Meet the Governors

The Governing Body

The Governing Body has responsibility to oversee the effective performance of the school, to give strategic guidance, to allocate resources and, above all, to support the school in its work. We keep a close eye on pupils’ achievement and targets; we monitor the curriculum; we visit the school throughout the year to meet staff and observe lessons. We manage the school’s finances in conjunction with the Head Teacher. We also help to appoint teaching staff and are involved in the staff performance and pay system. For further information, please see the Department for Education (DfE) website:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance

Our committees include:

 Curriculum

 Finance

 Personnel and General Purposes

 Premises

For details of the structure and remits of our committees, please see further down this page.

Governors also undertake Link Governor roles. This means that they take a special interest in a key area such as literacy, mathematics, SEND/Inclusion, Safeguarding, Communication, IT, Pupil Premium, Science and Gifted and Talented. These Governors visit the school regularly to liaise with staff members involved and report back to the Board of Governors regularly.

Current areas of Focus for Governors

At the moment the Governing Body are particularly involved in the following:

 Curriculum development including intent, implementation and impact of all subject areas;

 Further development of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths);

 Effective delivery of SEND support across the school to promote progress for all.

Jane Whittaker, Co-opted Governor Emily DeAbaitua, Parent Governor Cathryn Downing, Headteacher

(Appointed by the Governing Body) (Elected by Parents) (Ex-officio)

11 May 2020 - 10 May 2024 18 Nov 2019 - 17 Nov 2023

Nicholas Broughall, Cllr John Lamb Kate Murdock

(Elected by Parents) (Appointed by the Local Authority) (Appointed by the Governing Body) 20 Oct 2017 - 19 Oct 2021 17 Sept 2019 - 16 Sept 2023 29 Nov 2016 - 28 Nov 2020

Richard Odell Asst Headteacher Sarah Price, Head of School

(Appointed by the Governing Body) (Appointed by staff)

18 June 2018 - 17 June 2022 9 Oct 2019 - 8 Oct 2023

Nuala Powell Maria Ratnarajah Pippa Ravenscroft

(Appointed by the Governing Body) (Appointed by Parents) (Appointed by the Governing Body)

30 Jan 2019 - 3 Feb 2022 18 Nov 2019 - 17 Nov 2023 3 Oct 2018 - 7 Oct 2022

Martin Dolce (Retired Nov 2020) Sinead Hesp (Retired Nov 2020)

(Elected by Parents) (Elected by Parents)

29 Nov 2016 - 28 Nov 2020 29 Nov 2016 - 28 Nov 2020

Committee Structure & Remits 2020-21

Curriculum

All Governors are automatically members of the Curriculum Committee.

Chair - Ms Pippa Ravenscroft

Finance

Membership of the Finance Committee is as follows;

Mrs Cathryn Downing, Cllr John Lamb, Mrs S Price, Dr M Ratnarajah (Chair) & Mrs Jane Whittaker

Personnel & General Purposes

Membership of the Personnel & General Purposes Committee is as follows;

Mrs Cathryn Downing, Mrs Kate Murdock, Mrs Nuala Powell (Chair), Ms Pippa Ravenscroft & Mrs Jane Whittaker

Premises

Membership of the Personnel & General Purposes Committee is as follows;

Mr Nicholas Broughall, Mrs DeAbaitua, Mr Martin Dolce, Mrs Cathryn Downing, Mr Richard Odell & Mrs Nuala Powell (Chair)

Attendance at Full Governing Body Meetings

Governor	Governor Type	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21
Mr Nicholas Broughall	Parent	3/4	3/3	1/1
Mrs Emily DeAbaitua	Parent	N/A	2/2	1/1
Mr Martin Dolce	Retired Nov 2020 (Parent)	4/4	3/3	1/1
Mrs Cathy Downing	Headteacher	4/4	3/3	1/1
Mrs Sinead Hesp	Retired Nov 2020 (Parent)	4/4	3/3	1/1
Cllr John Lamb	Authority	1/2	1/3	1/1
Mrs Kate Murdock	Co-Opted	4/4	2/3	0/1
Mr Richard Odell	Co-Opted	2/2	3/3	1/1
Mrs Nuala Powell	Co-Opted	4/4	3/3	1/1
Mrs Sarah Price	Staff	4/4	3/3	1/1
Dr Maria Ratnarajah	Parent	N/A	2/2	1/1
Ms Pippa Ravenscroft	Co-Opted	1/2	3/3	1/1
Mrs Jane Whittaker	Co-Opted	4/4	2/3	1/1

Declaration of Interests 2020-21

Name of Governor	Role	Name of Business/ Associated Interest	Nature of Business	Nature of Interest	Date Interest Commenced
Mr Nicholas Broughall	Parent Governor	Nothing to Declare	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mrs Emily DeAbaitua	Parent Governor	Nothing to Declare	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mr Martin Dolce	Retired Nov 2020	Nothing to Declare	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mrs Cathryn Downing	Headteacher	Mrs Christine Higgins	Sister-in-Law is employee	Sister-in-Law is employee	2015
Mrs Sinead Hesp	Retired Nov 2020	University of Manchester	University	Employee	2010
Cllr John Lamb	Local Authority Governor	Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council	Local Authority	Councillor	2003
		Raising Performance	Management Consultancy	Managing Director	2005
		New Leadership Foundation	Public Sector Leadership Organisation	Director	2010
		West Trafford Learning Partnership	Governing Board for Ashton on Mersey & Broadoak Schools	Chairman	2015
Mrs Kate Murdock	Co-opted Governor	Trafford LCO	NHS	Employee	2010
Mr Richard Odell	Co-opted Governor	Stamford Park Junior School	Assistant Headteacher	Employee	2008
Mrs Anne Nuala Powell	Co-opted Governor	Nothing to Declare	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mrs Sarah Price	Staff Governor	Stamford Park Junior School	Head of School	Employee	2015
Mrs Sarah Price	Staff Governor	Standards & Testing Agency	Education	Assessment Advisor	2014
Dr Maria Ratnarajah	Parent Governor	Ratnarajah Medical Services Ltd	Provider of GP Services	Director	2014
Dr Maria Ratnarajah	Parent Governor	Extracellular	Private GP & Lifestyle Medicine Co	Director	2018
Ms Pippa Ravenscroft	Co-opted Governor	Nothing to Declare	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mrs Jane Whittaker	Chair/Co-opted Governor	Nothing to Declare	N/A	N/A	N/A

How to contact the Governors

You can contact the governors via the school office. If you wish to contact the Chair of the Governing Body please leave your details with the school office and she will get in touch.

Clerk to the Governors

Trust GS, 28-32 Greenwood Street, Altrincham, WA14 1RZ. Contact: Julie Lawson, 0161 348 7188

Our Governors