St Patrick's RC Primary And Nursery School

Governors

List of Governors September 2023/24

WHAT ARE GOVERNORS?

Governors are like a Board of Directors and make decisions about how the School is run. They meet at least once a term in School.

GOVERNORS ARE APPOINTED TO HELP:

• Monitor standards of attainment and achievement.
• Set standards of behaviour.
• Interview and select staff.
• Decide how the School Budget is spent.

School Governors have legal duties and responsibilities.
They can only act together, they cannot act individually.

SCHOOL GOVERNORS ARE:

• Parents who are appointed by a parents ballot
• Teachers or Support Staff at the School who are appointed by the staff
• Local Council Representatives who are appointed by the Local Authority
• Diocesan Representatives (Foundation Governors) who are appointed by Salford Diocese

WHAT ARE GOVERNING BODY COMMITTEES

If a group of governors is delegated the responsibility for making decisions on behalf of the full governing body, they are a committee. The full governing body is bound by the committee’s decisions and must take responsibility for them.

In practice, most committees have a mixture of responsibilities, including some decision-making powers (which is what makes them committees) and some responsibilities for discussing issues and making recommendations (rather like a working group). For example, a Finance Committee may have certain delegated powers to decide to spend or vire money and also a responsibility to recommend a draft budget to the full governing body, for its approval.

Governing bodies can also delegate responsibilities to an individual governor or the Headteacher. The same rules apply as for committees, in terms of how the responsibilities are delegated and reviewed and how the individual reports his/her actions and decisions to the full governing body.

Committees report their activities and decision making to the full Governing Body.

At St Patrick’s there are 3 committees; Finance and Premises, Standards and Welfare.

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE COMMITTEES

• Membership of the committee will be no fewer than 3 governors, plus the Headteacher.
• The quorum for each meeting will be 3 governors.
• The committee is to meet termly before the full Governing Body meeting and otherwise as required, using the terms of reference as a guide to agenda setting.
• The committee is to report to each meeting of the full governing body.
• The committee will make its own decisions on behalf of, and without referral to, the full governing body, except where the subject matter requires full governing body consideration by law or in accordance with the school’s established scheme of delegation.

The committees have a variety of responsibilities including the following:

Finance and Premises Committee

• To prepare and present the annual budget to the full Governing Body.
• To authorise, monitor and evaluate the spending plans from the annual budget allocated to the school to achieve value for money
• To review staff pay and conditions
• To ensure proper financial administration arrangements are in place that enables the governing body to fulfil its statutory responsibilities for financial management.
• To be responsible for monitoring the fabric of the school premises and, within the budget provision, authorising maintenance work.
• To monitor and review all policies linked to the above
• To facilitate Governor and staff training related to the above.

 
Standards Committee

• To monitor and evaluate achievement outcomes for end of key stage performance
• To monitor and evaluate rates of progress and attainment by all pupils, including any underachieving groups
• To approve and review the school improvement targets.
• To review the performance of the school against the achievement criteria outlined in the Ofsted evaluation schedule
• To review the school’s evidence about the quality of teaching and learning
• To monitor and evaluate the school curriculum
• To monitor and review all policies linked to the above
• To facilitate Governor and staff training related to the above.

Welfare Committee

• To ensure the health, safety and well-being of staff and pupils
• To ensure the effectiveness of safeguarding policies and procedures
• To monitor and evaluate pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning
• To monitor and evaluate pupils’ attendance and punctuality at school and the impact of the school’s actions to improve attendance
• To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness with which the school promotes equal opportunity
• To monitor and review the expenditure of the pupil and sports premiums.
• To monitor the extent of pupils’ Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development.
• To promote parent and community links.
• To monitor and review all policies linked to the above
• To facilitate Governor and staff training related to the above.

The following committees meet annually:

• Head Teacher Appraisal
• Staff Pay

There are other Governing Body committees that only meet when they are needed e.g.

• Staff/Pupil Discipline
• Appeals
• Managing Change
• Appointment of staff

St Patrick’s Governing Body Committee Membership 2022/23

Link to Get Information about Schools

Governors' attendance at meetings

Governor diversity.

At St Patrick's we have a wide diversity across our governing body.

Meet some of our Governors

Fr. Philip Sumner - Chair of Governors

I am the chair of Governors at St Patrick’s. I have served as a priest in Moss Side and Hulme, Manchester for 25 years and am currently the Parish Priest of Our Lady & St. Patrick’s, Oldham. I am also Rural Dean of the Oldham and Ashton Roman Catholic Deanery.

I hold the position of Trustee of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ – a national organisation) and I was the first Chair of the Oldham Inter Faith Forum, in which I now serve as an Executive Committee Member and as Project Manager, in a voluntary capacity.

I have a Masters and Licence in Canon Law from Ottawa University and I serve as an Ecclesiastical Judge in the Salford Diocesan Matrimonial Tribunal. I am also one of a team of Presenters for the BBC Radio 4 “Daily Service”.

In February of 2006 I was the Individual and “Overall” winner of Oldham’s first and only Diversity and Equality awards and, in September 2006, was named in a British national newspaper as amongst the top fifty British “campaigners, thinkers and givers transforming our world” (The Independent Newspaper’s “Good list”, 1^st September 2006).

I have lectured for UNESCO (Catalonia) on “Intercultural mediation processes” in Barcelona in 2006 and, in February 2008, in Brazil at the World Conference on the Development of Cities.

Susan Dodd - Foundation Governor

I retired from teaching in 2012 after a career spanning thirty five years including the roles of Head of Science and Assistant Headteacher. I taught in a range of schools including Our Lady’s Royton and St Cuthbert’s Rochdale. I have three daughters. I attend St Patrick’s Church where I am a Eucharistic minister.

Vickie Lambert - Local Authority

I am a Senior Accountant working within the finance service at Oldham Council. I have been employed by Oldham Council for 15 years and have provided financial support for a variety of different services during this time. I am a member of the Finance Committee and the Headteacher Performance objectives / Pay Committee here at St Patricks. I am also a mother to two boys.