Governors
The Governing Body oversees the work of our school. We have 11 governors in total, including: staff governors, parent governors and co-opted governors, which consists of the following:
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Two parent governors who are elected by the parent body and must be the parent or carer of a child attending the school at the time of their appointment. They should keep in touch with other parents but make up their own minds on how to vote on any specific issue.
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One staff governor who is elected by their colleagues.
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The Headteacher is a member of the governing body by right.
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One local education authority governor, appointed by Kent County Council.
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Two foundation governors, appointed by the Church.
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Three co-opted governors, appointed by the governing body based on their skills and experience.
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The Vicar who is an ex-officio member of the board.
The Deputy Headteacher might attend Full Governing Body meetings but is not a governor.
Associate Members of the Governing Body may be appointed by the Governing Body to provide specific skills which may, from time-to-time, be needed to help the governors discharge their responsibilities.
The Governing Body has many different responsibilities, but primarily it must promote high standards of academic achievement and help ensure that the school is a safe and happy place for its pupils.
It helps to do this in many different ways, including setting school budgets, ensuring the National Curriculum is taught to all pupils, setting targets for achievement, monitoring information about the quality of teaching in the school and comparing results with other schools and dealing with parental complaints and concerns and making regular monitoring visits.
It also takes a long-term, strategic look at how the school should develop, and always welcomes the opinions of and representations from, parents, staff, pupils and the local community.
There are six meetings of the Full Governing Body (FGB) per year, which are attended by all governors, The Governors also monitor the work of the school through monitoring groups covering the areas below:
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Quality of Education
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Effectiveness of Leadership and Management including SIAMS
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Behaviour and Attitudes / Personal Development
Our school governors can be contacted via email by clicking on the enquiry form link below, or in writing via the school office. Please address your correspondence to the Chair of Governors.
Please note: any questions about the day-to-day operation of the school, or any complaints, should first be directed to your child's class teacher, member of SLT, or the headteacher.
Governors
Attendance figures are for the Academic Year 2023-2024 and show the percentage of meetings attended out of the total expected.
| Name | Governor Type | Term of Office End Date | Monitoring Pair | % Attendance 23-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emma Challis | Foundation | 20.03.2027 |
Quality of Education |
83% |
| Jonathan Kenward | Staff | 21.07.2026 | n/a | 83% |
| Ryan Brignall |
Co-Opted |
25.01.2026 | Quality of Education | 16% |
| Hannah Denny |
Ex-Officio |
31.05.2027 | Leadership and Management | 100% |
| Andrew McNeil | LA appointed | 06.07.2025 | Leadership and Management | 100% |
| Tim Saiet | Ex Officio | -- | Personal Development/SIAMS | 66% |
| Ruth Ardrey | Headteacher | -- | n/a | 100% |
| Sarah Smith | Co-opted | 24.01.2027 | Behaviour and attitudes | 83% |
| Jo Wallace | Parent | 17.05.2027 | Personal Development | 100% |
| Michael Calamito | Co-opted | 23.01.2028 | Behaviour and Attitudes | 66% |
| Ben Essenhigh | Parent | 01.07.2029 | Quality of Education | 100% |
Please note: attendance at meetings is not the only indicator of the time committed to the governing body. Governors make monitoring visits to the school, write reports, review documents, attend school events, meet with school leaders and members of staff and attend regular training.
We are obliged to provide attendance figures for any governors who have stepped down during the last 12 months. These are shown below:
| Name | Governor Type | Term of Office End Date | Attendance 22-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Hillstrom | Parent | May 2024 | 100% |
The main responsibilities of the Full Governing Body (FGB) include:
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Ensuring the governing body is properly constituted to include the correct number of representative governors and that the structure of the governing body meets the necessary statutory and legal requirements.
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Appointment of the Chair, Vice-Chair and Clerk to the Governors.
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Appointment of the Headteacher and Deputy-Headteacher and to annually review the performance of the Headteacher. If necessary, the FGB has the power to suspend the Headteacher.
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Approval of the first formal budget plan each year.
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Agreeing the delegation of tasks and authority to the Headteacher and the committees described below and to review these annually.
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Playing a vital role in agreeing strategy and future plans and reviewing reports from the committees and Headteacher, which include monitoring the financial and educational performance of the school to ensure it is meeting its targets.
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Reviewing and adopting policies covering the operation of the school or delegating the review and adoption of certain policies to the appropriate committee.
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Regularly reviewing the School Improvement Plan to ensure the school is on track to achieve its objectives.
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Where necessary, agreeing any actions required where there is a concern educational or financial targets may be missed.
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Ensuring the school does not discriminate against pupils, job applicants or staff on the basis of race, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.
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Ensuring the school provides teaching of religious education for all pupils in accordance with the agreed syllabus and has informed parents of their right to withdraw their child.
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To ensure that the school has a parental complaints procedure.
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To hear staff appeals against dismissal, complaints or redundancy.
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To approve the school prospectus and ensure the information is up to date.
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To ensure the school’s compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The FGB regularly receives presentations and case-studies from members of staff to provide insight into the work of the school and the challenges it faces. These may include, for example, details about additional help (or interventions) being given to a particular group of children in the school where the performance data has suggested extra support would be beneficial. Please note: governors only ever see anonymised data and will never be given access to data about individual pupils.
Declaration of Material, Business and Pecuniary Interests
All governors have made a nil return unless stated below: Register taken, May 2024
| Name | Declaration |
|---|---|
Further Information and Useful Links
Hildenborough Governors Terms of Reference