What do Governors do?
Governors are often described as being critical friends of the School. They represent the local community on the governing body and represent the School within the local community.
School governors are people who want to make a positive contribution to children’s education. Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country and have an important part to play in raising school standards. Our Governors bring their own specialist knowledge and experience to help our school thrive.
How our Governing Committee is Structured
All Governors meet half termly. At the governing committee meetings we discuss a range of areas from academic performance to financial and premises managements. Governors are appointed based on the skills and expertise they can bring to the school and as a result of this, governors occasionally take on specific additional responsibilities as and when required.
Getting in Touch
If you wish to get in touch with the governors to compliment the work of the school or pass on a concern or criticism, please pass this through the school office. If the message is confidential, please ensure it is in an envelope marked as such and include your contact details so that the governors can address you directly without needing to ask the school to provide contact details.
Our Governing Body
The most important thing about our school is the people in it. At Melbourne Primary we are very proud of both our staff and the children and the way they contribute to the calm, positive and productive atmosphere that visitors always comment on. We believe that children are happy at Melbourne and see our school as a place where they can achieve and succeed.
My three children were at Melbourne School and now one of my grandsons is in Dragonflies class. I wanted to give something back to the school, supporting all the amazing work the staff do for our children and their commitment to high standards, through the many changes in education policies and practices. As a result I have been a school governor at Melbourne for well over thirty years, through some challenging times! I am a retired professional librarian, and worked in York University Library in various roles. I am Chair of Seaton Ross Parish Council. I enjoy reading and walking and am interested in local history, I recently helped to write a history of Woldgate School with other members of the Pocklington Local History Group.
Trust Appointed:
I am a retired secondary headteacher and have been a school governor in both primary and secondary schools for over 30 years. As a headteacher, I greatly valued the advice and support offered by my governors and wanted to offer my experience and expertise to my new local community. I feel privileged to have been a governor at Melbourne for the last 5 years and my twin grandsons are currently in Dragonfly class. I am a Parish Councillor in the village and attend several U3A groups. I am a keen walker, an avid reader and a massive sports fan with a dry sense of humour – hence my season ticket at York City FC!
After studying Physical Education at university and volunteering for many years in primary schools, I found that teaching was my passion and studied for a further year, working in schools in the east riding, to gain my QTS.
7 years ago, I began my first teaching job at Stamford Bridge Primary school. Over the next 6 years, I taught mainly in UKS2, lead PE and English, and was a key part of the 2019 Good OFSTED inspection. In 2021, I took the opportunity to join Melbourne as assistant head with an aim to develop my leadership skills and support staff to progress the school and provide the best possible education for our pupils.
Outside of school, I am big fan of sport and fitness, regularly playing football, running and more recently attempting to play golf.
Trust Appointed:
I moved to Melbourne from Leeds just before lockdown in March 2020. I am a retired civil servant, working as a project manager in Leeds having moved up from Reading in 1992. I have two daughters, one living in Sheffield and one in Amsterdam. I have always been interested in education as my mother was a primary school teacher. I was a member (and chair) of the Governing Body at Manston Primary School for many years and I also spent 2 years as a governor at John Smeaton Academy in Leeds. I must say that I enjoyed my time working with the primary school considerably more than the high school and am looking forward to being able to use my knowledge and experience at Melbourne Primary School.
I am a parent governor at Melbourne Primary School where my son is currently in the Kingfishers class. Our family relocated to the area from Leeds in November 2020 and we have loved it here since.
I have teaching experience in both primary schools in the UK and abroad. I have MA in Education with specialism in linguistics and over the years have transitioned to work in the Higher Education (HE) where I have been a lecturer on the BA Primary Education course and currently work on the postgraduate teacher training course. I specialise in distance learning in HE with an emphasis on accessibility and inclusive practice.
I have previously supported a large scout group as a member of the executive team and aim to bring my skills and knowledge to help Melbourne primary school to continue to thrive.
In my free time I enjoying reading, running and going on an outdoor adventure with my family.
What do Governors do?
The Local Governing Body (LGB) acts as a governance committee of the Wonder Learning Partnership’s Trust Board whose overarching, core, functions and responsibilities are prescribed as follows:
- to ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- to hold executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
- to oversee and ensuring effective financial performance
In our case, the LGCs play a crucial role in supporting the work of the Trust Board, it’s Committees and, in turn, the School itself, through:
- being a local point of consultation and review on matters such as policy, vision and strategy
- representing the views of the School and its stakeholders to the Trust Board
- scrutinising detailed information on pupil progress and attainment and, if necessary, challenging assumptions
- helping to monitor the effective and proper use of finances
- monitoring key policies, such as safeguarding, for their effectiveness
- monitoring progress being made towards meeting key strategic priorities and aims
- carrying out panel work when required
- contributing to the recruitment and performance management of key staff
Meetings are convened, formally, once every half term to attend to its business and address those roles and responsibilities prescribed and delegated to it from the Trust Board. Running alongside this, and set out as part of those delegated responsibilities, the we also appoint its Governors to Panels and Link Governor Roles. These roles enable and require a more direct involvement with the school including undertaking visits to the school and meeting with the Headteachers and members of staff.
According to Ofsted, “…where governance is good, standards of attainment are more likely to be higher than in other schools. The quality of teaching, the behaviour of the pupils, and leadership and management are also more likely to be good. Where governance is weak, schools are more likely to be less successful overall.”
“Governors have a wide range of skills and expertise to support the school’s work and do so effectively. They, too, are ambitious for the school and are confident in asking searching questions about the school’s performance, any proposed actions to make improvements and the impact of these actions to accelerate pupils’ progress. They are astute in recruiting high-calibre staff because they want the best for the school, and hold leaders to account effectively for the progress pupils make.” OFSTED October 2017
We would warmly welcome anyone interested in becoming a Governor at our school contact the school office where we can put you in touch with our Chair of Governors to informally talk through any preliminary questions which you may have.
If there aren’t any vacancies available, it may be that there are other school’s within our Trust who would really benefit from your skills and experience. If you would be interested in supporting another school in the Trust, please do contact us.
For any issues concerning any element of the school, please in the first instance, discuss this with the class teacher or senior leaders as appropriate. If you do not feel the matter has been resolved to your satisfaction, then you can write to Mrs J Henley c/o the school.