Our Governing Body
Our Governors are all dedicated to the continuous improvement of our schools and come from all walks of life.
CHAIR OF GOVS Governor Category: Co-Opted, appointed by the board. Sian brings with her a wealth of experience in governance both in schools and through the Schools Organisation and Governance Group. She runs a local business in the tourism sector.
VICE CHAIR Governor Category: Local Authority, nominated by the LA, appointed by the board Lead governor for Safeguarding and SEND. Campbell brings with him teaching and senior leadership experience at a local secondary school. As part of his day job, he has lead on readiness for OFSTED and pupil transition from primary to secondary. He is also a parent at Berrynarbor.
Governor Category: Head, holds a place by virtue of their office and attends all meetings and committees Su's teaching career began in Bristol, with a move to North Devon in 2007 to take up the post of head teacher at Berrynarbor. She now leads both Berrynarbor and West Down Primary Schools, sharing the headship with Mrs Poynter. Su no longer teaches a class but this does not stop her knowing all of our children and enjoying watching them grow into wonderful young people.
Governor Category: Head, holds a place by virtue of their office and attends all meetings and committees. I have taught across all year groups within West Berry Federation. In September 2017 I was appointed as Deputy Head & in September 2018 I became Co-Head alongside Su. Both of my children have attended West Down. I feel extremely privileged to be part of such a fantastic team, surrounded by fantastic children!
Governor Category: Parent, details to follow
Ethos Group Member. Chris is a local business owner. He has experience as a governor in primary schools locally and is a current governor at the Ilfracombe Academy.
Governor Category: Foundation, Appointed by the Diocese Member of the Ethos and Vision Committee Caroline is the Assistant Curate at St Calixtus West Down, ordained in September 2015. She works in the parishes of West Down, Marwood and Heanton - enjoying spending time in schools as part of her role. Prior to this, she worked as a nurse for 38 years, spending most of my career at the North Devon District Hospital.
Governor Category: Co-Opted. Appointed by FGB. David is a consultany psychiatrist for a local NHS Trust. He is a member of the Pay and Performance Committee and Lead for Equality and Diversity.
Clerk to Governors Jo is the “Governance Professional” on the board. This entails administrative tasks such as writing agendas & taking minutes as well as providing advice & guidance to the board, ensuring we are compliant within our statutory and legal duties and facilitating strong governance. She is usually the first point of contact for anybody wishing to communicate with the board.
Our Governing Body
Considering the requirement to ensure that individuals cannot be identified through the publication of data, the close knit nature of our communities, the small numbers of governors and staff it is not appropriate to publish diversity data.
All governing boards, no matter what type of schools or how many schools they govern, have three core functions:
• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
In our schools, the full board meets throughout the year, between these meetings individual governors are responsible as Lead Governors for a portfolio, and have delegated responsibility for defined areas of work. You can find out which areas our governors are responsible for in our Register of Business Interests below. We are abiding by our duty to publish relevant business and pecuniary interests and attendance at meetings of all governors. We also sign up to Code of Conduct - this can be viewed below:
In addition the board has the following committees:
-
Pay and performance committee, which meets three times a year, with delegated responsibility for ensuring that staff appraisal is appropriately carried out.
-
Head teachers’ appraisal committee, which carries out the head teacher’s appraisal.
-
1st (Hearings) Committee and 2nd (Appeals) committee are convened as required to consider any formal proceedings, such as a staff disciplinary issue or the permanent exclusion of a pupil (extremely rare in our case).
The terms of reference for each for each lead governor, committee and panel can be found in the Scheme of Delegation below. They explain what delegated authority the governor or committee has been given to make decisions on behalf of the board.
Any work undertaken by Lead Governors is reported to the full board at their next meeting - you can view approved minutes of the full board below:
If you would like more information on the work we do to ensure continuous improvement in all aspects of school life, to apply to join the governing board or to contact a governor please contact the Clerk, Jo Williams, at clerk@westberryfederation.org.uk or our Chair, Sian Jenkins, at jenkinss@westberryfederation.org.uk