The Governing Body
The Role of a School Governor
We are a group of volunteers from a range of backgrounds within the local community who are passionate about children’s education and who want to make a real difference to the school. Our objective is to provide a strategic view, which means deciding, in partnership with the school’s Senior Leadership Team, what the school needs to achieve and agreeing the framework for getting there. We do this by offering advice and support to the Head teacher to ensure that the school continues to raise its standards of achievement, delivers the school’s priorities and secures value for money.
Our Governors
| Parent Governors | Community Governors |
| Martin Downham | Sarah Hall (Chair) |
| Tabi Green | Eileen Cross |
| Sharon Bullough | Jenny Bowker |
| Andrew Mills - New | |
| Harriet Sambrooks - New | |
| Amanda Towers - New | |
| Staff & Associate Governors | Local Authority Governors |
| Stuart Plaskitt (Headteacher) | Mark Crooks (Vice Chair) |
| Sinead Fox (Deputy Head) | Fiona Burrows |
| Clare Shaw | Anna Jones |
| Katherine Gibson |
Type of Governors
Parent Governors – we have six Parent Governors elected by the parents of registered pupils at the School.
LA Governors – we have three LA Governors who have been appointed by the Local Authority.
Staff Governors – we have four Staff Governors including the Headteacher. At least one Staff Governor must be a member of the Support Staff; the other two positions are taken by members of the Teaching Staff. Staff Governors must be paid to work at the School and are elected by the Staff.
Community Governors – we have four Community Governors appointed by the Governing Body. Community Governors are people with expertise and experience from all backgrounds within the local community.
Associate Governors – we have two Associate Governors and we benefit from being able to draw on expertise and experience from outside our formal Governor membership.
Our governing body meets at least once per term, although we have established three sub-committees who meet on a more regular basis and have their own specific Roles and Responsibilities. The Staff and Finance Committee deal with teaching and non-teaching staffing issues, budget setting and ensuring the School gets the best value. The Curriculum Committee deal with all aspects of the curriculum, teaching and learning, pupil progress and target setting. The Premises Committee deal with the maintenance of our building and perimeter, Health and Safety issues, Safeguarding and Child Protect Matters. We also form other Sub-Committees as and when necessary and a recent example of this is our Recruitment Committee. Their specific role was to go through the recruit process starting from advertising right through to interviewing and the recruitment of a new Head Teacher.
Committee Structure
| Staff & Finance | Curriculum | Premises |
| Fiona Burrows (Chair) | Stuart Plaskitt | Eileen Cross (Chair) |
| Sarah Hall | Jenny Bowker | Fiona Burrows |
| Stuart Plaskitt | Clare Shaw | Martin Downham |
| Martin Downham | Mark Crooks | Sarah Hall |
| Sinead Fox | Martin Downham | Stuart Plaskitt |
| Sinead Fox | Sinead Fox | |
| Sarah Hall | Sharon Bullough | |
| Tabi Green | ||
(New Governors observe at each committee meeting before selecting a committee)
Most Governing Bodies use a committee structure to undertake their monitoring and evaluation roles. Membership and terms of reference of committees must be determined annually. Finance, Staffing, Admissions, Health and Safety, Curriculum and Premises Committees are very common.
Link Governors
| Early Years Foundation Stage | Eileen Cross |
| Safeguarding | Eileen Cross |
| Literacy | Anna Jones |
| Numeracy | Tabi Green |
| Governance | Mark Crooks |
| Training | Sarah Hall |
| Special Educational Needs (SEN) | Fiona Burrows |
What is a Link Governor?
A link Governor creates a good working relationship between the subject specialist within the school and the subject link governor and will enhance the success of any initiatives.
As a model, the subject link governor, in support of the subject co-ordinator or head of subject, could undertake some or all of the following:
- Become informed about relevant documents and legislation; OfSTED criteria for evaluating the subject provision; local and national issues impacting upon the subject.
- Liaise with the subject co-ordinator or head of subject in order to become informed about staffing arrangements and training; the condition and availability of resources; curriculum and timetable arrangements; special needs provision; reference to the school development plan; assessment and recording procedures for the subject; which visits and visitors are planned.
- Establish and maintain effective lines of communication between the subject co-odinator and the governing body; report back to governing body meetings.
If you are interested in being a Governor you can either contact us by email governors@woodseats.sheffield.sch.uk or via the School office.