St. Bridget’s Catholic Primary School

Structure and Roles of Governing Body

 

Name of Governor

Governor Category

Responsibilities

Additional Role(s)

End of Office Date

Curriculum

Finance & Buildings

Staffing

Suzanne Smith

Headteacher

✓

✓

✓

 

Ex-Officio

Chris Wright

Foundation

✓

✓

 

Chair

of Governors

05.03.2030

Mark McVeigh

Foundation

✓

 

 

Vice Chair, H&S Lead

14.04.2026

Gillian Beckwith

Foundation

✓

 

 

Governor Training

15.05.2029

Stacey Carty

Foundation

✓

 

 

Curriculum

11.11.2025

Teresa Malkinson

Foundation

✓

 

 

Curriculum

14.04.2026

Mark Andrews

Foundation

✓

 

 

Vice Chair

H&S Lead

15.05.2029

David Stead

Foundation 

✓

 

 

Curriculum

01.09.2027

Patricia Jacques

Co-opted

 

✓

 

Chair of Finance Working Group

N/A

Julie Parr

Staff

 

✓

 

Finance

19.02.2028

Mark Newby

Parent

✓

 

 

SEND Lead

01.09.2026

What we do:

We meet as a full Governing Board at least once every half term to consider a wide range of issues rather than having a committee structure in place with responsibilities delegated.  We made this decision to improve the effectiveness of our Governing Board with the following aims in mind:

  • To avoid repetition between meetings.
  • To allow decisions to be made immediately rather than having to be passed through committees.
  • To reduce the time burden on governors who were members of more than one committee.
  • To ensure that every governor had a sound understanding of all aspects of their role and responsibilities.
  • To provide high quality, meaningful support and challenge of the school leadership team.
  • To ensure rapid turnaround of change and actions generated at meetings.

 

A typical agenda includes the following: 

  • Staffing and Resources
  • Premises, Health and Safety
  • Curriculum and Standards
  • Safeguarding and Pupil Welfare

We also have a number of committees that deal with issues such as headteacher appraisal, discipline and complaints and they meet only as required. The members of these committees will depend on impartiality and availability at the time and so the members may change to ensure compliance. 

Every governor has specific responsibility for some aspect of the school's work or performance and they visit school on occasions with this focus in mind. Governor monitoring visits help us understand and appreciate the workings of the school. Sometimes these are just walks around the building to develop our own knowledge and on other occasions they are focused on a particular aspect of the school's performance and involve discussions with staff and pupils. We do not make judgements about the quality of teaching or the progress of individual pupils because that is the responsibility of the head teacher. We also attend training to assist us in carrying out our duties effectively.