Governors
Welcome to the section of the website where you can find out more about the Governors and the work that they do.
Governors have an important role which is to ensure high standards of achievement for all children and young people in the school by:
- Setting the school's vision, ethos and strategic direction.
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governor Appointment:
Parent Governors are elected by and from the parents and carers of students at a school. Staff Governors are elected by and from teachers and staff at a school. Co-opted Governors are appointed by the governing body.
Categories of Governor:
- Local Education Authority (LEA) Governor - nominated by Hertfordshire County Council
- Parent Governors - are elected by and from the parents.
- Staff Governors - elected by and from the staff.
- Co-opted Governors - people appointed by the Governing Body who have particular experience or skills which can contribute to the effectiveness of the governing body.
- Ex-officio Governors - Governors by virtue of their office, ie the Headteacher.
Current members of the Governing Body:
You will find below a list of current Governing Body. As well as their name you will see details of their membership including date of their appointment. The term of office for a governor is 4 years.
Click on the links below to find out more about each of our current governors:
Liz Aston (Co-opted) - Co-Chair from 06.05.20 - 05.05.24
Jess Bentley (Co-opted) - Co-Chair from 11.09.22 - 10.09.26
Paige Oakley (Staff) from 30.10.23 to 30.10.27
Sandy Reid (Co-opted) from 01.09.19 - 31.08.23
Nikki Etienne (Head Teacher) from 01.09.19 - 31.08.23
Jo Joel (Parent) from 01.09.2021 - 31.08.25
Jan Smith (Co-opted) from 1.11.21 - 31.10.25
Anna Pattle (Co-opted) from 1.10.22 - 30.9.26
Fleur Bateman-Martin (Parent) from 1.09.23 - 31.08.27
Anouska Bowtell (Parent) from 1.09.23 - 31.08.27
Structure and Committees:
The overarching work of the governors is conducted by meetings of the full Governing Body which are held at least once each term. In addition to the full Governing Body, the work of the Governing body is shared between three committees, each with a specific responsibility;
Resources: monitors how the school spends its money and how it looks after the school, and pre-school premises. This committee is also responsible for personnel matters.
The current membership of the Resources Committee is:
- Jessica Bentley (Chair of Resources)
- Sandy Reid
- Nikki Etienne (Head Teacher)
- Anna Pattle
- Fleur Bateman Martin
Standards: takes responsibility for the pupils' attainment, progress and the content of the curriculum.
Current members of the Standards Committee are:
- Liz Aston (Chair of Standards)
- Paige Oakley
- Nikki Etienne (Head Teacher)
- Jan Smith
- Jo Joel
- Anouska Bowtell
In addition to the above, there are three further committees that meet as and when the need arises;
- Headteachers Performance
- Discipline
- Complaints
All committees report back to the main Governing body. The committees meet at least twice each term so every governor has to invest a great deal of time to fulfil their responsibilities effectively.
Link Governors:
Link Governors are those who have been assigned to a specific focus of school life. This year includes:
- Early Years
- Safeguarding (Jan Smith)
- Sports Premium & Wellbeing (Sandy Reid)
- Equality (Jessica Bentley)
- SEND (Jo Joel)
- Data Protection (Nikki Etienne)
- Policies
The role of a Link Governor is:
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to take an interest in and gain more detailed knowledge of their area of responsibility
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to know what is contained in the School Plan for their area
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to be involved in the review of the School Plan for their area and to be part of the planning process
-
to help the governing body in its critical friend role by asking questions about progress and challenging appropriately about attainment in their area
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to report back at agreed intervals either to the appropriate committee or the full governing body
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to work in full partnership with the headteacher and the school leadership team.
Other statutory information about the Governors:
Relevant and pecuniary interests
Nikki Etienne is employed at the school.
Paige Oakley is employed at the school.