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 about 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.
This year, we have supported the school leadership in planning and implementing projects to provide more accommodation for small group learning and to provide the Daily Mile running track. We are currently helping to specify requirements for a potential roof replacement in the next year or two. As always, one of the priorities for the school is high levels of progress and attainment in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. This year there has been a concerted focus from all staff on the methods used for Phonics. Our Hertfordshire Improvement Partner, an expert external adviser who works with us, told governors after a recent visit that, “This initiative is showing great promise in having a real impact on children’s reading skills”. We also regularly monitor the progress of Pupil Premium children and the impact of their funding, which is having very positive consequences. As a school, we were all very pleased with the latest SATs results, which were higher than the national average. The results clearly showed that the remote teaching and learning provision during the Covid lockdown periods had been effective and that the school had maintained its high expectations for learners.
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. A group of governors visited classes in late June to observe how Religious Education and Design and Technology are being taught throughout the school. They were impressed to see all the children being engaged in the lessons, how they were keen to answer questions and how well their teachers kept up their interest and enthusiasm through a range of resources,
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
Safeguarding Lead Inclusion HT Pay & Performance Panel |
Vice Chair
Chair of T&L Safeguarding Inclusion HTs Performance Appraisal panel Pay Review Committee |
1/7/20-
30/6/24 |
|
| Mark Bilsdon | Co-opted | Full GB | Safeguarding understudy
Pupil Premium |
Resources Committee | 23/5/22-
22/5/26 |
|
| Elizabeth Deacon | Staff | Staff | 4/5/22-
3/5/26 |
|||
| Paul Heskin | Co-opted | Full GB | Resources Committee | 1/11/20-
31/10/24 |
||
| Emma McGuigan | Head Teacher | Full GB | 1/1/13- | |||
| Alina Mone | L.A. | L.A. | Health and Safety
English Social Development |
English
Resources Committee |
27/9/21-
26/9/25 Resigned |
|
| Phil Murray | Co-opted | Full GB | Chair
Use of Technology Governor Training HT Pay & Performance Panel |
Chair
Resources Committee Health & Safety Governor Training Wellbeing HT’s Performance Appraisal Panel Pay Review Committee |
1/10/19-
30/9/23 |
|
| Reyhan Rawles | Parent | Parents | N/A | Teaching & Learning Committee | Resigned
11/7/22 |
|
| Sarah Robson | Parent | Parents | N/A | Teaching & Learning Committee | Resigned
28/3/22 |
|
| Grant Shipton | Parent | Parents | Finance Lead
HT Pay & Performance panel Maths |
Chair of Resources
Maths HTs Performance Panel Pay Review Committee |
16/1/19-
15/1/23 |
|
| Pat Stell | Co-opted | Full GB | Premises Lead
Wider Curriculum |
Resources Committee
Health & Safety |
27/9/21-
26/9/25 |
|
| Vacancy | Parent |
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
