Ashlands Primary School - School Governance

Governors

The Governing Body is the group of parents, staff and people from the local community who guide the management of Ashlands, supporting and challenging the school management team to make sure that Ashlands is as effective a school as it can be. The role of Governors is often described as a “critical friend” - someone who will ask difficult questions, but in a constructive way to drive continuous improvement. The Governors are, ultimately, legally responsible for the quality of education at Ashlands, and the welfare and safety of pupils and staff. At Ashlands, our Governing Body has 12 members, made up of: parent governors, who have children at school, and are elected by the parents; staff governors, who represent the teaching and non-teaching staff and are chosen by the staff; LEA governors, who are appointed by the education authority, and nominated by local politicians; and Community Governors, who are invited to join the Governing Body, often to bring needed skills and expertise.

The Governing Body manages the school through two main committees – the pastoral and academic committee, which is responsible for the welfare of the whole school community and the education of the pupils; and the finance and buildings committee, which is responsible for managing the school budget (roughly £1m a year) and the upkeep of the school’s premises. As well as the two committees, there are two groups which advise the whole Governing Body – BPAG, which looks at long-term investment in the school’s buildings and grounds, focused on improving the “learning environment”, and the Strategic Advisory Group, which looks at the overall long term development plan for the school.

People have many reasons for becoming Governors, and we’re certainly not all governors for the same reasons. What we all share, though, is a passion for making Ashlands the best place it can be for children to learn, for staff to work, and above all for everyone to enjoy coming here.

Copies of minutes are available from the school office.

Instrument of Government

GOVERNORS COMMITTEES

Committee	Members	Committee	Members
Finance	Colin Williams	Academic & Pastoral	Andrew Soutar
	Andrew Soutar		Charlotte Smithson
	Pam Dennis		Pam Dennis
	Richie Williamson		Nicky Wilce
	Nicola Wharmby		Vani Midgley
	Dan Smith		Gaynor Riley
			Dawn Morgan
			David Stephens
In attendance	Kathy Raine - Deputy Head Joy Cobbold – Office Manager
		In attendance	Kathy Raine – Deputy Head
Buildings & Premises	Colin Williams	Performance Management	Dan Smith
	Andrew Soutar		Nicky Wilce
	Nicola Wharmby		Vani Midgley
	David Stephens		Colin Williams
	Charlotte Smithson		Nicola Wharmby
In attendance	Bryan Hellen Joy Cobbold
Appeals	Nicola Wharmby	Complaints	Ritchie Williamson
	Colin Williams		Nicky Wilce
			Dan Smith
Staff Discipline	Nicola Wharmby	Pupil Behaviour	Dan Smith
	Vani Midgley		Vani Midgley
	Dawn Morgan		Nicola Wharmby
Safeguarding Governor	Gaynor Riley	Oversight of Safeguarding Govenor	Nicola Wharmby
Looked after Children Governor	David Stephens	SEN Governor	Charlotte Smithson
Health & Safety Governor	Charlotte Smithson	Governors Forum Representative	Richie Williamson
Eco Governor	Colin Williams	Friends Governor	Nicola Wharmby

Year Group Governors.

Nursery	Colin Williams
Reception	Dawn Morgan / David Stephens
Year 1	Nicola Wharmby
Year 2	Nicky Wilce
Year 3	Ritchie Williamson
Year 4	Vani Midgley
Year 5	Dan Smith
Year 6	Gaynor Riley

Register of Interests.

Register of Interests of Current Governors serving, and those who have served at any point in the last 12 months, on the Board of Governors at Ashlands Primary School 2018/19

Full Name	Type of Governor (including Associate members) Appointed by	Date of Appointment / Term of Office	End date (if applicable)	Committee membership, voting rights of Associate members and any special roles or chairing responsibilities	Other educational institutions at which a governor	Business interests and date notified	Any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives)	Meetings attended over previous academic year out of a total number of applicable meetings
Jane Crossley	Parent Left 9^th October 2017	29.09.13	22.09.17	Appeals Staff Discipline Buildings and Premises	None	None	None	1/7
Pam Dennis	Staff	25.09.14	24.09.18	Finance Academic and Pastoral	None	None	None	1/7
Neil Fraser	LA & Chair – LEFT March 2017	15.09.14	31.03.17	Chair 2016 - present Finance Performance Management Complaints Staff Discipline Pupil Behaviour	None	None	None
Vani Midgley	Parent & Chair	10/10/16	10/10/20	Chair 2017 – present Academic and Pastoral Performance Management Staff Discipline Pupil Behaviour	None	None	None	2/7
Dawn Morgan	Parent Governor	9/10/17	9/10/21	Academic and Pastoral Staff Discipline	None	None	Spouse (Teaching Assistant at Ashlands)	1/7
Gaynor Riley	Co-opted community	01.10.14	30.09.18	Academic and Pastoral	None	None	None	1/7
Dan Smith	Co-opted community	13.09.16	13.09.20	Academic and Pastoral Performance Management Complaints Pupil Behaviour	None	None	None	2/7
Charlotte Smithson	Co-opted staff	01.01.15	31.1.19	Academic and Pastoral Building and Premises SEN Governor	None	None	None	2/7
Andrew Soutar	Headteacher	04.13		Finance Academic and Pastoral Buildings and Premises	None	None	None	2/7
David Stephens	Parent Governor	9/10/17	9/10/21	Academic and Pastoral Buildings and Premises Looked after Children	None	Employed by Bradford Council within Children’s Social Care	None	1/7

Karen Vaughan	Parent LEFT JULY 2017	27.03.14	26.03.18	Academic and Pastoral Appeals Pupil Behaviour	None	None	None	0/7
Nicola Wharmby	Parent	26.09.14	26.09.18	Finance Buildings and Premises Performance Management Appeals Staff Discipline Pupil Behaviour Oversight of Safeguarding Governor Friends Governor	None	None	None	2/7
Nicky Wilce	Co-opted Community	14/1/15	31/1/19	Academic and Pastoral Performance Management Complaints	None	None	None	1/7
Colin Williams	Co-opted Community	14/1/15	31/1/19	Finance Buildings and Premises Appeals Eco Governor	None	None	None	2/7
Richie Williamson	LA and Vice Chair	17.07.17	16.07.21	Finance Governors Forum Representative	None	None	None	2/7

Clerk to the Governors - Mrs Sally Weir
The clerk to the governors supports the governing body in terms of arranging meetings, recording and distributing minutes and documentation and advises the governing body on constitutional and procedural matters, duties and powers.

For more information about Governors and their role follow the links below:

GovernorNet - UK Government site offering up-to-date information on all aspects of school governance.

Directgov - Becoming a school governor