Sauncey Wood Primary School
"Growing Curious Minds"
Pickford Hill, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 5HL
Tel: 01582621514
Email: admin@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
THE GOVERNING BOARD
INTRODUCTION
School Governors offer their time on a voluntary basis and the Board is made up of parents, teachers and members of the local community and Local Authority. We use our skills and interests to support and work with the Headteacher in managing the school. The Governors monitor and evaluate the school's progress by regularly reviewing what is happening in the school - from pupil progress, to absences, facilities, finance and health and safety. You may like to join our Governors for an informal chat during the annual Governors Day, usually held in September.
Parents are welcome to contact the joint Chairs of Governors by e-mail (bpymm@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk or cnoakes@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk) or by telephoning the School Office. However, it should be noted that Governors do not get involved in individual pupil issues or specific complaints about, for example, teaching or playground matters. Parents and carers should speak to the class teacher in the first instance or to the Headteacher. If a matter is not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, then Governors may become involved via the school’s formal Complaints Procedure, but this would always be a last resort.
Governors (other than Associate Governors) have equal rights to participate in the work of the Governing Board and to state their own views, but always work as a team and are bound by the collective decisions of that team.
The Code of Conduct for Governing Boards can be found here
https://www.nga.org.uk/Knowledge-Centre/Good-governance/Ethical-governance/Model-Code-of-Conduct.aspx
WHAT WE DO
The Governing Board’s three main roles are to:
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Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school
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Hold executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance of school staff
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Oversee the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
Governors also act as a ‘Critical Friend’ to the school, working in partnership with the Head, Senior Leadership Team and other school stakeholders to help provide the best possible education for pupils, including those with special educational needs.
WHO WE ARE
Governors are volunteers nominated and appointed for four-year terms by the school staff, parents, Local Authority or the Governing Board. The Constitution of the Sauncey Wood Governing Body includes 14 formal roles
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Five Parent Governors – elected by and from the parents.
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Two Staff Governors - the Headteacher and a Governor elected by the staff.
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Five Co-opted Governors – appointed by the Governing Body. These are people from the local community who have specialist skills e.g. finance, marketing, HR, management.
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One Local Authority (LA) Governor – nominated by the LA and appointed by the Governing Body.
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One Associate Member who attends Full Governing Body meetings, the School Improvement Committee and / or the Resources committee. The Associate Member has no voting rights on any committee
Bridgett Pymm
Joint Chair
Bpymm@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I became a Parent Governor in 2016, to make a contribution to the local community by helping to ensure that every child at this fantastic school is valued and supported throughout this crucial stage of their education. I am currently taking a career break from the legal technology industry, but my professional skills in document management and data analysis are very useful as a Governor. I have two children at Sauncey Wood, in Years 4 and 6, and I also volunteer for the local charity Harpenden Helping Hand.
Responsibilities: Policies and Compliances
Declaration of Interest: none
Date of Appointment: 18th Feb 2020
Appointed By: Parents
Kam Johal
kjohal@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Kam is a parent governor. She currently works in the NHS as a Counter Fraud Manager and has extensive experience of financial systems, governance and performance management.
Kam is a working mother of two children and her eldest has just joined Sauncey Wood this year. Kam is very passionate about education and how it influences children’s lives.
Responsibilities: GDPR, School Improvement Committee Chair
Declaration of Interests: None
Date of Appointment: 23rd September 2020
Appointed By: The Governing Body
Carmen O'Loughlin
co'loughlin@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk.
I currently work within the Fundraising department of a legal charity. I manage the corporate partnerships, organise events and support community fundraising activities. Before working in fundraising, I taught secondary school maths. I chose to take the Teach First route into teaching and taught in Essex, London and last year at a school in Mexico City. Alongside my teaching roles I have also been Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator and gained an MA in Leadership which focused on the British education system and enabled me to study education policies over the last twenty years.
Date of Appointment: 8th October 2019
Appointed By: The Governing Board
Responsibilities: SEND and Pupil Premium
Declaration of Interests: None
Alex Voica
Avoica@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I am a marketing communications professional with a track record in the technology, retail and consumer electronics markets. Throughout my career, I have had the pleasure to work with world-class engineering teams at Arm, Ocado and Facebook. I have a background in engineering and hold a MSc in Virtual Reality and Computer Graphics from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. I have lived in the Harpenden area for four years, together with my wife and our daughter.
Responsibilities: Marketing
Date of Appointment: 7th November 2018
Appointed By: The Governing Board
Declaration of Interests: None
Kristine Jamoula
Kjamoula@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Hi! I am a newcomer to Sauncey Wood as my daughter started in Reception class in September 2020. I was impressed with the ethics and work practices of Sauncey Wood so when the opportunity arose I decided to become a Parent Governor. I am a Nursery Nurse with 12 years of experience in the Early Year's Foundation stage in childcare, and I understand how important teamwork is in education. I believe that every child has the human right to have a good education and if I can do anything to help, I consider it a blessing.
Responsibilities:
Date of Appointment: 5th October 2020
Appointed By: Parents
Declaration of Interests:
Colin Noakes
Joint Chair
Cnoakes@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Colin is a local authority governor. He is married with two grown up children and has lived in Harpenden for thirty years. He has been directly involved in school activities as Chairman of the Parents Association at Crabtree Schools and as a Parent Governor at Roundwood Park School chairing the School Development and ICT sub committees. Professionally he has held several senior management roles in large companies and he hopes to use this experience to help the school build on its current success.
Responsibilities: Staff Wellbeing, Contract Management
Declaration of Interests: none
Date of Appointment as L.A. Governor: 23rd October 2020
Appointed By: The Governing Board
Charlotte Photiades
Cphotiades@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Mrs Photiades is our elected staff governor
Date of appointment: 1st January 2017
Declaration of interests: none
Appointed By: Staff
Steven Rees
srees@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I am a local Harpenden resident, a finance professional and the father of two young children progressing through their Primary and Early Years education. I value the support and development that my children are receiving through their education, and therefore hope that by joining the Sauncey Wood Governing Body I can use my background in finance and business to support the school in its development of other young children in my local community.
Responsibilities: Finance
Declaration of interests: None
Date of Appointment as Co-opted Governor: 25th January 2018
Appointed By: The Governing Board
Dan Dures
ddures@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I have been a Sauncey Wood parent for over five years now, and would like to be able to offer something back to the school which has given so much to my kids. I am a passionate believer in education, and love the values our school aims to instil in our children, and would be proud to be a little part on helping to build on that. Professionally, I've been in major companies for two decades, specialising in data analysis, strategy and commercial insight.
Date of Appointment: 14th October 2019
Appointed By: Parents
Responsibilities: Resources
Declaration of Interests: None
Steven (Steve) Lloyd
Headteacher
Steve joined the school in 2015 and holds
the post of Headteacher.
Date of Appointment: 1st September 2015
Declaration of interests: None
Appointed By: virtue of office
Jo Francis
jfrancis@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I am a parent governor (mum to Amelie and Morten) and have lived in Harpenden for over 10 years. Currently freelancing, in my free time I am rediscovering my love of music (through my daughter) and try to keep fit occasionally.
My background is in social regeneration, working in local government for almost 10 years. As well as managing teams, I have commissioned, monitored and evaluated programmes and developed strategies primarily focused on improving social mobility (something that I am passionate about).
Responsibilities: Safeguarding, Health and Safety
Declaration of Interests: None
Date of Appointment: 11th July 2017
Appointed By: Parents
Susan Dean
sdean@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Susan is a practising artist with a background in Art education. She is currently the Artist-in-Residence at a secondary school in St. Albans, as well as a visiting artist in schools.
Susan has two grandchildren at Sauncey Wood who are benefiting from the broad and exciting curriculum offered at the school. She is keen to support the mission, vision and values that underpin all aspects of school life at Sauncey Wood.
Date of Appointment: 21st January 2019
Appointed By: The Governing Board
Declaration of Interests: None
Jade Harkness
jharkness@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Miss Harkness is our Deputy Headteacher. She teaches in Reception and has a daughter in Year 5.
Date of Appointment: 23rd January 2018.
Declaration of Interests: None
Former Committee Members
Tom Jefferies
tjefferies@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
With a background in engineering and company management and having lived locally for the past 28 years, I look forward to being able to put something back into the local community through the challenge of joining The Governing Board. Married with four children and six grandchildren my hobbies include playing golf, gardening and socialising. My interest in becoming a Governor was also inspired by my brother who became Chair of Whitings Hill Primary School in Barnet.
Responsibilities:
Date of Appointment: 22nd October 2020
Appointed By: The Governing Board
Declaration of Interests: None
Elizabeth (Liz) Redway - Former Vice Chair of Governors
Lredway@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I became a parent governor in 2012 to give support this wonderful primary school. I feel passionately about the way we grow curious and well-rounded children at Sauncey Wood, and have been delighted by the broad learning opportunities my own children have had here. I have two children, one of whom is will at Sauncey Wood, the other having recently moved on to a local secondary school. I have a background in Human Resources and run my own small business.
Responsibilities: Resources Committee Chair
Declaration of interests: Self employed as freelance HR consultant through Redway HR
Date of Appointment: 9/3/12 (re-elected in 2016 and 2020)
Appointed By: Parents
Heather Burns - Former Associate Governor
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Mrs Burns is our reception teacher and as associate governor covers the early years and key stage 1.
Date of appointment: 1st January 2017
Helen Parkinson - (Former Committee Member)
HParkinson@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I was a Community Governor at Sauncey Wood when my children attended the school. I enjoyed the varied challenge of the role and seeing the school develop and continue to improve. I worked in Luton tackling obesity and physical inactivity amongst children and at home I love walking with my great dane and practising yoga.
Responsibilities: Early Years Stage
Date of Appointment as co-opted governor: 10th June 2017
Date of Termination: July 2019
Declaration of interests: Director of Harpenden Secondary Education Trust
Martyn Allison (Former Committee Member)
mallison@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Martyn had a background in critical and constructive reviews of organisations, supporting them through periods of significant change, and leading targeted performance improvements. He would like to use his skills as a management consultant specialising in strategy and business planning, and his particular focus on finance and efficiency improvement. Martyn strived to make a positive contribution to the long-term future of schools in the local area, to secure better education for young people of all abilities regardless of their background.
Responsibilities: Key Stage 2, Strategy KPI
Declaration of interests: Allison Thompson Consulting
Date of Appointment as Co-opted Governor: 10th June 2017
Natalie Bellwood - Former Committee Member
nbellwood@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Natalie was a Co-opted Governor and joined the Board in January 2018. I was very keen to get involved in the local community and am passionate about early years education. I am also a Partner in an international law firm, and I specialise in employment law, so I felt that I could bring my legal and anayltical skills to the Governor role, offering support to the Headteacher and his team of teaching staff. I live in the local area with my husband and son.
Responsibilities: Equality
Declaration of Interests: none
Appointment date as Co-opted Governor: 5th February 2018
Date of Termination: 10th January 2019
Linda Williams - Former Committee Member
Lwilliams@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
Linda was a co-opted Governor. She was appointed Vicar of All Saints Church, Batford in 2010. in Harpenden. Before becoming a priest, Linda was a trained HLTA and brings 15 years experience of Primary/SEN education. Linda also worked as a chaplain at Croydon University Hospital. Linda is most interested in pastoral care and well-being of the whole school community as well as RE, Art & DT which were her school specialism.
Responsibilities: Key Stage 1
Date of Appointment as Co-opted Governor: 25/3/14
Date of termination: 31st August 2018
Declaration of interests: Works in many other local primary schools through her work as associate vicar
Steph Russon - Former Associate Governor
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Mrs Russon was our year 4 teacher and as an associate governor covers key stage 2.
Date of appointment: 1st January 2017
Declaration of interests: none
Jo Williams - Former Committee Member
jwilliams@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk
I enjoy using the skills I have gained over the past 14 years as a School Business Manager at a Primary School in St Albans. I have set and managed the school budget, interviewed and appointed HT’s, teachers and support staff etc. Although I have now recently retired, I have a lot to offer to a school to enable them to educate and nurture children for the future.
Responsibilities: Finance, safeguarding
Declaration of interests: None
Date of Appointment as Co-opted Governor: 5th February 2018
Date of Termination: 11th April 2018
Ada Jabaru - Former Committee Member
Duties: Behaviour and Equalities
Declarations of interest: Nistad Ltd Consutlant
Date of appointment: 11th July 2017
Date of termination: 31th October 2017
Fiona Snailham - Former Committee Member
Fiona was community governor and a secondary school English teacher. She lives in St Albans with her family.
Declaration of Interest: None
Responsibilities: Year 6, Literacy
Date of appointment: 22nd January 2016
Date of termination: 14th September 2017