Welcome to the Governors section of the School Website.

As of January 2018 St Mary's became a member of our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi-Academy Trust. The structure and committees of our Governing Body reflect the structure of the Trust Board.  The school has two committees of the Trust Board which both meet termly - Resources and Teaching, Learning & Standards.

Contact us via the school by e-mail: admin@st-marys-ipswich.suffolk.sch.uk or in writing in an envelope addressed to a named Governor.

 

There are different types of Governors.  Foundation Governors are appointed by the Bishop and are always in the majority in a Voluntary Aided school.  Parent Governors are elected.  Staff Governors represent the interests of the people employed by the school. 

 

Report of Governors Strategy Day

 

The School Governing Body held their first Governors' Strategy Day on 25th September and I am pleased to report that this was a positive day for both the Governors and the school leadership team.  Below gives an overview of the reason strategy days are held and the benefits outcomes from our first one.

 

Governor Strategy Days are now held termly and are designed to provide a number of benefits, including; Giving Governors the training needed to fulfil their roles appropriately, an opportunity to better understand school life, a chance to focus on specific school issues and to provide feedback to the leadership team.  The focus of the September Strategy Day was 'behaviour'.

 

The September strategy day was a positive experience and School Governors were able to observe the children being taught in class and also at lunch time. (Where we joined the children in eating the school meal - pasta with veg, which was nutritious and tasty).

 

Overall we were delighted to see an impressive level of behaviour across all year groups.  It was clear that all teachers had control of their class and this meant that during our visit every child was engaged in learning.  There were a number of behavioural management techniques evident which were age appropriate and based upon positive reinforcement rather than punishment.  We observed little low level disruptive behaviour but when this did occur it was quickly dealt with. Focus groups with pupils from all year groups were undertaken to gain an understanding of the effects of behaviour on others and this was a helpful insight into a number of issues.  Pupils expressed a good understanding of how to report behaviour that they felt was disruptive and felt sure that teachers would deal with it.

 

We were impressed with the general level of behaviour and to the extent with which training undertaken by teachers during recent PD days was reflected in teaching across the school.  A full report on behaviour was provided to Mrs Berry at the end of the day.

 

Kevin Reilly

CoG

The Governing Body

 

Name of Governor	Type	Appointed by	Start of Term of Office	End of Term of Office	Extra Area of responsibility
Angela Bull (Chair)	Foundation	The Diocese	01/11/2022	31/05/2027	Safeguarding & SEND Statutory Safeguarding Prevent Policy oversight Staff workload & well being Governance arrangements Health & Safety Admissions and Trust engagement Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overtime. Learning behaviours
Paul Phillips (Vice Chair)	Foundation	The Diocese	01/11/2019	31/10/2027	Personal Development PSHE RSE Pupil Premium & Equality of Opportunity Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overtime. Learning behaviours
Fr Jude Belnas	Foundation	The Diocese	01/12/2022	30/11/2026	Quality of education Catholic Life Subject Lead Support Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overtime. Learning behaviours
Jill Sandvig	Foundation	The Diocese	01/01/2022	31/12/2025	Quality of Education Curriculum overview English Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overtime. Learning behaviours
Dr Eugene Ogbodo	Foundation	The Diocese	01/03/2022	28/02/2026	Quality of education Science
Matilda Rampley	Foundation	The Diocese	01/12/2023	30/11/2027	Catholic Life Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overtime. Learning behaviours
Collette Duhamel-Newton	Staff	Staff Nominated	01/09/2019	31/08/2026
Maureen Haaker	Parent	Parent Nominated	01/12/2023	01/12/2026	SEND Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overime. Learning behaviours
Mark Coventry	Parent	Parent Nominated	01/12/2023	01/12/2026	EYFS Maths Behaviours & Attitudes Analysis of and response to pupils behaviour overtime. Learning behaviours
Josephine Measham	Headteacher
Joanne Berry	Headteacher

 

         Governors who have previously served in the past 12 months:

         Name                                Date end of term of office

         Kevin Reilly                          31.12.2023

         Chris Griggs                        02.03.2023

               

         Associate Members:

                                                               

         No voting rights are currently held by the associate members.

       

Pecuniary Interests

A pecuniary interest is where a Governor or member of staff has a financial interest in a third party business that the school uses or may use it in the future which could conflict with the policies, procedures or ethos of the school.

Pecuniary interests are declared annually in the Autumn Term, and at any point during the year if changes occur.

Pecuniary interests declared for Autumn 2023 - Summer 2024

Steve Pettit - is the school carpenter/builder and is husband of the Trust Finance Assistant

Patricia Crabb - St Mary's Preschool Business Manager

Governors Attendance at Meetings

Governors have excellent attendance at all meetings. We have never cancelled a meeting because it was not “quorate” (the number of governors needed to ensure that legal decisions can be made).

Autumn 2023

Governor	Teaching, Learning and Standards   6 pm Via Google 3.10.2023	Resources     5.30 pm in School 28.11.2023
Jo Berry	Y	Y
Maureen Haaker	--	Y
Mark Coventry	--	Y
Collette Duhamel-Newton	Y	Y
Jo  Measham	Y	Y
Angela Bull	Y (Chair)	Y
Paul Phillips	Y	Y
Father Jude Belnas	- Aps (not sent)	Aps (not sent)
Kevin Reilly (Chair)	Aps	Y
Jill Sandvig	Aps	Aps
Eugene Ogbodo	Aps (not sent)	Aps (not sent)
Elizabeth Buttigieg	Aps	Aps
Clare Clarke	Y	- -
Louise Pettit (FINANCE)	--	Y
Lindsey Ling (OM) Clerk	Y (Clerk)	Aps
Rebecca Todd	--	Y (Clerk)

• Chair - Angela Bull   
• Clerk - Lindsey Ling - Office Manager from February 2023
• Clerk - Rebecca Todd - Admin November 2023