Our Governance - St Bartholomew's CE Primary School

Governance

Full meetings of the Governing Body take place five times per year. In addition, all governors maintain regular contact with lead staff in their ‘link areas’ and visit the school on a regular basis to monitor and support the school’s vision and priorities.

The overarching role of the governing body is to ensure school improvement, aligned to the school’s Improvement Plan, and this is divided into 3 main roles:

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

2. Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils

3. Supporting the Trust in making sure its money is well spent

To keep their knowledge and skills up to scratch governors attend a number of training sessions each year including Safeguarding. Half termly Trust governor briefing take place and provide all governors with the latest information, knowledge and updates to ensure effective governance. At St Bartholomew’s, as a Church of England school, governors also access training through the Diocese. All governor training is logged on the SAET Governor Hub portal.

Please click here to find out more about our Governor Links

Chair of Governors

· Mr Tim Haywood

Vice Chair of Governors

· Mrs Carly Kendrick

Headteacher

· Mr Ian James - (Term start: 01/09/19)

Foundation Governors

· Miss Susan Matthews - (Term start: 25/01/20 - Term end: 24/01/23 - First appointed: 25/01/16)

· Rev Mark Turner - (Term start: 15/11/07) ex officio - Term end: 09/12/2021)

· Mr Tim Haywood – (Term start: 15/11/20 – Term end: 14/11/23)

Parent Governors

· Mrs Carly Kendrick - (Term start: 06/12/21 - Term end: 05/12/24 – First appointed: 06/12/18)

Mrs Heather Jones - (Term start: 26/05/2021 - Term end: 25/05/2025)

Staff Governor

· Mrs Laura Graham - (Term start: 16/07/19 - Term end: 15/07/22)

Trust Governor

· Mr Matthew Carpenter - (Term start: 24/06/20 - Term end: 23/06/24)

Ms Louise Fisher - (Term start: 09/12/2021

Correspondence for the Governors may be addressed, either to the Chair of Governors, or the Clerk to the Governors at the school address. The Chair of Governors can be contacted via the following:

· A: Severn Academies Educational Trust

· T: 01562 542574

· E: Mrs Jill Walker (Clerk) – jwalker@saet.co.uk

· A: St Bartholomew's CE VC Primary School, Princess Way, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, DY13 0EL

· T: 01299 823454

· E: Mrs Steph Johnson (Admin) - sjohnson@sbp.saet.co.uk

Tim Haywood - Chair of Governors

Tim has been a Director of SAET since September 2018 and Chair of Governors of St Bart’s since November 2020. He has lived in Stourport for 25 years, is a keen rower for Stourport Boat Club and a longtime member of Areley Kings Players.

Tim was Finance Director of a number of private sector listed businesses in construction, support services and regeneration during his 30-year executive career. With a lifelong commitment to fairness and doing the right thing, he was also increasingly attracted to the wider issues of sustainability within those businesses, and became the only FTSE250 Finance Director in the UK to hold the role of Head of Sustainability. This in turn led to Tim’s appointment as HRH Prince of Wales’ Ambassador for Responsible Business, and Chairman of Sustainability West Midlands.

Now Tim has moved out of the corporate world, having stopped the regular commuting from Stourport to London, and is living a very different life running Astley Vineyard with his family.·

Carly Kendrick - Vice Chair of Governors

Carly has been a parent at St Bart’s since 2009 and became a Parent Governor in June 2019 before being appointed as Vice Chair in January 2021. Carly has enjoyed being able to give something back to the school community having seen first-hand how the school has supported her own children and enabled them to thrive so well.

Having been able to use her knowledge and experience of Early Years care and education, Carly is a Nursery Manager by profession and has previously worked for the Early Years and childcare service of the Local Authority. Carly applies this expertise to her role of School Governor and the focus areas to which she is currently assigned: Early Years, Safeguarding, and SEN.

Always with the best interests of the school at heart, Carly has a genuine belief St Bart’s is a fantastic school that will continue to develop and thrive. As a very proud member of the Governing Body as Vice Chair and indeed as a parent, Carly continually strives to support St Bart’s and fulfils her role and responsibilities with my best intentions, passion, integrity and knowledge.

Mr I James

As a former PE teacher for over 20 years, I am passionate about sport particularly football, cricket and rugby. I am a Nottingham Forest supporter and have been waiting a long time for my team to return to the Premier League! I have three daughters and a dog; a Cavachon named Taco!

I joined St Bartholomew’s in September 2019 having been a senior leader at Stourport High School and Severn Academies Educational Trust. I love everything about our school, especially our brilliant children and staff, and we are all working together to make the school even better. Our new curriculum and plans for the future are very exciting and, collectively, we are working hard to ensure every child gets the best possible education and a wide variety of fantastic learning experiences and opportunities. Check out our monthly newsletter and website to see our developments and watch us grow!

Nikki Furnival

I joined St Bartholomew's in January 2014 and already had two children attending the school who were thriving and loved attendingl. I was firstly employed as a teaching assistant and then In 2019 I went back to university and completed my degree and then my teacher training, qualifying in 2021. I now teach in the Acorns Nursery Class and absolutely love watching and supporting the children as they explore the environment and develop their skills and knowledge each day.

St Bartholomew's has supported me greatly on my journey into teaching and becoming a staff governor was my opportunity to give something back alongside my teaching role.

When I am not at school I enjoy spending time with my family, We like to travel to around in our caravan finding new places to explore.

Mat Carpenter

Matthew Carpenter has been Principal at Baxter College since January 2018. He led Baxter College to a ‘Good Grading’ from OFSTED in January 2020, and is very proud to serve the community of Kidderminster and the Wyre Forest.

Matthew’s passion for education was started in his formative years. As the son of 2 teachers he quickly learned what a rewarding job teaching is, inspiring young people to achieve their future aspirations. Prior to joining Baxter College he worked in schools across the West Midlands as a Science Teacher and then as a Senior Leader. Matthew has worked in schools in challenging circumstances, dedicated to improving the life chances of students from disadvantaged back ground.

Matthew is looking forward to getting to know the St Bartholomew’s Primary school community, and contributing to making sure the children receive the best opportunities possible.

Louise Fisher

Louise is a Trust appointed governor - we will provide more information about Louise very soon

Each school in the state system has a Governing Body. The Governing Body at St Bartholomew's plays a key role in helping oversee the strategic direction of the school and works in partnership with the Head teacher and her Senior Leadership Team. The main aim of a Governing Body is to ensure the delivery of a high standard of education for all the pupils in its care.

'Our' governors have an excellent knowledge of the school before and after school.

As members of the local community they are ambitious for all the children within the school and take their responsibility for the strategic direction of the school very seriously.