Meadowfield School Governing Body
The Governors of Meadowfield School work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and staff to uphold the School Ethos and Values and ensure that every young person has the best individual learning opportunity and is able to maximise their development and progress to lead the fullest possible adult life.
The role of the Governors is a strategic one in the development of the school, with day to day management and operational issues delegated to the Senior Leadership Team.
The three core responsibilities of the Governing Body are:
Additionally, the Governing Body maintains a high focus on Safeguarding and Child Protection in line with DfE guidance “Keeping Children Safe in Education”, with Safeguarding being a standing agenda item at every Full Governing Body meeting.
Our Governing Body Constitution currently consists of 14 Governors:
We operate a Teams system: Wellbeing, Teaching & Outcomes and Business Services (incorporating all matters relating to Human Resources, Finance, Premises, Health & Safety and ICT. All Governors attend Full Governing Body meetings and every Governor is a member of at least one Team, although all Governors may join any Team meeting regardless of membership. Every meeting is minuted by our Clerk and these minutes, minus any confidential discussions, are available to parents and stakeholders on request once agreed and signed.
Our current Governors are as follows:
Acting Principal: | Mrs A Howe |
Staff Governor: | Miss D Simms |
Parent Governors: | Mrs A Sequeira |
New appointment pending* | |
Co-Opted Governors: | Mrs Y Cherry |
Mrs O Agunbiade | |
New appointment pending* | |
New appointment pending* | |
Vacancy | |
Vacancy | |
Vacancy | |
Foundation Governors: | Mrs R Kane |
Mrs L Candy | |
Local Authority Governor: | Mr R Hawes |
Associate Members: | Mrs A Howe (Teaching & Outcomes Team) |
Mrs B Singh (Business Services Team) | |
Ms J Palmer (All Teams) | |
Mrs E Hymus (Wellbeing & Development Team) | |
Mr J White (Wellbeing & Development Team) | |
Chair of Governors: | Mrs R Kane |
Vice Chair of Governors: | Mrs L Candy |
Clerk to the Governors: | Mrs K Wilson |
* Awaiting statutory pre-appointment vetting
In addition to their membership of one of the Governing Body Teams, some Governors have specific roles and responsibilities as follows:
Safeguarding | Mrs Y Cherry & Mr R Hawes |
SEN | Mrs L Candy |
Children in Care | Mrs L Candy |
Early Years | To be confirmed |
Attendance | Miss D Simms |
PSHE/Wellbeing | Mrs A Sequeira |
Post 16 / Careers | To be confirmed |
Training & Development | To be confirmed |
Health & Safety | To be confirmed |
Finance | Mrs R Kane |
Our Governors’ attendance at meetings is excellent; full details of attendance can be found in the Governor section of the School Website.
Our Impact
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic it became necessary to adapt in order to comply with national restrictions and from March 2020 our meetings were conducted virtually via Teams; Governor attendance was exceptional, with all Governors making a huge effort to continue to prioritise school business from their homes. With the easing of restrictions, Governors made the decision to move with the national trend of working from home and we now hold blended meetings, offering the opportunity for Governors to attend meetings virtually as well as in person. This has resulted in much improved attendance allowing Governors to attend meetings which they may otherwise not have been able to. The Governing Body has continued to meet according to our agreed schedule to fulfil our statutory duties and are proud to have achieved many of our objectives in spite of the challenges, in particular:
Our Priorities for this Year
In the forthcoming academic year we will work towards achieving the targets on our Action Plan, with a particular focus on:
We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents. Please contact the Chair of Governors via the Clerk to the Governors at clerktogovernors@meadowfield.kent.sch.uk if you would like to discuss anything.