St Paul's C of E Primary School

St Pauls Church of England Gloucester

Governors

What do the governors do?

The governing body's main aim is to help raise standards of achievement and make sure the school provides a good quality education.

The day-to-day management of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher and staff. Governors are there to help shape the school's future direction and focus.

Governors work as a team and are at the heart of how our school operates. It's important they get things right. How they do their job affects the interests of our children and staff, and how the school is seen by parents and others in the community. To make best use of the skills on the board, we operate two committees.  The Resources committee meet three times per year to examine the school finances and issues relating to staffing and management of the buildings and premises.  The Performance committee meet three times per year to consider the progress and performance of our pupils.  Both committees feed back to the Full Governing Body which meets a minimum of three times per year.

The governing body is responsible for how the school is performing. They have to be prepared to support and challenge their Headteacher by gathering views, asking questions and deciding what's best for the children.

See below for a full list of our Governors, their roles and review of their attendance at Governors meetings.

 

 

Please click here for the Governor update January 2022.

Governor update January 2022

Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers

We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year despite Covid restrictions. We are proud and grateful to you, your children and the school staff for coping so well with all the changes the pandemic has made to your children’s learning. Thank you!

COVID-19 has had a dramatic effect on all our lives, but there have also been many positives. For the governors, one of the most striking has been the way in which our School has responded to this national crisis. As you will know Mrs Matthews and all of the team at St Paul’s have worked tirelessly over this period, with the wellbeing of our pupils being at the heart of every decision made. Every family has been impacted differently and whilst many have been able to access the on line resources and attend school, for some this has not been so easy. The school passionately believes that no child will be disadvantaged in any way and so as the year progresses, every effort will continue to be made to ensure all children catch up where necessary and that the school year can continue to run as smooth as can be.

The Governing Board would like to express their sincere thanks to all the staff and to you as parents, carers and guardians. There has been a real sense of teamwork and community spirit during this ongoing pandemic and we hope we can take forward some learning on what has worked well.

Putting aside COVID-19, the Governing Board are planning a busy year. Most of our meetings have been held online and we have been unable to get fully involved with class and school work and events in the ways we would normally expect to do but we are hoping these opportunities will be more available as the school year progresses.

We have been refreshing the Governing team following the departure of Reverend Ruth from our team. She is sadly missed but we wish her well in new endeavours.

We thought we’d let you know a bit about ourselves. You can see us on the photo board in reception and read about each of us on the school website under ‘Our School - Governors. I am writing to you as newly appointed Chair of Governors and my contact details are at the bottom of this letter. Mrs Abby Dearden is Vice Chair of the team. We are a group of unpaid volunteers who hold head teachers to account and ensure that schools are meeting their strategic objectives.

Governors do not manage the operational day-to-day functions of a school, but are required to oversee its long-term development.

For schools like ours there are five types of governor:

 

 

  

Governing Body of St Paul’s C of E Primary School 2021-22

Name of Governor

Category of Governor

Responsibilities

Committees

Term Dates

Meeting attendance in 2020 - 2021

Meeting attendance in 2021 - 2022

Relevant business or pecuniary interests declared/governorships at other schools

Mrs Stephanie Matthews

Headteacher –

by virtue of office

 

P, R

01/09/2013 -

FGB: 7/8

FGB: 3/4

C: 3/3

Ofsted Inspector

Mrs Margaret Ash

Local Authority – nominated by LA, appointed by GB

Chair of Governors,

Governor Induction,

Health & Safety

R (Chair), HTPM

20/10/2020 – 19/10/2024

FGB: 8/8

 

FGB: 4/4

C; 2/2

None declared

Mrs Jayne Stafford

Co-opted –

appointed by Governing Body

Maths

R

25/05/2021 – 24/05/2023

FGB: 8/8

 

FGB: 3/4

C: 2/2

Trustee of St Paul’s playgroup

Mr Owen Thomas

Parent –

elected by parents

Premises

R

18/01/2021– 17/01/2023

FGB: 8/8

 

FGB: 2/4

C: 2/2

Director of Thomas Dean Architects

Mrs Sabina Ali

Parent – appointed by the Governing Board

 Phase 3

P

17/11/2020 – 16/11/2022

FGB: 4/5

FGB: 1/4

C; 1/1

None declared

Mrs Rachel Bolton

Co-opted – appointed by Governing Body

 English

P (Chair)

04/05/2021 – 03/05/2023

FGB: 1/1

FGB: 3/4

C: 1/1

None declared

Mrs Louise Goode

Staff – Elected by Staff

 TBC

P

06/06/2022 – 05/06/2024

FGB:

FGB: 

C: 

None declared

 

Rev Peter Millward

Co-opted – appointed by the Governing Body

 Pupil Premium

R

22/06/2021 –

21/06/2023

N/a

FGB: 4/4

C: 2/2

Minister at Gloucester Elim Church (including Gloucester Foodbank)

 

Governor at Severn Vale School

 

Rev Pat Gifford

Foundation - Appointed by the Diocese of Gloucester

Safeguarding

P

 01/10/2021- 30/09/2025

 N/a

FGB: 2/2

C: 1/1

 None declared

Mrs Jayne Bevan

Associate Member –

appointed by Governing Body

 

P(with voting rights)

 

15/10/2021 – 14/10/2023

FGB: 6/8

 

FGB: 3/4

C: 1/1

None declared

Vacancy

Parent

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacancy

Co-opted

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacancy

Co-opted

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vacancy

Foundation (ex-Officio)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Committees: P = Performance, R = Resources, HTPM = Headteacher's Performance Management

 Last updated: 07/07/2022

 

Governors who have left in the past 12 months:

Name of Governor

Category of Governor

Responsibilities

Committees

Term Dates

Meeting attendance 2019 - 2020

Meeting attendance 2020 - 2021

Relevant business or pecuniary interests declared/governorships at other schools

Mrs Abby Dearden

Parent – appointed by the Governing Body

Vice Chair of Governors,

 

Safeguarding

 

R

04/05/2021 – 03/05/2023

 

(resigned: 15/06/2022)

FGB: 8/8

FGB: 4/4

C: 2/2

None declared

Mrs Sarah Baller

Staff – Elected by Staff

SEND

P

24/05/2021 – 23/05/2023

 

(no longer eligible: 05/06/2022)

FGB: 8/8

FGB: 3/4

C: 1/1

None declared

Revd Ruth Fitter

Foundation –

by virtue of office

Chair of Governors, 

Governor Induction,

Phase 1

 

P, HTPM

04/11/2014 -

 

(no longer eligible: 08/01/2022)

FGB: 7/8

FGB: 1/1

Vicar of St Paul & St Stephen, Gloucester

Miss Esther Aminu

Co-opted - appointed by Governing Body

 

N/a

20/10/2020 - 19/10/2022

 

(resigned: 22/09/2021)

N/a

FGB: 4/6

 

2021 - 2022

FGB: 0/1

None

 

 About our Governors:

 

Jayne Stafford

I have been involved with St. Paul’s school since my eldest son started school in 1996. I became a parent governor in 2011 and have been a co-opted governor ever since. I work part time at Coral bookmakers and help to look after my granddaughter. I am passionate about the welfare of your children. St. Paul’s has always felt like one big happy family and I am proud to be involved with the school.

 

Margaret Ash

I have been a governor at St Paul’s since 2016 when both my children attended the school. As they have now both left I have been nominated as a local authority governor. I work, full time as an Occupational Health Manager for EDF Energy and I am passionate about health and safety and enjoy transferring my knowledge to our visionary and inclusive school.

 

Owen Thomas

When my daughter started at St Paul's in 2016, I felt the urge to become more involved in how she and others at the school are educated and supported. Having also attended the school myself (many years ago) it felt natural to offer my support as a parent governor. I am a big believer in the power of education and I am passionate about empowering individuals to realise their life dreams. I am a chartered Architect and have worked in the education sector for many years.

 

Rachel Bolton

I have a five year association with St Paul’s which began when I used to come from The Crypt School to teach Spanish across KS2. After two years of this I left a long secondary teaching career to work fully at St Paul’s initially as a classroom Teaching Partner and then doing individual speech and language support. I also greatly enjoyed expanding the school library and running both a drama as well as a book club.  I have a long career in education as a teacher, a teaching partner (and a parent!) and have been a governor in two Gloucestershire Primary schools many years ago. I’m passionate about the importance of language – oracy and reading – as something fundamentally necessary in children’s lives and therefore value the opportunity to serve on the governing body to help develop this further at St Paul’s

 

Peter Millward

I am a minister at Gloucester Elim Church in Park End Road. I am married with four children (17, 15, 14, 12). As a member of Gloucester Elim Church I am passionate about seeing the lives of those in the vicinity of our church being blessed and improved and I support anyone trying to support the community in any way.  

I am also a parent governor at Severn Vale School (2 years), and the joint deputy Safeguarding co-ordinator. I was a governor at our children’s Catholic primary school in Bristol for approx. ten years until March this year. My experiences as a governor in a socially deprived area of Bristol have given me an understanding of some of the challenges that like-minded schools and education practitioners face. No longer are schools simply places of learning, but a significant port of call for support and intervention for families with a wide range of needs. I am proud to be a part of that process for local families.

 

Sabina Ali

Hello, my name is Sabina and I currently have two children who attend St. Pauls Church of England Primary School. I believe that alongside the staff, no one is more concerned with the quality of the teaching and learning provision of the school than a parent which is why I feel privileged to be part of this school and the community. I have been working as a secondary school teacher since 2017. I am hoping that my skills, knowledge and experience as a teacher and as a parent will help to ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction for St. Pauls.

 

Patricia Gifford

I have lived in the inner city of Gloucester for almost 50 years, eleven of them as a minister in the Church of England. Our children were educated in local schools.  I have always been active in the local community and have a good understanding of life in a multi-cultural/multi-faith community. 

I am passionate about the educational attainment of children and prior to ministry was an education liaison officer with GCC. I have been a school governor at both primary and secondary level and hope to use my experience for the benefit of the pupils and staff of St Paul's Primary School.