Our Governors

School governors are volunteers whose collective aim and responsibility is to ensure that the education and welfare of all of the children remains the primary focus of the school.

We do this by holding to account the headteacher and staff in a constructive and supportive way.

Individually we do not represent any particular interest but we take collective responsibility for the overall strategic management of the school and we are legally responsible for this. We are not responsible for managing the day to day running of the school – that is the responsibility of the headteacher.

Our three principal responsibilities are:

• a) To determine the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction.
• b) To hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
• c) To oversee the financial performance of the school to ensure that its money is well spent.

Our Governing Body

Name	Appointed as	Term of Office
Mr John Benner	Chair of Governors	27.9.17 - 26.9.21
Dr Cathy Sotillo	Acting Co-Chair of Governors/ Co-opted Governor	27.9.17 - 26.9.21
Revd Tim Nicholls	Ex Officio	1.9.18 - N/A
Mr Ben Alcock	Foundation Governor	11.12.17 - 10.12.21
Dr Rev Paul Glass	Foundation Governor
Mr Graham Letley	Co-opted Governor	16.7.16 - 15.7.20
Mr Frank Richardson	Local Authority Governor	24.11.15 - 23.11.19
Ms Donna Fitzgerald	Parent Governor	14.5.19  -
Mr Edward Morgan-Jones	Parent Governor	14.5.19 -
Mrs Gráinne Pickles	Staff Governor	4.2.20 -
Mrs Kristina Dyer	Headteacher	1.6.19 -
Mr Jonathon Cane	Clerk
VACANT	Parent Governor

Governors at St Peter’s are drawn from the local education authority, the church, parents, teachers and representatives of the local community.

In consultation with Mr Way and his senior leadership team we are responsible for setting the annual budget, preparing and reviewing the multitude of policies schools are now required to have, appointing staff and agreeing pay, monitoring the school’s performance, and agreeing targets.

The governors have to act collectively and not as individuals although we encourage each governor to take a leading role in a particular area of the school’s affairs.

To sum up our role in a phrase, we are expected to act as a ‘critical friend’ to Mr Way and the school. We challenge in a constructive way how the school is run and support him and his team in carrying out the policies we have agreed. We come from very varied backgrounds: some of us are retired; some of us are still at work; some are parents (with all the family demands that entails) and we can all bring a different contribution to the life of the school including expertise in various fields that can reinforce the resources available to the school. The common strength we have is that we all care about the education and welfare of the children in the school, albeit from varying points of view, and we contribute our experience freely.

We are expected to undergo regular training so that we are up to date in a wide variety of topics including: Safeguarding, Handling complaints, Analysis and interpretation of data, Financial management, Performance management of the executive headteacher. We monitor what is happening at the school by visiting, observing and asking questions of the staff and the children.

If you want to contact governors, either with positive comments about the school or about an issue that concerns you, please do so by emailing:

governors@st-peters-canterbury.kent.sch.uk

Statutory Information 2019-20

St Peter’s Methodist Primary School

Governors’ Record of Attendance 2018-19

Name/Date	18/9/18	20/11/18	24/1/19	21/3/19	14/5/19	08/7/19
Kristina Dyer					P*	P
Simon Way	P	P	P	P	P
Gaby Roch	P	P	P
John Benner	P	P	P	P	P	P
Cathy Sotillo	P	P	P	P	A	A
Tim Nicholls	P	P	P	P	P	P
James Maré	P	P	A	P	P	P
Graham Letley	P	P	P	P	P	P
Frank Richardson	P	A	P	P	A	P
Mandy Durell	P	A	P	P
Ben Alcock	P	P	P	P	A	P
Paul Glass				P	P	A
Ed Morgan-Jones					P	P
Donna Fitzgerald					P	A

P| Present
P* | Present for part of meeting
A | Apologies