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The Governing Body

Ten Governors sit on the Governing Body of Slimbridge Primary School. We provide the strategic direction to the school and work hard to help the staff provide high-quality education for every child. Of course, when we say education, we don’t just mean numeracy, literacy, science and so forth. We want to offer children so much more and we’re delighted to be part of a school that builds children’s confidence through praise, encouragement and experience.

The Full Governing Body meets six times a year, and we have additional meetings each term for our three committees:

Finance and Premises

The Finance and Premises Committee oversees all the financial aspects of the running of the school, monitoring expenditure, approving the budget and agreeing the final accounts. All aspects of the school premises are also managed, including capital bids for renovation and new building projects.

Safeguarding, Welfare and Personnel

The Safeguarding, Welfare and Personnel Committee is responsible for all aspects related to safeguarding/child protection and safer recruitment, as well as ensuring that that the needs of children with Special Educational Needs are being met. The committee also oversees and reviews the staff structure in consultation with the Head Teacher, as well as the appointment, appraisal and capability procedures.

Teaching and Learning

The Teaching and Learning Committee oversees and monitors all matters relating to the school’s curriculum, monitoring the target-setting, delivery and outcome of teaching across the school by reviewing data and school improvement action plans.

Each Governor also has individual responsibilities, such as ‘Literacy Governor’, as detailed in the Governors’ Profiles below.

Governor business interests

All governors declare in writing any financial and business interests at the start of the first Full Governing Body meeting of the school year.

Governors also have to declare any financial interests verbally at the beginning of every committee meeting.

We have summarised the information about our current governors, including business interests, areas of responsibility and attendance record, in the table below. If you have any questions, please contact either our clerk, Mrs Nikki Elliott (via the school office) or me (either directly or via chair@slimbridge.gloucs.sch.uk).

Our policy on allowances for Governors is available from the Policies page

Governors' responsibilities, interests and attendance

Abbreviations: F/T, full-time; GB, Governing Body; HTPR, Head Teacher’s Performance Review; NA, not appropriate; P/T, part-time; SEND, special educational needs and disabilities; SHWP, Safeguarding, Welfare, Health and Safety and Personnel; T&L, Teaching and Learning; WWT, Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust
*Parent governors are appointed if no election is held (for example, if only one person is nominated)

Use the scrolling bar under the table to see all the information

Name	Governor category	Appointed by:	Started:	Current term runs to:	Committees	Responsibilities	Business interests	Also a governor at:	Relationships with school/staff (incl spouses, partners, relatives)	Actual attendance/possible attendance (committees and full GB) 15–16	Actual attendance/possible attendance (committees and full GB) 16–17
Alison Cooke	Ex officio	NA		NA	All		None	None	Head	24/24	To be added
Patricia Carrington	Local Authority	GB		30 Nov 2018	SHWP F&P	Safeguarding Maths Pay Panel	None	None	None	16/18	To be added
Sarah Kiddle	Parent	Election			T&L F&P	SEND Arts/Social & Cultural/Humanities Pay Panel	None	None	None	1/1	To be added
Lucy Holder	Parent	Election		10 Oct 2021	T&L	PE/physical development/outdoor	None	None	None	1/1	To be added
Adrian Peatman	Co-opted	GB		11 May 2019	F&P	GGA liaison	None	Rednock School	None	12/12	To be added
Chris Ford	Staff	Election			T&L F&P	None	None	None	F/T teacher at school	15/18	To be added
Emily Farnsworth	Parent*	GB		28 March 2021	T&L	Early years	Private tutor	None	Voluntary reading provision with possibility of some paid teaching (to be declared)	2/2	To be added
Steve Williamson	Co-opted	GB		11 May 2019	T&L	HTPR Staff development Literacy	None	None	None	16/18	To be added
Helen Tilly		Associate member appointed by GB		28 March 2018	F&P	MAT	None	None	P/T teacher
Adrian Jordan	Parent	Election	25 Sept 2017	25 Sept 2021	SHWP	IT & Computing	None	None	None
Linda Dibley	Co-opted	GB	10 Oct 2017	10 Oct 2021	F&P	Disadvantaged Children	None	None	None

Governors’ Profiles

Governors Blog

Governors Blog – Term 1

Posted on November 1, 2018

It seems unbelievable that we are nearly at the end of our first term and Summer has given way to Autumn. The Harvest Festival service has been held and those who have need of the Food Bank will be extremely grateful for your generosity.

The new Reception class are settling in well and don’t they look cute? As usual, it’s been a busy time for everyone, settling into new classes and routines after the summer break.

What does the Autumn term hold for us as Governors? Over the summer Governors and Senior Leaders have been putting together two important documents: the Slimbridge Primary School Self-Evaluation Form, and the School Development Plan. In a nutshell these will collectively look at where we are now, (strengths and areas to develop), where we want to be over the next 3-5 years and how we intend getting there. The views of all stakeholders will feed into this, (such as some of your responses in the parent questionnaire) as well as data analysis, the quality of teaching and learning, the social, moral and emotional development of our children and the quality of leadership and management. We have had our first term of meetings which focused on the key objectives in these documents, and included looking at the financial, teaching and learning and overall welfare of the school and its buildings to ensure that the children’s school experience is positive, rewarding and enables them ultimately to move on to secondary education as confident, enquiring and well-rounded individuals. This term also sees the start of our annual cycle of review of policies for the school, many of which are published on the school website.

Paramount to everything we do, is the importance of keeping the children safe. Communication is key. If you have any concerns at any time, please let the school know and we will ensure that these are followed up and resolved.

As a gentle reminder, please ensure footpaths on your way to and from school do not become hazardous places with children riding scooters when crowded with other pedestrians. Also, when parking on the road, car doors are opened responsibly.

As you know, there are a number of car parking spaces available at the British Legion and it would ease the congestion considerably in St John’s Road if these were fully utilized. We are working with the County Council to once again look at providing access into the school via the recreation ground and bridges and hopefully, this will be implemented in the near future. We will keep you posted!

We are looking forward to the concert by the school in Church on 8 November as part of the village commemorations for WWI and Slimbridge History Society also has a number of events planned around that time. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn about this period of history and its relevance to our community. As Governors, many of us will be at these events so please speak to us!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you have any comments or suggestions we can be contacted by emailing chair@slimbridge.gloucs.sch.uk

Tricia Carrington & Sarah Kiddle

Co-Chair of Governors

New Term and New Governors

Posted on October 4, 2017

Firstly, a huge thank you to Laura, who has stepped down as Chair of Governors and a Parent Governor after an amazing nine years – nine years that have seen huge successes in the achievements and progress of the school. Thank you very much, Laura – a very tough act to follow!

We have two new governors joining us this term – the Governing Body is very pleased to welcome Adrian Jordan onto the team as our newest Parent Governor and Linda Dibley becomes our latest Co-Opted Governor (what used to be called Community Governors).

For the first time in over a year, this means we now have a full complement of governors (the Governing Body comprises ten governors – the Head Teacher, a Staff Governor, four Parent Governors, three Co-Opted Governors and a Local Authority Governor). With a number of relatively new recruits in the team – Emily, Lucy, Linda and Adrian have all joined us within the last six to eight months – this influx of ‘new blood’ will be invaluable, providing fresh perspectives on the challenges we face through the year.

We have had good results from last year – attainment and progress improved on the previous year, with the focus on reading and spelling having significant effect. The staff and governors will obviously be looking to maintain this momentum across the school this year, as well as focusing on supporting disadvantaged pupils, challenging more-able children and developing greater awareness of our multi-cultural society

Tricia Carrington and I are now sharing the role of Chair of Governors, with Sarah Kiddle as Vice-Chair. As you probably know, Sarah also set up the Parents’ Forum last year, with parent representatives from each class involved. This gives a great opportunity for parents to have their say – and I believe there is still a vacancy for a parent from Reception class if anyone is interested?

Communication is always a key issue, and we are going to be looking at the best ways to communicate children’s progress to parents. We are always keen to hear your thoughts about the school, so please either contact Sarah through the Parents’ Forum or, if you would rather contact Tricia or me directly, email us on chair@slimbridge.gloucs.sch.uk, or contact us via Nikki Elliott in the Office.

Steve Williamson

Co-Chair of Governors

Annual report to parents

Posted on July 23, 2017

The Governors’ Annual report to parents 2017 is now available

New Parent Governor

Posted on July 12, 2017

The Governing Body is delighted to welcome Lucy Holder, whose daughter is currently in class 2, as a new Parent Governor (elected unopposed). We have a second vacancy, and strongly encourage anyone interested to talk to a Governor and find out more about the role. As I will no longer have any children at the School from September, I feel I should no longer be a Parent Governor at the School, and therefore I’m stepping down as Governor (and hence Chair) at the end of the summer. The Governing Body has elected Steve Williamson and Tricia Carrington as Co-Chairs from September, with Sarah Kiddle as Vice-Chair. With the new Governors and Co-and Vice Chairs, the Governing Body will be in a strong position to provide effective support and strategic leadership next year. I thank all the Governors with whom I have worked over the last 9 years, and wish the current Governing Body every success in the future. I also take this opportunity to thank all the staff for their support.

Laura Price

Summer term

Posted on June 4, 2017

I can’t believe we are starting the final term of the school year. Years 6 and 2 did their SATs last term, and the Governors thank the children and their teaching staff for their approach to these tests, which provide important information for and about the school. We also thank the parents and staff who provided the Year 6s with their special breakfasts, afternoon treats and end of week party.

I also take this chance to say a massive thank you to the fantastic parents, carers and family members who work so hard for FOSS. The children and the school as a whole have benefitted in many, many ways from their generosity, and we really are very lucky to have such a dedicated team.

This is the term in which Governors meet with staff to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the school over the academic year, and plan how we will improve and meet some of the challenges next year. As part of this process, we will be asking for your views and those of your children in a survey. If you’d like to discuss any points in person, you can either take them to the newly formed Parents’ Forum (there are representatives in each class) or to any of the Governors (via Mrs Elliott in the school office). If you’d like to contact me, my email is chair@slimbridge.gloucs.sch.uk. I’d be very happy to listen to your views and feed them into the review process. We will also have at least one Parent Governor vacancy at the end of this term, so there will be an opportunity for more hands-on involvement if you want to become more closely involved. Again, talk to any of the Governors to find out more about the role.

I should also say that we have revised our Complaints procedure, and you can get a copy from the website or the school office. In a nutshell, though, if you’re not happy about something or you’re just not sure, talk to your child’s teacher in the first instance.

I wish you and your family a fantastic summer term – fingers crossed that the sun shines and the children can enjoy all the outside activities that are planned.