Welcome to the Governor section of the website. What do we do?
All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. The Governing Body works in close partnership with the Headteacher, staff and the Local Authority. Whilst Mrs. McGuigan, alongside the Senior Leadership Team, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school, the governors provide support and hold leaders to account for achieving the best outcomes for the children. Throughout the year, we pay attention to how well the school is delivering on its objectives as stated in the annual School Improvement Plan. We meet at least six times a year and visit the school regularly as individuals to monitor aspects of the school such as pupil progress meetings, health and safety compliance, staff wellbeing, safeguarding and provision for children with special educational needs. We also visit classrooms to increase our knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning, as well as having the opportunity to talk to the children. All Governors are required to undertake a DBS screening check as part of our Safeguarding duties. All Governors have completed a Safeguarding course. We continue to be very interested in supporting the wellbeing of the Headteacher and all staff, and regularly talk to members of the team about what they do and how we can help.
This year, we have supported the school in achieving a very successful Ofsted report. Mainly as individuals, we have visited the school twenty-five times to extend our knowledge and understanding in our roles as link governors, to attend some of the Staff training and to visit classrooms to look at how the school’s priorities are being implemented. One priority’ this year has been to extend the use of technology to support children’s learning. A group of us visited classrooms in June and were able to see the wide range of technology being used successfully and the enthusiasm being shown by the children. We also regularly monitor the progress of Pupil Premium children and the impact of their funding, which is having very positive consequences. Inclusion always has a high priority and governor training this year has enabled all governors to have a greater understanding of all the procedures and strategies carried out by the school and how teachers strive to accommodate the needs of every individual.
Alongside the focus on the core subjects, we have been working on developing the wider curriculum, with teachers sharing responsibilities for the development of approaches to learning in different subjects. The positive feedback from pupils to governors has been overwhelming. They clearly enjoyed the wider curriculum and were able to recall their learning in detail.
We very much value the children’s opinions and gain regular feedback from them. Similarly, parental feedback, formally and informally, helps us all to work closely together to ensure that all children, whatever their needs, are receiving the best possible education.
If you are interested in being a governor, please contact the school office to find out if we have any vacancies. If you would like to contact a governor, this can be done through the school office. Letters marked for the attention of a governor will be passed on in confidence.
Who are we?
Chair of Governors: Phil Murray (Co-opted Governor)
Vice Chair: Judy Bayliss (Co-opted Governor)
Headteacher: Emma McGuigan
Co-opted Governor: Paul Heskin (Deputy Headteacher)
Staff Governor: Elizabeth Deacon
Local Authority Governor: Alina Mone
Parent Governor: Grant Shipton
Parent Governor: Gemma Cunningham
Co-opted Governor: Mark Bilsdon
Co-opted Governor: Pat Stell
In line with regulations, our Governing Body was reconstituted in January 2015 to consist of the Headteacher, two parent governors, one staff governor, a local authority governor and five co-opted governors. The standard term of office for a governor is 4 years. The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected annually at the first meeting of the academic year. Until recently, much of the work of the Governing Body was done by committees: the Resources Committee and the Teaching and Learning Committee. From September 2022, the Governing Body has adopted a Circle model, with the removal of committees. The full Governing Body will now meet six times each year. This means that all governors will have the same knowledge, which should encourage questioning and eliminate repetition. The agenda, as well as covering all the statutory elements, will have a different focus each meeting, providing coverage of all aspects of the school.
Governor Responsibilities
| Name | Category | Appointed by | Responsibility | Previous role 21/22 | Term of office | Register of business interests |
| Judy Bayliss | Co-opted | Full GB | Vice Chair
Inclusion Reading |
Vice Chair
Safeguarding Inclusion HT Pay and Performance Panel |
1/7/20-
30/6/24 |
|
| Mark Bilsdon | Co-opted | Full GB | Safeguarding including
Online Safety |
Pupil Premium |
23/5/22-
22/5/26 |
|
| Gemma
Cunningham |
Parent | Parents | Finance
Lead |
27/2/23-
26/2/27 |
||
| Elizabeth Deacon | Staff | Staff | 4/5/22-
3/5/26 |
|||
| Paul Heskin | Co-opted | Full GB | 1/11/20-
31/10/24 |
|||
| Emma McGuigan | Head Teacher | Full GB | 1/1/13- | |||
| Alina Mone | L.A. | L.A. | Premises
HT Appraisal/Staff wellbeing |
English
Health and Safety |
27/9/21-
26/9/25 |
|
| Phil Murray | Co-opted | Full GB | Chair
Writing Music and French HT Appraisal/ Staff wellbeing |
Chair
Use of Technology Governor training HT Pay and Performance Panel |
1/10/19-
30/9/23 1/10/23- 30/9/27 |
|
| Grant Shipton | Parent | Parents | Finance Lead
Maths |
Finance Lead
Maths HT Pay and Performance Panel |
16/1/19-
15/1/23 |
|
| Pat Stell | Co-opted | Full GB | Premises
HT Appraisal/Staff wellbeing |
Premises
Wider Curriculum |
27/9/21-
26/9/25 |
Record of Attendance at Governing Body and Committee Meeting 2022
Record of Attendance at Governing Body and Committee Meeting 2021
Record of Attendance at Governing Body and Committee Meeting 2020
Record of Attendance at Governing Body and Committee Meeting 2019
Record of Attendance at Governing Body and Committee Meetings 2022
Holtsmere End Junior School – Governor Action Plan
Record of Attendance at Governing Body and Committee Meetings
