St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Local Governing Committee

What do governors do?

The role of a Governor within a multi academy trust is an important one. In developing a governance structure, the Trust has sought to ensure that as much as possible the responsibility to govern is vested in those closest to the impact of decision making and that such responsibility matches the capacity of those assuming responsibility.

The Trust Board has established Local Governing Committees for each of the Academies, for the most part made up of individuals drawn from the Academy’s community, both as elected and appointed members, with an emphasis on appropriate skills and experience.

The Governors serving on such Local Governing Committees are accountable to the Trust Board (which in turn of course is accountable to the Bishop, the Members and to the Department for Education) as well as to the communities they serve.

Whilst not trustees under charity law, nevertheless, the Governors are under a duty to act in good faith and in the best interests of the Academy and the Trust, which includes all the Academies. This duty includes a responsibility to do the following:

• to ensure the Academy complies with its legal obligations
• to fulfil the charitable object of the Trust
• to act with integrity and to avoid any personal conflicts of interest and not to misuse any charitable funds or assets of the Academy or the Trust
• to act prudently in the financial management of the Academy, avoiding putting any assets, funds or reputation of the Academy or the Trust at undue risk
• to exercise reasonable care and skill, using personal knowledge and experience to ensure the Academy is well run and efficient
• to act responsibly, getting advice from others from within the Trust and if appropriate external professional advisors
• to act as an ambassador of the Trust and in a way which is consistent with the vision and values of the Trust.

Governors must act independently and in the best interest of the Academy even if those interests conflict with those of the body or organisation that might have appointed or nominated them to serve on the Local Governing Committee.

 Governors must comply with the Trust’s Conflict of Interest Policy.

The specific tasks and responsibilities of the Governors are as follows:

• to fulfil the vision and ethos of the Trust in so far as it relates to the Academy, ensuring that the Academy achieves the aims and ambitions it has for its pupils, having regard in particular to the benefits of being part of a family of Catholic schools which stresses the importance of collaboration and mutual support
• to implement and review from time to time the strategic plan for the Academy (including any initial Action Plan), focussing on the Academy’s performance and achieving sustained school improvement and having regard to any locally agreed priorities identified by the Headship team
• to act as a critical friend to the Academy’s senior Headship team, being ready to challenge and hold senior leaders to account for all aspects of the Academy’s performance
• to oversee the management of the finances of the Academy, assessing the annual budget prepared by the Academy’s Headteacher (with the support of the Academy’s senior Headship team) and submitting such for approval by the Trust Board, ensuring that the Academy works within its budget and the Academy’s senior Headship team adopts and implements appropriate risk and financial management policies and practices including in particular any adopted by the Trust Board for application across all the Academies
• to support the Academy’s Headteacher in the development and review (from time to time) of an appropriate staffing structure for the Academy, ensuring there is robust and accountable monitoring of the performance of staff and implementing all and any policies relating to staff adopted by the Trust Board
• to support the Trust Board in its monitoring and evaluation of the delivery of any central or shared services and functions provided or procured by the Trust for the Academies, reporting any issues or concerns to the Central Team and, if necessary, the Chair of the Trust Board
• to promote the benefits of collaboration with the other Academies and to actively seek opportunities to work together either with the aim of improving economic efficiencies within the Academies or identifying and implementing best practice
• to develop effective links within the Academy’s community, communicating openly and frequently as appropriate and ensuring that the Academy meets its 18 responsibilities to the community and the Diocese and serves the community’s needs in relation to the safeguarding and education of its pupils
• to engage fully and openly with any inspection of the Academy, whether by the Trust Board, the Diocese, Ofsted or any other appropriate public body to whom the Academy is accountable.

Individual Governors may be given primary responsibility for particular functions such as standards, finance, premises and resources with the view to matching skills and experience to functions. This will not affect collective and overall individual responsibility but Governors are expected to use their skills and experience in the fulfilment of their duties.

The following are the core competencies and skills expected of all Governors:  

• to work as a team
• to attend meetings and be prepared to contribute to discussions and commit to agreed actions
• to be respectful of the views of others and to be open to new ideas and thoughts
• to treat all confidential information confidentially
• to develop a deep understanding of the vision and ethos of the Trust and its Academies and the roles played by all individuals in fulfilment of the Trust’s mission
• to understand the policies and procedures of the Trust and how these flow down to the Academy
• to support the Trust in public and act as an ambassador of the Trust and the Academy and Catholic education more generally
• to commit to training and skills development
• to be ready to ask questions
• to be focussed on problem solving and be ready to learn from past experiences.

Specific skills may be needed if a Governor is to take responsibility for and lead on a specific area. A regular skills audit will be undertaken and Governors should expect to be able to articulate their contribution to the success of the Academy.

Instrument of Governance

The Local Governing Committee is made of:

• 6 Foundation Governors
• 1 Parent Governor
• 1 Staff Governor
• 1 Headteacher Governor

Also on the Governing Body are:

• 1 Associate Member - School Finance Manager
• 1 Associate Member - Teacher

Types of Governor

Parent Governors: these are elected by parents of the children at the school - or they may be appointed by the governing body if no-one stands for election;

Foundation Governors: are appointed by the Bishop of Brentwood Diocese

Staff Governors: these are elected by the staff at the school and may cover both teaching and non-teaching staff.

The Headteacher: is a governor at their own school by right.

Associate Members: are not governors, and do not have a vote at full governing body meetings. However, they are entitled to attend those meetings and to be sent the papers for them.

Lloyd Evans - Chair of Governors (Foundation Governor)

Lloyd is a former pupil of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and his two children were also educated here.  He works as an engineer for a local automotive manufacturer where he trained as an electrical engineer. Lloyd is keen to apply his skills to support the school as well as developing new ones.  He is looking forward to contributing to the school’s  success by giving pupils the educational opportunities that he and his children enjoyed.

Miss Saul - (Headteacher) 

Miss Saul’s commitment to teach started in Wales, where she grew up one of seven children, helping weekly at a group run for disabled teenagers and also with the disabled children to whom her family  gave ‘respite care’.  Through this experience, she saw that each and every child has potential and was determined to try and achieve this with the children in her care.  

Qualifying as a teacher in Liverpool 1997, she initially taught in Cheshire before responding to an national newspaper advertisement to teach in Thurrock which simply read: ‘No Headteacher.  Ugly building.  Longest school nationally in Special Measures. But you’ll love it!’  After two terms, the school came out of measures and Miss Saul stayed at the school, now as Acting Deputy Headteacher, until the following Ofsted inspection which recognised the continuing improvements.  

As a practising and committed Catholic, Miss Saul’s next move was to a Thurrock Catholic school where she complemented her experience in teaching every year group from Nursery to Year 6.  

In September 2009, Miss Saul moved to St Joseph’s to take up the post of Deputy Headteacher.  During this period, she was Acting Headteacher for eleven months and is proud of the school’s progress during this time which was recognised by HMI.  Returning to her role as Deputy Headteacher in April 2014, she continued to strive for school improvement at every level in order for St Joseph’s to achieve its potential and achieve a ‘Good’ grading from Ofsted in 2016.

Now in her post as Headteacher from April 2019, she hopes to continue the school’s development journey both spiritually and academically.

Sr. Paula Cleary  (Foundation Governor)

Sr. Paula Cleary has been a governor at St. Joseph’s since 2011 and previously had nine year’s experience of governorship at another primary school in the Southwark Diocese. She has just recently retired from her nursing position which involved the management of neurological disability and terminal illness. She has quite a broad educational background and as a Sister of Mercy has been involved in many voluntary activities in addition to paid employment. An area of particular commitment for her is social justice and care of the disadvantaged. Over more than 20 years she has provided voluntary advocacy and support to asylum-seekers and vulnerable individuals in their struggles to deal with Government agencies. She brings to the role of governor a deep concern for the welfare happiness and success of each child and the conviction that a broad well-balanced education is the key to future well-being.

Chris Shaw - Vice Chair of Governors (Foundation Governor)

Chris has been a governor at St Joseph’s since March 2014. He retired 4 years ago having worked 13 years as a senior accountant at Queen Mary, University of London.  Prior to Queen Mary, Chris worked for 30 years for BT mainly as an accountant in various offices in London. Chris’ children attended St Joseph’s from 1979 to 1997 and his grandchild has attended since 2009. Chris feels honoured to be a governor and has a passion to do his best in supporting the school and the children who attend.

Katie Standley (Parent Governor)

I am a former pupil of St Joseph’s and have a long standing association with the school because of this. I have three sons, two of which have now left St Joseph’s, whilst the youngest is in Year 2. I have been an active part of the PTA over many years, including taking the role of chairperson for a while. I have also been a volunteer hearing readers in school and helping when needed. When the role of Parent Governor came up I felt that it was something I would like to do to contribute to the school further.

Daniel Smith (Staff Governor)

Daniel is a former pupil of St Joseph's and has had a long association with the school both in a voluntary capacity and since 2013 as a teaching assistant and more recently becoming a class teacher. He has a lot of experience working with SEND children and running intervention groups and is committed to ensuring the children feel safe and happy during their time here at St Joseph's. 

Shelagh Orritt (Foundation Governor)

I have been associated with St.Joseph's Catholic Primary school since the 1980's when both my daughters attended the school. They both thoroughly enjoyed their time at the school and received an excellent education. Indeed, they have both gone on to pursue careers in education. I retired six years ago, having held the post of Head of R.E in a local secondary school for many years, and would like to use my experience to support the further development of St. Joseph's as our parish community Catholic school.

THE CHRISTUS CATHOLIC TRUST

ST JOSEPHS CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

COMMITTEE & PANEL MEMBERSHIP

October 2020

RESOURCES COMMITTEE  (Finance, Premises, Personnel)

Mr C Shaw

Mr L Evans

Sister P Cleary

Miss R Saul

Mrs K Finley (Associate)

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (Pupil Progress, Curriculum & Pupil Matters)

Mrs S Orritt

Mr D Smith

Ms C Manning

Miss R Saul

Mrs K Standley

Mrs K Marshall (Associate)

ADMISSIONS

Mrs S Orritt

Mr D Smith

Miss R Saul

Mrs S Tree (Adviser)

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & PAY (including Headteacher’s)

Mr C Shaw

Sister P Cleary

SAFER RECRUITMENT
Mr C Shaw

Sister P Cleary

PAY APPEALS

Mr L Evans plus 2 Governors

STAFF DISMISSAL APPEAL

Panel of 3 Governors

COMPLAINTS

Mr L Evans plus 2 Governors

RE/ Equality, Diversity, British Values, Community Cohesion

Sister P Cleary, Mrs S Orritt

Health, Safety and Security

Mr L Evans and Resources Committee

SIRO, Data Protection, E-Safety

Mr D Smith

Pupil, Parent and Staff Voice

Mrs S Orritt and Curriculum Committee

Safeguarding, Child Protection, Behaviour, Discipline & Anti-Bullying

Mrs S Orritt and Sister P Cleary (Designated Safeguarding Governor)

SEND, Pupil Premium, Accessibility

Ms C Manning

Governors can be contacted via

admin@stjosephsprimary.thurrock.sch.uk

Suggestions and Comments

If you would like to put forward any suggestions or comments to the Governing Body, please click on the link below and complete the online contact form.  Please note that any complaints should be submitted using the school's published complaints procedure.