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Hayfield Lane Governing Body, Information and Duties

Governors of Hayfield Lane Primary

Governors

Hayfield Lane is supported by its board of Governors which under the terms of the 1998 Education Act is responsible for the curriculum and welfare of pupils, the school’s budget, staff appointments and the care of the buildings.

Structure of our Governing Body

There is one full Governing Body meeting each term at which strategic issues are discussed and decisions made. The Governing Body is then split into two sub-committees: a Strategic Development Committee chaired by Kath Lister: and a Finance, Pupils and Personnel Committee chaired by Andy Hibbitt. Each committee meets at least once a term. It has been decided that all Governors will attend all committee meetings to prepare for succession planning. Where necessary, the Governors are split into two smaller groups where it may be necessary for decisions made to progress to an appeals panel.

The Governing Body of Hayfield Lane consists of:

  • Headteacher
  • Two parent Governors (appointed by parents)
  • One Local Authority Governor (appointed by the Local Authority)
  • One staff Governor (appointed by the school staff)
  • Six co-opted Governors (appointed by the Full Governing Body) - currently one vacancy.

Co-Chair of Governors.

  • James Clark-Allan and Kath Lister. Can be contacted through the school office.

Headteacher

  • Louise Tempest. Remains on the Governing Body as Headteacher.

Parent Governors

  • Jodi Kendall – term of office 24 May 2021 to 23rd May 2025
  • Tamara Lewis - term of office 3rd July 2023 to 2nd July 2027

Local Authority Governor

  • Kath Lister – term of office 2 July 2024 to 1 July 2028

Staff Governor

  • Andrea Law – term of office 20 November 2023 to 19 November 2027

Co-opted Governors

  • James Clark-Allan – term of office 11 February 2023 to 10 February 2027 
  • Sophie Duncan - term of office 24th April 2023 to 23rd April 2027
  • Alastair Gooderham – term of office 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2027
  • Andy Hibbitt - term of office 24th April 2023 to 23rd April 2027
  • Brendan Pell-Culshaw - term of office 11 February 2024 to 10 February 2028
  • Stuart Foster - term office 2nd December 2024 to 1st December 2028

Governors who have resigned/term of office has ended during the last 12 months

Governing Body Full Board Attendance 2022 - 23

  • Autumn Term Meeting 31st October 2022 - All governors present except J Kendall and R Jenkinson (apologies)
  • Spring Term Meeting 16th January 2023 - All governors present except A Law (apologies)
  • Budget Meeting 24th April 2023 - All governors present except A Law and S Toothill (apologies)
  • Summer Term Meeting 18th July 2023 (Via Teams) - All governors present except A Hibbitt, S Duncan, K Lister and A Law (apologies)

Governing Body Full Board Attendance 2023 - 24

  • Rescheduled Summer Term meeting from 10th July 23 (Took place 2nd October 2023) - All governors present except B Pell-Culshaw
  • Autumn Term Meeting 20th November 2023 - All governors present
  • Spring Term Meeting 26th February 2024 - All governors present except K Lister (apologies)
  • Summer Term Meeting 15th July 2024 - All governors except J Kendall and J Clark-Allen (apologies)

Register of Interests

From 1 September 2015, Governing Bodies of maintained schools have a duty to publish their register of interests. This register is required to include the following details:

Any business and pecuniary interests (as recorded in the register of interests) including:

  • Governance roles in other educational establishments
  • Any material interests arising from the relationships between Governors and school staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives

Please see below details of any interests declared by our current Governing Body for the academic year 2024-2025.

Name of Governor
Interest Declared

Louise Tempest

None

Kath Lister

None

James Clark-Allan

None
Sophie Duncan

None

Stuart Foster

Son is Chair of Governors at Hungerhill School

Alastair Gooderham

Pastor of Grace Church – hire the school hall each Sunday.

Son is employed by the school as a relief Midday Supervisor.
Andrew Hibbitt

Deputy CEO of Exceed Learning Partnership Trust

Jodi Kendall

None

Andrea Law

None

Brendan Pell-Culshaw

None

Tamara Lewis

None

Minutes of Governor's meetings are available on request from the school office. Please contact Mrs Harkin, School Business Manager on 01302 770427 or office@hayfieldlane.co.uk

WHAT DO OUR GOVERNORS DO?

Our governors have 3 core functions:

  1. Ensuring the clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school
  2. Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff
  3. Overseeing financial performance of the organisation and making sure that money is well spent.

To ensure that the above occurs, they attend the following meetings each term:

  • FULL BOARD with Strategic Development
  • Finance, Pupils and Personnel

The governors then visit the school to monitor effective spending by seeing the impact on the children. They talk to pupils and get to find out if the vision for the school is being realised.  The governors do this via their GOVERNOR RESEARCH GROUPS, where they work in teams  to examine their core functions in the following categories:

  • Maths
  • English
  • Curriculum
  • Mental wellbeing and SEND provision.

They have termly training sessions where they examine educational research and use quality assurance materials to plot their lines of enquiry to hold school leaders to account.

In addition to this, they employ external consultants to monitor safeguarding and GDPR (data protection) within the school.

A governor representative is always available during one of the PARENTS EVENINGs each term so that parents are able to meet with them or discuss matters. 

The Governing Body-Who are they?

Committee Terms of Reference

Committee Structure and Specific Responsibilities