The headteacher of the school is responsible for day-to-day leadership of the school. The role of the Governing Body is to provide strategic management, ask challenging questions and to act as a "critical friend", in partnership with and supporting the work of the headteacher and other staff.
Governors are at the heart of how a school operates. How they do their job affects the interests of pupils, staff morale and how the school is seen by parents and others in the community.
Governors are people who have an interest in the role of schools in society and wish to make a positive contribution to their communities. They have enquiring minds and contribute to the effective running of the school and the educational achievements of its pupils.
The Governing Body are given their powers and duties as an incorporated body. The Statutory responsibilities of the Governing Body are detailed in section 21 of the Education Act 2002. Governors do not incur any personal liability in respect of any actions or decisions taken in good faith.
The Governing Body's Statutory primary role is to help raise standards of achievement.
Governors contribute to the annual school strategy review which culminates in a School Improvement Plan ("SIP") that details the strategic priorities for the school over a 1-3 year time horizon. Monitoring and evaluation of the achievement of the SIP priorities therefore forms a core part of the regular business of the Governing Body.
Schools have a delegated budget from the Government to cover salaries, running costs, maintenance and equipment; the Governing Body is responsible for managing this budget. They can decide how many and what types of staff to employ, which equipment to upgrade or replace and what the priorities are for implementing new strategies and initiatives.
Governors and Clerks are offered free training and support either by the local authority, by central Government or by other organisations.
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The Governors are a diverse group of volunteers, each bring different strengths and skills but all having a common interest in and commitment to the school, its staff, pupils, buildings and the community of which it forms a part.
The number and titles of nominated Governors is for the Governing Body to decide. However, governance legislation identifies which named Governors are required and Governing Bodies should make sure they fulfil this statutory requirement.
The Riverhead Governing Body is composed of:
Each Governor is elected or appointed for a four year term.
Most Governing Bodies use a committee structure to undertake their monitoring and evaluation roles. Membership and terms of reference of committees must be determined annually. Riverhead has five committees within the Governing Body, each with its own Chair. The committees have delegated powers to make decisions about the school that do not then require any approval by the Full Governing Body. The committees are:
There is particular governor business (statutory and other) that must be performed within specific timescales. There is a rolling cycle of such business that the Full Governing Body plans annually and to that end each committee meets once a (new) term and the Full Governing Body also meet once a term.
The Governing Body also forms working groups to tackle specific problems.
The Governors are supported in their work by a Clerk to the Governing Body.
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The Governing Body is led by the Chair, elected by the Governing Body from within its membership. The role of Chair is set for a one year period.
The Chair is supported in his work by a Vice Chair, who is delegated certain tasks and responsibilities. The role of Vice Chair is set for a one year period too.
The Governing Body may choose to appoint Governors to take on other additional specific roles. Currently, the Vice Chair has specific responsibility for:
Russell Walters (Chair of Governors and Parent Governor)
I joined as a parent Governor in 2006, becoming Chair of the Finance Committee in 2007 and taking over as Chair of Governors in 2009.
I am a Chartered Accountant by training and now work for English Heritage.
My two boys were pupils at Riverhead before moving on to Amherst, where they now are. I have found the commitment of all the staff to be outstanding and I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity to give something back. Being involved in the development of the school, overseeing its finances and the fantastic building we have, ensuring that educational standards are maintained and improved and most importantly, helping to ensure the children have a school which they enjoy being at and which provides them with a safe place to develop and learn, is something I get great satisfaction from.
Jenny Baker-Hirst (Parent Governor)
I chose to become a Governor as I have a desire to support the school in its provision of an excellent education for the children of Riverhead Infants' School.
I have a keen interest in learning, personal development and coaching and am passionate about the education of my two sons.
I am a Chartered Accountant with a broad business background covering Finance, Strategy Planning and Business Development. I chair the Finance Committee and am a member of Premises and Pay & Staffing Committees.
I very much enjoy the role and like the children, I am on a learning journey to develop into an ever more effective and value adding Parent Governor.
Sebastien Coquelin (Parent Governor)
I have become a Governor to support strategically the Headteacher and Staff of the school. Maintaining excellent standards via high expectations and helping address educational issues that consistently arise is, in my opinion, paramount to the Governor's role.
I am a Modern languages teacher at Sevenoaks School. I am married and I have two sons and a daughter.
Keen sportsman, I very much enjoy tennis, volleyball and rugby. I also like travelling and lived in Africa for several years working for the French Embassy as Cultural and Linguistic Attaché.
Nic Davidson (Teacher Governor)
I became a Governor at Riverhead Infants' School because I felt it should be part of my job specification to learn about the running of a school from the other side of the counter.
I have been a teacher, SENCO and Assistant Head at Riverhead Infants' School during the past 18 years and have learnt a lot from the pupils, parents, staff, Governors and other stakeholders e.g. PTA and now it's time for me to help support the work of the Governors and bring my experience of the school to the meetings.
I am a member of the Learning & Development, Finance and Premises committees. I hope I bring loyalty, enthusiasm and dedication to the job.
Noel Dawes (Local Authority Governor)
I was approached to become an LA School Governor upon my retirement. My daughter attended Amherst School and was also a teacher there. She encouraged me to take the role telling me how important it was to support the Headteacher and staff.
I was delighted that it was to be Riverhead Infants School as it is local. The School was still on the old site and the prospect of shortly moving to the new site was exciting as I had watched it being built. I volunteered to go on the Premises Committee, thinking there would be little to do at the new school. How wrong I was. My 42 years experience in the construction industry has proved to be useful as the new school has evolved.
I now chair the Premises Committee and am a member of the Finance and Pay and Staffing committees.
Jane Gillhouley (Parent Governor)
I have been a Governor at two previous schools and have very much enjoyed the role. This is my first role as Parent Governor and I look forward to experiencing governance from a new perspective. I am keen to support the parent community and the school.
I am a qualified primary school teacher and have been involved with education for over 20 years. I have a love of learning and enjoy sharing this learning journey with young children. Within my professional life I have been part of many whole school initiatives and enjoyed serving as a member of the leadership team until the birth of my second child in 2005 when I decided to go part-time.
I am a member of the Learning & Development and Community committees.
Sue Manning (Non-Teaching Governor)
I started working at Riverhead in 1998, when the younger of my two children joined the school, after 16 years of working as a Cartographer for Geographers A-Z Maps. During this time I worked mainly with the Early Year classes as a Teaching Assistant, helping them settle into the routine of school and encouraging them in their educational skills, watching them develop and move onto Amherst.
Whilst my own children were at Riverhead, I spent many happy hours helping out on the PTA especially with the catering!
I am now a Non Teaching Governor and want to get involved helping and supporting the team to maintain the high standards achieved by our amazing children on their learning journeys.
James Vernon (Local Authority Governor)
With three children, I'm keenly aware of the importance education plays in shaping the future of the next generation, and also in a broader sense, the role education plays in the future prosperity of our society. In some small way, I hope that my position as a LA Governor and member of the Finance and Premises committees, I can help this process by bringing to bear my twenty-odd years experience in technology and finance.
Paul Wakeling (Parent Governor)
I am a teacher by profession and am now Principal of Havering Sixth Form College where I am focussed on creating a community where staff and students are fully engaged with learning.
My daughter is at Riverhead Infants' School and I hope that my son will attend soon. My daughter talks a lot about what, and how, she is learning. I am amazed at her enthusiasm for what she is doing.
As Governor, I hope to be a supportive, critical friend and to focus on how the school can maintain and develop the excellent teaching, learning and support that it provides. This is why I have joined the Learning & Development Committee.
Elaine Warnes (Teacher Governor)
I started teaching at Riverhead infants' School in January 1993 and have experienced many changes during that time, namely; the building of the new school, curriculum innovation and new staff. One thing that never changes is the wonderful children who attend our school and who we are so fortunate to teach.
During my time here, I have been Early Years' Coordinator, Year One Coordinator and also had a temporary spell as Acting Deputy Head. I am the Teacher Governor for our school, as I wanted to help to support the team who work tirelessly for the benefit of the children in our care.
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The Governing Body of Riverhead Infants' School has four positions for parent governors. They contribute to all aspects of the work carried out by governors as long as they do not have a personal (business) interest in a particular area.
Parent governors are elected by all parents at school to serve a term of office of four years. They must have a child present at the school at the time of the election but they may continue to serve after their child moves on to another school (often Amherst).
Although parent governors are elected by parents and can represent their collective views at meetings, they are not delegates and parents cannot mandate them on how they should vote or what they should say in governing body meetings. Parent governors are sometimes involved with preparing newsletters and other reports to enable parents to understand the work of the governing body.
Occasionally parent governors are approached by parents with individual concerns. In these cases, the parents should be encouraged to speak directly to the Head Teacher. The parent governor involved could offer to help support a parent during any discussions if a parent is not confident about approaching the School.
Riverhead Infants' School full governing body meets once a term often during an afternoon. Most governors serve on committees which meet once a term to review progress on all issues. Governors seek to support the Staff and Head of the school generally by acting as a 'critical friend'. This role is strategic and not operational. This enables the Head and Staff to manage the day to day running of the school.
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There are a number of documents, shown below, which describe the policies of the School Governors. Clicking on any of them will cause it to be displayed in a separate window. Please note that all these documents are in PDF format and hence Acrobat (or Foxit Reader) is needed to view them.
Minutes of Governor Meetings are normally circulated widely. They can also be viewed (in a separate window) by clicking on any of the meeting dates in the following list:
In spring 2005 Riverhead Infants' School undertook a thorough investigation of the ways in which families travel and from the new school site. The findings were published in a report called a Travel Plan which was submitted to Kent County Council and the Department of Transport.
On the basis of the Travel Plan, Riverhead Infants' School was awarded a grant worth just over £5,000 which could be used to improve the walk to school for all its families. The most urgent issue identified in the travel plan was congestion at the main school gate. Therefore the school has used the money to improve access to the playground for all families by installing an additional school gate.
The (partially complete) Travel Plan (in PDF format) can be viewed from here in a separate window.
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The contents of this page were last updated on Wed, 8 Feb 2012
© Riverhead Infants' School