Meet the Governors

Governor

Category

Date Appointed

Term of Office

Committees

Monitoring responsibility

Declaration of Pecuniary and Personal Interest form completed

23.10.19

Governance roles in other educational establishments

Attendance at Committee Meetings over last academic year 18-19

Reverend Canon Dr Alan Bartlett

Chair

10.10.18

Resigned 22/05/19

Foundation vacancy

4 years

Finance & Personnel

Appeals

Governor Scrutiny Group

Safeguarding

Leadership

NA

No

13 of 13

Reverend Tom Glover

Vice Chair

16.5.18

Ex officio

Time in Office

Finance & Personnel

School & Community

Appeals

Governor Scrutiny Group

Church School

Siams

Yes

Included

Durham Diocesan Board of Finance, Gilesgate Charity Trust, St Giles Education Trust

Yes

Ludworth Primary School

10 of 16

Mrs Alex Ryder

Head Teacher

1.1.15

Time in Office

Finance & Personnel

School & Community

Governor Scrutiny Group

N/A

Yes

Yes

Wynyard Primary School

Mrs Julie Winkless

Foundation

15.4.16

4 years

Finance & Personnel

First Committee

Governor Scrutiny Group

Health and Safety

GDPR

Yes

Included Belmont PCC

No

14 of 16

Mrs Jennifer Moss

Foundation

Chair from 24.05.19

18.2.18

4 years

Finance and Personnel

First Committee

Safeguarding and Leadership

Yes

No

9 of 9

Mr Roger Ward

Foundation

17.5.17

4 years

First Committee

Governor Scrutiny Group

Achievement & Outcomes

SEND

To be completed

Yes

Wynyard Primary School

7 of 10

Reverend Tim Ferguson

Foundation

9.1.17

4 years

Schools and Community

Appeals

Governor Scrutiny Group

Pupil Premium

None

Included Hild Bede Trust

No

11 of 11

Mrs Jane Holmes

Foundation

13.12.16

4 years

Finance & Personnel

First Committee

Staff Welfare Governor

To be completed

No

10 of 12

Mrs

Heather Troupe

Foundation

11.2.16

4 years

Schools and Community

N/A

Yes

No

6 of 6

Mr John Ashworth

Foundation

4 years

Finance and Personnel

Finance and Budget

Yes

Included Trustee of Durham University Pension Scheme

Mrs

Julianne Thompson

Parent

5.5.16

4 years

Schools and Community

Governor Scrutiny Group

Church School

Siams

Yes

No

10 of 10

Mrs Marie Hann

Staff

Retired 20.7.19

30.4.18

4 years

Schools and Community

N/A

NA

No

6 of 6

Vacancy

Co opted

Governor

Scrutiny

Group

24.9.19

Finance

and

Personnel

26.9.19

Full

Governing

Body

23.10.19

First

Committee

7.11.19

Schools

Committee

27.11.19

Governor

Scrutiny

Group

28.11.19

Finance

and

Personnel

5.12.19

Mrs J

Moss

Rev T

Glover

Mrs A

Ryder

Mrs J

Holmes

Mrs J

Winkless

Mr J

Ashworth

Rev T

Ferguson

Mr R

Ward

Mrs J

Thompson

Miss K

Bell

Mrs N

Banks

Mrs H

Troupe

First

Committee

10.12.19

Finance

and

Personnel

6.2.20

Full

Governing

Body

4.3.20

Schools

Committee

11.3.20

Finance

and

Personnel

2.4.20

Mrs J

Moss

Rev T

Glover

Mrs A

Ryder

Mrs J

Holmes

Mrs J

Winkless

Mr J

Ashworth

Rev T

Ferguson

Mr R

Ward

Mrs J

Thompson

Miss K

Bell

Mrs N

Banks

Mrs H

Troupe

Governor

Schools and Community 26.9.18

Governor Scrutiny Group

20.9.18

Finance and Personnel

3.10.18

*postponed

Full Governing

Body

10.10.18

Governor Scrutiny Group

29.11.18

First Committee

3.12.18

First Committee

18.12.18

First

Committee 14.1.19

Governor Scrutiny Group

15.1.19

Reverend Canon Dr Alan Bartlett

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Reverend Tom Glover

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

A

Mrs Alex Ryder

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mrs Julie Winkless

N/A

A

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

A

Mrs Jennifer Moss

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

Mr Roger Ward

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

A

A

Reverend Tim Ferguson

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Mrs Jane Holmes

N/A

N/A

Yes

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

Mrs

Heather Troupe

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Mrs

Julianne Thompson

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

Yes

Mrs Marie Hann

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Mrs Julie Smith

N/A

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Governor

Schools and Community Committee

23.1.19

Finance and Personnel 6.2.19

Finance and Personnel

25.2.19

Full Governing Body

27.2.19

Finance and Personnel

5.3.19

Governor Scrutiny Group

25.3.19

Finance and Personnel

8.5.19

21.5.19

Schools Committee

20.5.19

Full Governing Body

22.05.19

Schools and Community 

10.07.19

Finance

and Personnel

16.7.19

Reverend Canon Dr Alan Bartlett

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

Resigned

Reverend Tom Glover

Yes

A

Yes

A

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mrs Alex Ryder

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mrs Julie Winkless

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

Yes

Mrs Jennifer Moss

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

Yes

Yes

Yes (new member)

Mr Roger Ward

N/A

N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

A

N/A

N/A

Reverend Tim Ferguson

Yes

N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

Mrs Jane Holmes

N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

A

A

N/A

Yes

Mrs

Heather Troupe

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

Mrs

Julianne Thompson

Yes

N/A

Yes

Yes

 N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

Mrs Marie Hann

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A

Yes

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

Annual Governance Statement for the

Governing Body of St Hild’s College CE Aided Primary School

September 2019

School Vision/Mission Statement

A warm welcome to St Hild’s College CE Aided Primary School. Our school vision is of ‘life in all its fullness', where everyone is supported and able to learn and grow to their full potential through a creative education. It is driven by our desire to offer the best possible education for our pupils in partnership with parents, churches and the local community that can stretch the mind and enrich imaginations, strengthen the body and enliven the spirit.

We aim to provide a happy and secure environment, where children think for themselves and use their own initiative as often as possible. The acquisition of the necessary basic skills is of great importance but we try to teach the children how to learn, rather than drill them with facts.

This school is for children between the ages of 2 and 11 years. Its existence ensures the right of parents to have their children instructed in the Faith of the Church of England, in a Christian atmosphere, within the family of the Church.

Pupils of faiths other than Church of England are welcomed at St Hild’s CE Aided Primary School. We are committed to promoting the fundamental British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

St Hild's School Stands for:

Christian teaching and values

Creative learning in a caring environment

A commitment to fulfilling each child’s potential

Our school motto is:

‘We teach minds to think, hands to do and hearts to love.’

The Governing Body of St Hild’s College CE Aided Primary School has a strong

focus on its three core strategic functions:

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

2. Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and

3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Governance arrangements

The Governing Body of St Hild’s was re-constituted in September 2015 and consists of the following members; The Headteacher, 1 staff governor, 2 elected parent governors, 1 Local Authority Governor, 1 co- opted governor and 9 Foundation Governors. Foundation Governors are appointed by the following Bodies:

1 ex officio, (The Incumbent or Priest in Charge for the time being of the Parish of St Giles, Durham City). 4 appointed by the Diocesan Board of Education, 3 appointed by the Parochial Church Council of Durham St Giles, 1 appointed by the Trustees of St Hild & St Bede Foundation.

The Full Governing Body meets once each term and we also have committees who meet to consider different aspects of the school in detail. Here at St Hild’s, we have a Finance and Personnel Committee, which focuses on finance, spending of pupil premium funding, premises and some personnel matters and a School’s and Community Committee who receive regular updates from subject leaders, as well as updates in relation to Safeguarding and Special Educational Needs, Attendance and policies. We also have committees that meet if required to consider pupil discipline and staffing matters.

Attendance record

Governors have excellent attendance at meetings and we have never cancelled a meeting because it was not “quorate” (the number of governors needed to ensure that legal decisions can be made).

The work that we have done on our committees and in the governing body and its impact

Governors have shown commitment to improve their practice since the previous Ofsted inspection. The Governing Body commissioned an external review of governance in a timely manner. This year they have developed an action plan to develop systems to check the effects of leaders’ actions. They receive regular updates on pupils’ progress from the Headteacher and they visit the school more frequently to see for themselves what this progress looks like and to challenge leaders.

The formation of a Governor Scrutiny Group (GSG )  has ensured that a core group of governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas that require further development. The GSG work with senior leaders and subject leaders to check the pace of progress against clear milestones in the school development plan. They have worked with representatives from the Diocese of Durham who have trained members of this group to monitor the work of the school more effectively. Members of the GSG now have a more accurate view of the school’s effectiveness and priorities for improvement and in order to review progress, a number have undertaken learning walks with a focus upon challenge, questioning, reading and classroom learning environments. Through their monitoring reports, they have generated questions for Senior Leaders to respond to at Full Governing Body meetings. Along with training session for governors about how Maths and English are taught, all this has considerably increased the confidence in governors at being a ‘Critical Friend’ to the School.

Our Ofsted report May 2019 confirmed that ' Governors keep a close eye on the school's work. They are well informed and are ambitious for pupils. They take their role seriously, providing very effective support and challenge to leaders.'

A governor had responsibility for monitoring behaviour  and attendance trends in school and reported this back to the Governing Body. 

Church School Governors have monitored the action plan in place to implement the new Diocesan curriculum ready for September 2019 and attended

The Safeguarding Governor has observed a safeguarding team meeting and an audit by the Local Authority and fed back to the Full Governing Body.

The governor responsible for Health and Safety has worked alongside members of the SLT to monitor Health and Safety procedures in school. This Governor will also have responsibility to monitor GDPR legislation in school this year, ensuring the school is compliant.

The Finance and Personnel committee looks at the maintenance and development of the school premises and makes decisions about how the school should use its budget. This year decisions have been made to increase school security by improving the quality of security fencing around school using money made available by Diocesan funding.

The Finance and Personnel committee have also ensured staff stability continues and have appointed new teachers into Y3 and Y4 this year. The governor responsible for monitoring pupil premium spending and actions in school has regularly attended monitoring visits to scrutinise data, evaluate the pupil premium strategy with senior leaders, talk to pupil premium children and teaching assistants and observe intervention groups. This governor also scrutinises the attendance of PP children and has, through scrutiny of some case studies, recognised some improvements.

One of the roles of the School's Committee is reviewing and agreeing school policies and this year we have considered a number of key policies. The online safety and acceptable use policies for staff, visitors and volunteers and for cameras and mobile phones have been reviewed. Governors were made aware of the Business Continuity Plan that the school signs into with the Local Authority to ensure school has procedures in place in the event of an emergency. .

Governors were able to find out more about the positive impact the Prince William Award was having on the Year 6 cohort when a group of children delivered a presentation to the School's Committee. Governors recognised how it was supporting the children, particularly to become more confident and resilient. Governors on the School's Committee have also become aware of the Artsmark accreditation to school and the Platinum Sports Award.

In September, a new Child protection policy was adopted. More recently the School's Committee have discussed and agreed a new SEND, Inclusion, Packed Lunch, Attendance, Health and Safety and Behaviour all in line with current legislation. The School's Committee discuss attendance at each meeting and are fully updated on actions that are in place to improve the attendance of some children with the support of the school’s Positive Future Worker. Noting the improved attendance of children as a result of the meetings,  Governors recognised that overall school attendance improved to 96% this year.

This year governors have examined in detail and questioned how sport premium money is spent. They have listened to children present their views on sport in school and questioned them about the positive impact children feel it has had on their well-being. They have noted the impact of the sports premium spending through discussions with the PE coordinator invited to talk to governors at a School’s Committee.

Minutes of Governing Body and Committee meetings are public documents you can ask at the school office if you would like to see any of the minutes of our meetings.

Future plans for the Governing Body

· To further develop the monitoring timetable for governors and to ensure that new governors are up to date with the school and governor development plans.

·  To develop the knowledge and understanding of the new Ofsted Framework

Contact Details

The Governing Body welcomes suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents/carers. Please contact the Chair of Governors c/o the school office.

Current Members of the Governing Body

Please see school website

http://www.st-hilds.durham.sch.uk/meet-the-governors/