Tewin Cowper Primary School. Board of Governors

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1 Tewin Cowper Primary School Board of s Tewin Cowper Primary School s Governing Body plays a very active role in the life of the school. A strong, well-led governing body, supportive of the school, its teachers and its mission makes an important contribution to the school's wellbeing and effectiveness As parents, the role of the s and more importantly, who they are can sometimes be a mystery as the work goes on behind the scenes every day of the year. We hope the following information not only allows you to put a face to a name but understand more fully, what role each member plays and gives you contact points if there are matters you wish to discuss. Governing Body Personnel Structure Governing Body Committees

2 The Governing Body Who Are We? Chairperson Gill Forrest I have the co-ordinating responsibility for Tewin s chairing the meetings, have overall view of the committees and act as critical friend to the Headteacher. I come from an education background and run my own training company. Link Responsibilities: Inclusion & Assessment, Child Protection & Safeguarding Vice Chair Susan Haslam My background is in music and radio production: after studying music at Cambridge University, I joined the BBC, where I became a music producer for Radio 3. I have been associated with Tewin Cowper for 13 years. My three children are former pupils, and for many years I have enjoyed helping out with music at the school, playing the piano for shows and teaching recorders on a voluntary basis. I became a governor for Tewin Cowper in Currently I am on the Curriculum, Personnel and Parent Partnership Committees, and I am the Year for Ladybirds. Link Responsibilities: Mathematics, Music & Art, EYFS Dr Derek Adams Having graduated BSc in Pharmacy from the University of Manchester and worked in both the research and operations divisions of a pharmaceutical company for 33 years, I retired slightly early and read history at Wolfson College, Cambridge. I was subsequently awarded a PhD degree from the University of Hertfordshire for a thesis entitled, The rise and fall of the Apothecaries Assistants. I am a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London and a Rotarian. I became a because my wife Kay noticed an appeal for new governors in the Parish News and it seemed a good way to give a little back. Link Responsibilities: Science & Technology, Year 4

3 Raymond Turner My three grown up children all went to Tewin school in the 70's and 80's and I have been a for over 30 years. I am a Chartered Accountant by training and have assisted the school with its finances for many years. More recently I have been a without portfolio and available to help on a variety of school matters. The Prayer Group is an important part of my commitment to the school Rev Susannah Underwood I am vicar of St. Peter's Church Tewin which has always had a special link and care for the school. Prior to ordination I worked with children, including a role as a teaching assistant at St. Mary s school in Welwyn. I have been a governor of four schools (including currently All Saints Datchworth), and am grateful for the insight it gives into the skill and dedication of staff teams. I have always lived locally and have fond childhood memories of Tewin - having a grandmother who lived in the Wood and a mother who was once a teacher at this school! Link Responsibilities: Spiritual and Social Gail Elliott I retired 2 years ago, after 35 years working for Lloyds Bank covering both personal and business banking. Prior to joining Lloyds Bank, I trained for 3 years at The London College of Dance and Drama, and hold teaching qualifications in many forms of dance as well as being a member of The Royal Academy of Dancing, The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, and The International Dance Teachers Association. As I approached retirement, I became aware that Tewin School was looking for a new governor, and I offered myself in the hope that my financial background might be of use. I was keen, now that I have more time, to be involved in something worthwhile within Tewin, having lived in the village for 30 years, and in particular as I consider a good education to be of prime importance. Link Responsibilities: Sport, Year 6 Robert Cox I am a parent of a Year 4 student and our eldest daughter also went through Tewin Cowper. I am currently managing multi-jurisdiction structured debt transactions having spent 27 years working in asset finance and corporate banking. I joined Tewin s Board of s in May I am the co-chair of the Finance Committee and a life long West Ham fan! Link Responsibilities: English Communication & Languages, Year 2

4 Barbara Clarke I am a Parochial Church Council and as a Year to the children now in Year 1, I look forward to following them through school. My own children attended Tewin School when we moved to the village 28 years ago; during this time, I was involved with many village activities including the play group, the School PA Committee and was also secretary of the Tewin Tennis Club for many years. Having recently retired, I am now able to devote some time once again to village life and have been enjoying my new role as a governor. Link Responsibilities: English Communication & Languages, Year 1 Parent William Leggatt As an IT SME, with 20 years experience, evenly split between commercial work and my consultancy practice, I have lived in Tewin for over 12 years. Both my daughter and step-daughter have attended Tewin Cowper during this time. Having helped the PA with several successful events, when an opportunity to join the Board of s became available, I applied and have been contributing for the past year, with a particular emphasis on my link year group and ICT. Link Responsibilities: ICT, Year 3 Parent Debbie Kirby I am currently a parent of daughters in Years 1 and 3 with my youngest joining in While my children attended Tewin Under Fives, I was on the Committee for 3 years, two of which as the Chair. Prior to that, I spent 15 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry within the Regulatory Affairs sector primary focused on systems, project management and compliance. As the newest member of the Governing Body, I am keen to assist with the continued improvement drive we have seen over the last 12 months. I feel we are blessed with an environment where teachers are allowed to teach, children can be children and learning is so much fun. Link Responsibilities: History & Geography, Year 5 Clerk Julie Grimwade I am pleased to be the clerk to the governing body at Tewin Cowper appointed by the county Governance team. I have worked for the Herts school improvement service for six years, doing administration for health and wellbeing and now for NQT induction. I live in the village and both my children really enjoyed their time at the school.

5 Glossary of Terms Chairperson The chairperson is responsible for the overall conduct of each Board of s or committee meeting. He/she should ensure that all its business is carried out in a structured manner and that all views are heard. Other than in the most extreme circumstances, every governor should be able to express a view and have it considered. The chairperson must ensure that governors respect the confidentiality of the business discussed. The chairperson is responsible for agreeing the date, time, place and agenda of each meeting. The timing of meetings has to be consistent with deadlines for the decisions required on agenda items. Agenda items may reflect routine issues arising on the school calendar, but the chairperson has to ensure that items that affect and promote the good governance of the school including raising standards, are included. Meetings must be quorate and minutes must be taken and retained of the consideration of agenda items and the decisions made at each meeting and the reasons for those decisions. It must be evident from the minutes that there is an opportunity for governors to declare personal or pecuniary interests. In addition, the minutes of any committee meetings should be referred for information to the next Board of s meeting. It is in governors' best interests to follow these procedures. Parent s Parents, including carers, of pupils are eligible to stand for election as governors. Parent governors are elected by other parents at the school. If insufficient parents stand for election, the governing body may appoint parents. Staff s The headteacher is a staff governor by virtue of their office. Other staff, both teaching and support, may become governors as long as they are paid (volunteers do not qualify). Staff governors are elected by the school staff. Any election that is contested must be held by ballot. Local Authority s LAs are encouraged to appoint high-calibre governors to schools that need the most support and to appoint candidates irrespective of any political affiliation or preference. Authorities may appoint minor authority representatives, e.g. district and parish councillors, as authority governors. s governors are appointed by the school's founding body, church or other organisation named in the school's instrument of government. If the school has a religious character, the foundation governors must preserve and develop this. They must also ensure compliance with the trust deed, if there is one. If a foundation school has no foundation or equivalent body, the foundation governors are replaced by partnership governors appointed by the governing body after a nomination process. Clerk to s The clerk has an important part to play in making sure the governing body's work is well organised. Some local authorities (LAs) offer a clerking service to governing bodies if they pay a subscription