Meet the Governors

School Governors

The Local Governing Body of St Thomas CE Primary School plays a crucial role in the life and work of our school. It is made up of 10 volunteers from the local and wider community, plus the Headteacher and two members of staff. The role of the Local Governing Body is defined in its constitution.

Our school is part of the Liverpool Diocesan School Trust (LDST), a multi academy trust led by Liverpool Diocese which, “welcomes young people of all faiths and none and is committed to providing each of them with a high quality education and environment where Christian values and principles permeate all that is done”. More information on LDST can be found on the school website and at : http://www.liverpool.anglican.org/Liverpool-Diocesan-Schools-Trust-Update

Governors undertake their roles and responsibilities through committees. There are six committees, they are:

• Full Local Governing Body which meets normally 4 times a year

• Curriculum and Standards

• Resources

• Safeguarding & SEN

• Distinctiveness/Ethos

• Pay and Performance

Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic Notice - please note that due to the exceptional set of circumstances created by the pandemic, all considerations and business critical decisions will taken by a core group of Governors made up of the Chairs of the respective committees until further notice as all face to face Governor meetings have been suspended due to social distancing and current lockdown regulations

In addition, we have ‘lead governors’ who undertake specific monitoring roles in such areas as: Safeguarding, Special Educational Needs and Disability, Pupil Premium, Health and Safety, GDPR.

Governors also undertake ‘learning walks’ in which a group of governors will undertake a visit to school with a specific focus eg how the school assess pupils progress.

The main work of the Local Governing Body is outlined below:

Acting as a critical friend to the school and being accountable for its decisions.
Continuously developing the partnership with parents, carers and pupils and seeking their views to help the Governing Body, Senior Leadership Team and all staff in moving the school forward.
Establishing the strategic direction of the school by ensuring there is clarity of vision, values and objectives.
Agreeing the school improvement strategy with appropriate priorities and targets.
Ensuring accountability by appointing and performance managing the Head Teacher.
Monitoring the educational performance of the school and progress towards agreed targets.
Contributing to the school’s self-evaluation.
Overseeing financial performance by setting the budget, monitoring spending against the budget and ensuring money is well spent and value for money is obtained.

You can find out what we have been doing by looking across the school website which has further information on governing teams, roles, biographies info and links.

St Thomas’ CE Primary School Local Governing Body 2020/21

Headteacher: Mr Mark Ward

Chair: Mrs Jane Dunn

Vice-Chairs: Mrs Rachael Baker & Mr Sean Reck

Clerk to the Governors: Mr Steve Travis

Name	Category	Date Appointed	Appointed by	Term of Office	Roles and Committees
Mrs Emily Alty	Associate	13/03/2019	Local Governing Body	N/A	Deputy Headteacher
Mrs Rachael Baker	Foundation	12/10/2018	Diocese	4 Years	Vice Chair of Governors Vice Chair of Distinctiveness/Ethos
Mrs Joely Gibbons	Foundation	11/03/20	Diocese	4 Years	Safeguarding and SEND Resources
Mrs Laura Ben-Ali (currently on maternity leave)	Staff	1/06/ 2017	Staff	4 Years	Curriculum & Standards
Mrs Kate Rogers	Staff	01/01/20	Staff	1 Year	Curriculum and Standards
Mrs Holly Prince	Staff	01/01/20	Staff	4 Years	School Business Manager
Mrs Cheryl Danher	Foundation	1/10/2016	Diocese	4 Years	Distinctiveness/Ethos
Mrs Jane Dunn	Foundation	1/03/2014	Diocese	4 Years	Chair of Governors Pay & Performance Curriculum & Standards Safeguarding & SEN
Mrs S Ellis	Parent	17/10/2018	Parent Election	4 Years	Resources
Mr Paul Gradden	Foundation	1/08/2015	Diocese	4 Years	Chair of Resources
Mr Paul Illingworth	Parent	12/10/2018	Parent Election	4 Years	Resources Pay & Performance
Mr S Reck	Foundation	13/3/2018	Diocese	4 Years	Vice Chair of Governors Chair of Curriculum & Standards Vice Chair of Pay & Performance Resources
Mr Mark Ward	Headteacher	1/01/2016	Local Governing Body	N/A	Headteacher

Former Governors 2018/19

Name	Category	Date Appointed	Appointed by	Term of Office	Stood Down
Mrs Jean Cropper	Foundation	1/09/17	Diocese	4 Years	2020
Mrs Karen Pouton	Foundation	1/03/16	Diocese	4 Years	2020
Rev Paul Robinson	Foundation	1/09/17	Diocese	4 Years	2020

Committees

Safeguarding & SEN	Resources	Curriculum & Standards	Distinctiveness & Ethos	Pay & Performance
Chair Mrs Jane Dunn	Chair Mr Paul Gradden	Chair Mr S Reck	Chair Rachael Baker	Chair Mrs Jane Dunn
Mr Mark Ward	Mr Mark Ward	Mr Mark Ward	Mr Mark Ward	Mr Mark Ward
Mrs J Gibbons	Mr S Reck	Mrs Laura Ben-Ali	Mrs Cheryl Danher	Mr S Reck
	Mrs Jane Dunn	Mrs Kate Rogers	Mr Paul Gradden
	Mrs S Ellis	Mrs Jane Dunn	Mrs Rachael Baker	Mrs S Ellis
	Mr P Illingworth	Mrs Cheryl Danher	Mrs Rachel Cowen	Mr P Illingworth
	Mrs J Gibbons	Mrs E Alty
	Mrs H Prince	Mrs Rachael Baker		Mrs H Prince

Name of Governor	Declared Interest
Mrs Emily Alty	No business interest declared
Mrs Rachael Baker	No business interest declared
Mrs Laura Ben-Ali	No business interest declared
Mrs Cheryl Danher	No business interest declared
Mrs Jane Dunn	No business interest declared
Mrs Sarah Ellis	No business interest declared
Mrs J Gibbons	No business interest declared
Mr Paul Gradden	No business interest declared
Mr Paul Illingworth	No business interest declared
Mr S Reck	No business interest declared
Mrs K Rogers	No business interest declared
Mr Mark Ward	No business interest declared

Please note: Any declaration of personal interests between Governors and staff of St Thomas’ CE Primary School are made to the Chair of Governors and Headteacher.

Record of Attendance 2019/20*

Name	Scheduled Meetings	Meetings Attended	Apologies Accepted	Absent
Mrs E Alty	8	6	2
Mrs R Baker	6	6
Mrs L Ben-Ali	3	3
Mrs J Cropper (left 4.12.20)	2		2
Mrs C Danher	4	2	2
Mrs J Dunn	10	9	1
Mrs S Ellis	7	6		1
Mrs J Gibbons	1	1
Mr P Gradden	8	8
Mr P Illingworth	7	6	1
Mrs K Pouton (left 9.3.20)	5	3	2
Mr S Reck	10	8	2
Rev P Robinson (left 9.2.19)	2	2
Mrs K Rogers	2	1	1
Mr M Ward	10	10