils, including staffing, appointments, and policies for admissions, discipline and behaviour, complaints and infant class sizes.

Strategic Development
The work of the Strategic Development Committee was subsumed within the main Local Governing Body in  2019 to provide a higher level of monitoring and accountability, and to reduce duplication. The expanded role in reviewing the curriculum, alongside the Head Teacher, presents many opportunities to monitor and to genuinely develop and influence the strategic direction of the academy. Many strands of the this remit interlink and depend upon each other, whether this is policy development or school self-review. The LGB now also undertakes regular reviews of specific curriculum policies, including Religious Education, Worship and Social & Sex Education. The full LGB is now responsible for the governance input into and monitoring of the SDP and SEFF.

Policies and Procedures
The LGB is responsible for producing a number of policies that relate to various aspects of the academy and its activities. These policies are academy specic policies, and compliment those produced by the Aspire MAT for pan-MAT implementation. All relevant policies an standards may also be found in the Key Information section of the website:

Scheme of Delegation

A Scheme of Delegation from the Aspire MAT defines the functions and responsibilities that are delegated from the MAT Board to the LGB. For Ofsted rated 'Outstanding' and 'Good' academies this is very broad, giving considerable autonomy to the academy, whilst showing its accountability to the MAT.

The Scheme of Delegation is available here.

Websites for Governors

DfES (Department of Education and Science)

Governorline (professional support to governors