Governing Body
The Role of the Governing Body
All schools have a Governing Body that is responsibile for determining, monitoring and keeping under review the policies, plans and procedures within which the school operates.
The Head Teacher is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school and the operation of the curriculum and reports to the Governing Body. The Governing Body is not directly involved in day-to-day management, but shapes the school via three main roles:
- to provide a strategic view of where the school is heading
- to act as a critical friend
- to hold the school to account for the educational standards it achieves and the quality of education it provides.
How the Governors work
The whole Governing body meets four time a year, twice in the Autumn term and once each in the Spring and Summer terms. We use these meetings to take reports from the Head Teacher and our own committees and make sure we are doing everything required of us by law, by Hertfordshire County Council, and by OFSTED.
Much of the Governors' work is done by our committees which meet once per term but work from day to day. We have committees for Resources (finance, personal and premises) and School Improvement (curriculum and monitoring).
GOVERNOR MEETING DATES
The Governing Body will all meet on the following dates in school at 6:00pm.
5th December 2024
13th February 2025
27th March 2025
22nd May 2025
3rd July 2025
Hertford Heath Primary & Nursery School
Governors’ information:
Chair of Governors : Julia Hodson - cog@hertfordheath.herts.sch.uk
Vice Chair of Govenors : Abby Simmons - asimmons@hertfordheath.herts.sch.uk
Safeguarding Governor : Simon Heard - sheard@hertfordheath.herts.sch.uk
Clerk : Anne Hummersone
Governor’s name | Category | Appointing body | Date of Appointment | Positions of responsibility | Relevant business interests, financial interests, other governor role at another school, relationship to staff members |
| Helen Shay | Staff | HCC | 15/04/2024 | Head Teacher | Head Teacher |
Emma Awad | Co-opted | HCC | 16/12/20 | PPG & SP | Secondary School Teacher |
Helen Watson | Staff | HCC | 2013 | Deputy Head Teacher | Deputy Head Teacher & SENCo |
Simon Heard | Parent | HCC | 23/11/20 | Safeguarding | Deputy Master, Secondary School |
Julia Hodson | Co-opted | HCC | 1/9/22 | Chair & SEND | Previously a Deputy in secondary school. Also Virtual Head for City of London |
Kelly Lord | Co-opted | HCC | 12/3/19 | STEPS Behaviour/KS1 | Key Stage 1 Leader |
Abby Simmons | Parent | HCC | 19/7/21 | Vice Chair and Health & Safety | Parent |
Sarah Stanton | Parent | HCC | 21/10/21 | Literacy | Primary teacher at another Hertfordshire school |
Sue Taylor | Co-Opted | HCC | 29/3/2023 | Finance |
|
Hazel Levins | Co-Opted | HCC | 01/10/2024 | Maths | |
Gabrielle Alway | Co-Opted | HCC | 01/10/2024 |
|
Annual Governance Statement for the Governing
Body of Hertford Heath Primary and Nursery School
April 2020
In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all Governing Bodies, the 3 core strategic functions of Hertford Heath Primary and Nursery School Governing Body are:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the Head Teacher to account for the educations performance of the school and its pupils;
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
In exercising their functions, the Governing Body shall;
- Act with integrity, objectivity and honesty and in the best interests of the school; and
- Be open about the decisions they make and the actions they take and in particular shall be prepared to explain their decisions and actions to interested parties.
Our Governing Body has a code of conduct which is reviewed and agreed annually. All governors are obliged to abide by this code.
Governance Arrangements
The Governing Body of Hertford Heath Primary and Nursery School was re-constituted in 2015 and is now made up of;
2 Staff governors
4 Parent governors
1 LEA governor
3 Co-opted governors
1 Associate Governor
The Clerk to the Governors is Anne Hummersone
The Chair of Governors is Julia Hodson
The Vice Chair of Governors is Simon Heard
There are two committees within the governing body.
They are; Resources (premises, finance, personnel)
School Improvement (curriculum and monitoring)
The committees meet termly and full Governing Body meetings are also held on a termly basis.
Charging and remissions policy:
Government legislation states that schools are unable to insist that parents pay for trips etc. that take place in school time. Our governing body in common with all other schools sets out a charging policy (part of our Lettings & Charging policy) to avoid the school going into debt or parents subsidising each other. The school receives no money from the education authority to fund trips and therefore this cost has to be passed on to parents. We consider that educational visits are essential in bringing learning to life and hope that you support us over this. The school makes no profit with a trip. If a parent has a financial problem then the school may be able to help and the Head teacher should be approached directly. However if parents refuse to pay then inevitably the trip may be cancelled.
Contact
The Governing Body always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents. Contact can be made via the school office or by using the contact form below.