Our governors perform vital, legal functions and also do a lot more to help and support our school.
The governing body is made up of parents, staff and representatives of the church, diocese and local authority. They make decisions about how the school is run in consultation with the headteacher; they have legal duties, powers and responsibilities which include appointing staff and deciding how the school budget is spent.
Governors meet as a full group twice a term and the minutes of these meetings are displayed outside the school office. Parent governors can contribute the views and ideas of other parents to the governing body but they are not there to act as a channel for complaints or to address any issue affecting an individual child or parent. There are clear policies and procedures for such situations and parents are encouraged to select the more formal route or perhaps use the Parent Council for more general topics, as appropriate.
Governors are elected or appointed for four years and serve on one or more committees to carry out their various duties.
Please find below the details of our school governors currently in post:
| Name | Appointing body | Term of office | Committees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rev’d David Munchin (Chair) | Ex Officio – Rector | N/A | Personnel |
| Mrs Emma Phillips | Ex Officio – Acting Head | N/A | Admissions, Finance, Fabric, P and D (Chair), Personnel |
| Mrs Jane Bacon (Safeguarding) | Foundation (St Mary’s PCC) | 10.07.19 – 09.07.23 | Personnel |
| Prof. Paul Castle | Parent | 17.03.23 – 16.03.27 | Fabric, Finance |
| Mrs Liz Hesketh | Foundation (St Mary’s PCC) | 01.07.20 – 30.06.24 | Finance (Chair) |
| Mr Stuart Jenkin | Foundation (St Mary’s PCC) | 18.01.23 – 17.01.27 | Finance |
| Mr Adrian Lofty | Local Authority (Governing Body) | 13.07.19 – 12.07.23 | Fabric |
| Mrs Irene Mackie
(Vice-Chair) |
Foundation (St Albans DBE) | 09.11.21 – 08.11.25 | Admissions, Finance, P and D, Personnel |
| Mr Bill Morris | Foundation (St Albans DBE) | 09.09.20 – 08.09.24 | Admissions (Chair), Fabric (Chair), P and D, Personnel (Chair) |
| Mrs Corinna Semon | Parent | 01.02.23 – 31.01.27 | Finance |
| Mrs Evelyne Welch | Foundation (St Mary’s PCC) | 17.09.22 – 16.09.26 | |
| Ms Kayleigh Kingsland (HfL Clerk) | Governing Body | N/A |
Please find below the details of our school governors whose terms expired during the last 12 months:
| Mrs Emma Harrison | Staff | 29.08.19 – 01.11.22 | P and D, Personnel |
| Mrs Emma Jones | Parent | 06.11.20 – 09.12.22 | |
| Mr Chris Lund | Foundation (St Mary’s PCC) | 20.03.19 – 19.03.23 | Admissions, P and D |
| Mr Phil Stockton | Co-opted (support staff) | 06.10.21 – 01.11.22 | Fabric |
| Mrs Mary Westley | Ex-Officio – Head | Ex-Officio to 31.08.22 | Admissions, Finance, Fabric, P and D (Chair), Personnel |
| Mr Robin Whitten | Foundation (St Mary’s PCC) | 1.11.18 -25.09.22 | Finance, Admissions |
Associate members
All members of the Senior Leadership team are members of the Performance and Development committee, and are invited to attend full governing body meetings as associate members. During the last 12 months, associate members have been:
Ben Ashman, Sam Branch, Emma Harrison, Natasha Lewis, Emma Phillips, Helen Southall.
In addition:
Julie Noakes (Office Manager) was an associate member of the admissions committee.
Annie Ragless (Finance Officer) is an associate member of the admissions and finance committees.
No associate members have voting rights.
Notes:
In compliance with the government direction, the School’s Instrument of Government provides for one staff governor. The governing body consider that their collective skill set is enhanced by the inclusion of a further member of staff and have agreed that such a person should be co-opted to the governing body. The member of staff holding the staff governor vacancy will be appointed via an election of all staff; should that person be a member of the teaching staff, then the co-opted person will be a member of the non-teaching staff (and vice versa) also appointed by an election by all staff.
Register of interests
In accordance with legislation, the following table records the register of interests of governors (covering relevant business interests, details of any other educational establishments they govern and any relationships between governors and members of the school staff including spouses, partners and relatives), which may conflict with the individual’s duties and authority
| Name | Business | Financial | Personal | Relationships | Governorships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Bacon | None | None | None | None | None |
| Paul Castle | None | None | None | Children at school | None |
| Liz Hesketh | None | None | None | None | None |
| Stuart Jenkin | None | None | None | Spouse is a Trustee of St Mary’s School Trust | None |
| Adrian Lofty | None | None | None | Children at school | None |
| Irene Mackie | None | None | None | None | None |
| Bill Morris | None | Carried out installation work for the school – CCTV, security doors, lock-down siren during 2020/21. Total invoiced to school £5445.04 | Welwyn Parish Councillor
STEM Ambassador |
None | None |
| Rev David Munchin | None | None | None | None | Governor at St Michael’s JMI School Woolmer Green |
| Corinna Semon | None | PTFA treasurer | None | Children at school | None |
| Evelyne Welch | None | None | None | None | None |
| Emma Phillips | None | None | None | None | None |
Governors’ attendance record
| Name | Attendance at GB meetings during term of office in last 12 months |
|---|---|
| Rev’d David Munchin (Chair) | 6/6 |
| Mrs Emma Phillips | 2/2 |
| Mrs Mary Westley | 6/6 |
| Mrs Jane Bacon | 6/6 |
| Prof. Paul Castle | 4/6 |
| Mrs Emma Harrison | 3/6 |
| Mrs Liz Hesketh | 6/6 |
| Mr Stuart Jenkin | 1/1 |
| Mrs Emma Jones | 5/6 |
| Mr Adrian Lofty | 3/6 |
| Mr Chris Lund | 6/6 |
| Mrs Irene Mackie | 6/6 |
| Mr Bill Morris | 4/6 |
| Mrs Corinna Semon | 0/0 |
| Mr Phil Stockton | 4/6 |
| Mrs Evelyne Welch | 5/6 |
| Mr Robin Whitten | 0/4 |