Samuel Lucas JMI School Governors - Samuel Lucas JMI School

Governors

Samuel Lucas Governing Board

The Governing Board is part of the Leadership and Management of the school and works within the Department for Education and Local Authority guidelines and provides an independent view of the school. Governors set the vision and strategic direction and try to improve the school, ensuring that the aims and vision are implemented through long term development.

The Governing Board provides an oversight of the management and operation of the school, with the aim of improving the quality of education provided and raising standards. The Governing Board does not run the school on a day to day basis. The daily management of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher and the other senior staff.

The Governing Board will usually meet between 4 and 5 times in each academic year. The meetings are usually held in the evening and last approximately two hours. The Governing Board has also established Committees to focus on different areas of the School. These Committees will tend to meet once or twice a term and again, usually meet in the evenings. The Committees are:

Resources Committee (Finance / Personnel / Premises)
School Improvement Committee

The Governing Board is appointed to:

Appoint the Headteacher and other senior staff
Help set the school’s vision, aims, plans and policies
Offer support and advice to the school
Act as a “critical friend”, challenging the school leadership where appropriate
Approve and monitor the school’s budget
Ensure the policies are appropriate and are implemented in the school
Visit the school to confirm policies are implemented and to understand the school better
Help to develop community links
Review pupil discipline
Focus on a safe and well-maintained learning environment

The Governing Board is not involved with:

Who is the Governing Board?

The Governing Board is made up of up to 12 members. There are 5 categories of members for a Community School: Parent; Staff; Community, Coopted and Local Authority. The Governing Board may also appoint an Associate Member.

A full list of the current Governors are as follows:

NAME	GOVERNOR ROLE	TERM OF OFFICE	APPOINTING BODY	REGISTER OF BUSINESS / PECUNIARY INTERESTS	REGISTER OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS	RELATIONSHIP TO MEMBER OF STAFF OR THEIR RELATIVES	GOVERNOR AT OTHER ESTABLISHMENT
Ben Fuller	Chair / Co-opted	May 2015 – 2019	Governing Board	Ben is an employee of Herts for Learning Ltd. which supplies services to schools; Ben’s wife Lara Fuller, is a self-employed provider of services to schools, as owner and director of ”Inquiry Active Teachers”.	None	None	None
Tracy Thomas	Headteacher	–		None	None	None	None
Andy Burgess	Vice Chair / Co-opted	March 2017 – 2021	Governing Board	None	None	None	None
Michael Taylor	LA Governor	August 2016 – 2020	Governing Board	None	None	None	Hitchin Boys School
Dominic Roberts	Parent Governor	January 2015 – 2019	Parent Election	None	None	None	None
Susan Cosgrave	Co-opted / Staff	March 2017 – 2021	Governing Board	None	None	None	None
Robert Burgess	Staff Governor	November 2015 – 2019	Governing Board	None	None	None	None
Sandra Otila Ortiz	Parent Governor	January 2016 – 2020	Parent Election	None	None	None	None
Lorraine Painter	Co-opted / Staff	May 2016 – 2020	Governing Board	None	None	None	None
Michael Kershaw	Co-opted Governor	June 2018 – 2022	Governing Board	None	None	None	None
Nick Shaw	Parent Governor	October 2016 – 2020	Parent Election	None	None	None	None
Hannah Greenham	FGB Clerk		Governing Board	Herts for Learning Employee	None	None	None

Copies of the signed minutes for Governing Board meetings are available from the School upon request.

Governors’ Meeting Attendance Register

FULL GOVERNING BOARD
	Autumn 18	Spring 19	Summer 19
Ben Fuller	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Tracy Thomas	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Andrew Burgess	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Lee Allan	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Michael Taylor	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Dominic Roberts	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Lorraine Painter	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Robert Burgess	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Sandoora Otila Ortiz	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Susan Cosgrave	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Nick Shaw	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled

RESOURCES COMMITTEE
	Autumn 18	Spring 19	Summer 19
Tracy Thomas	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Dominic Roberts (Chair)	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Ben Fuller	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Michael Taylor	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Lorraine Painter (Minutes)	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Nick Shaw	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE
	Autumn 18	Spring 19	Summer 19
Ben Fuller (Chair)	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Robert Burgess	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Lorraine Painter	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Andy Burgess	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Sandoora Ortiz	N	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Michael Kershaw	N	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled
Susan Cosgrave (Minutes)	Y	meeting scheduled	meeting scheduled

Becoming a Governor

School governors come from every walk of life and there is no requirement for you to have an educational background, indeed it is desirable to have a variety of skills and backgrounds on the Governing Board. The nature of the role is dependent on the individual school’s circumstances and legal requirements (e.g. its size, outcome of a recent Ofsted inspection etc) but will always contribute to the over-arching work of the governing body and link to the main focus of school improvement; thus ensuring the children and young people are able to achieve to the best of their ability, in a safe environment.

Samuel Lucas welcomes new Governors to join the team as this always brings a fresh perspective into the Governing Board.

So what would I have to do?

Is training available?

Yes.

A day’s ‘Governor Induction’ is run by the Hertfordshire County Council Governance Team and is recommended in the first 3 months of your new term of office. This will help you to understand more about the role of being a Governor and is usually run at the weekend. ‘Safeguarding Children for Governors’ training is also recommended in the first 6 months, as the welfare and safety of our children is paramount. This course normally takes 2-3 hours and is run regularly during the week in the evening.

When you become a Governor, the Chair of Governors or governor who oversees training will be able to help you book onto courses. Once your governor term is confirmed, you will also receive monthly emails with details of training courses on offer. At Samuel Lucas we encourage Governors to take any training that they feel they need.

How do I become a Governor?

If you are interested in becoming a governor and you are a parent of a child or a member of the wider community and would like to apply to join the Samuel Lucas governing body please contact the school directly regarding vacancies.

If you would like further detail or an informal discussion about becoming a Local Authority or Community governor in Hertfordshire, please (01438) 843082. Further information is also available on the Hertfordshire County Council website.

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