Knaresborough St John's C of E Primary School

Governors

Knaresborough St John are proud to be part of the educational vision for Elevate Multi Academy Trust, whilst retaining our own strong identity. The Trustees have allowed its Academies to retain the same composition for their local governing bodies, which is set out below.

The three core functions of the local governing board are:

To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
To hold the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the Academy and its children;.
To oversee the financial performance of the Academy and make sure its money is well spent.

Chair of Governors: Ann Westmoreland

Contact: cofg@ksjprimaryschool.org or c/o Knaresborough St John's CofE Primary School, Stockwell Road, Knaresborough, HG5 0JN

Responsibilities:

Together, the Governors are responsible for:

Setting aims and targets for the Academy and checking the Academy’s progress towards attaining these.
Monitoring how well the Academy’s policies and plans are working.
Accounting for the performance of the Academy and the Governing Body.
Working with the Head teacher to make sure that teaching at the Academy is effective and good quality and the children are making the best possible progress.
Taking general responsibility for the Academy and its budget.
Challenging and supporting the senior management team and taking opportunities to show interest in and appreciation of staff and pupils.
Promoting the interests of the Academy and its pupils in the wider community.

Types of Governors:

There are several different types of Governor:

Parent Governor

Elected from parents at the school by parents at the Academy.
Staff Governor

Elected from staff at the school by staff at the Academy
Co-opted Governors

Appointed by members of the Governing Body. They are intended to be representative of the local community and may add particular kinds of expertise.

Foundation Governor Foundation governors are representatives of the Church of England.

The local vicar is normally appointed as the 'ex-officio' foundation governor;

The other foundation governor will be appointed by York Diocese, following consultation with the local PCC.

St John's Governing Body

The Governing Body exists to help the Academy provide a high quality education for children in a supportive, caring environment. It does this by:

setting the Academy's values, vision and strategic direction
challenging and supporting the Academy by continually monitoring, reviewing and evaluating its performance
ensuring that the Academy is accountable to its children, the local community, those who fund and maintain it, and the staff it employs.

Governors are also responsible for monitoring the Academy's finances, checking that resources are being managed well and helping with the appointment of staff.

Our Governors

Ann Westmoreland: Co-opted governor and chair. Ann is a graduate of the University of Leeds. Initially she trained as and then worked as a Radiographer at Harrogate District Hospital before moving to Seacroft Hospital to train in Radiography Education in the NHS. Ann has recently retired as a Radiography Lecturer from the University of Leeds. Since retiring Ann now volunteers at Knaresborough St John’s school in the school library and helping children with their reading. Ann is also a member of a local literary group.

Katherine Demir: Co opted Governor

David Sapherson: Co opted Governor

Lindsay Richardson: Staff Governor

After studying at Newcastle and York St John's University, Lindsay worked at Markington Primary School for 4 years before joining the St John's family. She has enjoyed teaching throughout KS1 and is now the school Senco and Deputy Headteacher. Lindsay is passionate about teaching and learning and has been a Governor for over 10 years. In her spare time, she enjoys running, snowboarding and holidays with family and friends.

Revd Garry Hinchcliffe: Ex Officio Foundation Governor

Garry has served in the church both in his native Scotland and then in England since 1994. On moving to North Yorkshire in 2000 he became a school governor and has served in that capacity in different schools ever since. Governance is not truly where his heart lies. However, he embraces the role as his true passion and commitment are to the children, parents and staff who make up the whole school community. He hopes he is an approachable, friendly and recognisable face that is there to support and help in an ever changing world.

Jack Wilson: Foundation Governor

Jack has been a regular attender at St. John’s Church, Knaresborough since April 1990, and was a Churchwarden for 4 years, the PCC Treasurer for 6 years and ran a Youth Club for 4 years.

He was a Foundation Governor and PTA Treasurer for 5 years at the Church School in his previous Parish.

Jack has lived in Knaresborough since 1990 and retired in October 2013. He has worked in Local Government, the Electricity Supply Industry and the Hotel and Leisure Industry mainly in Finance, Payroll and HR.

Jessie Lewis: Parent Governor

After University, Jessie taught English in primary schools in Madrid and Barcelona before returning to the UK and pursuing a career in training and governance for large corporate companies. Her experience includes senior stakeholder engagement and management as well as establishing and running a new business. Jessie and her family live in central Knaresborough and she is passionate about supporting her local school and community.

Catrina Spencer: Parent Governor

After graduating from Leeds University with a History degree, Catrina then went on to completing a PGCE at York St Johns. She has spent her 15 years of teaching in all year groups from reception to Year 6 and had lots of different roles, including English subject leader and head of key stage. Currently Catrina is working in a primary school as SENCO, inclusion and well-being lead. She has 2 children who attend St Johns.

Elaine Armes: Associate Member

Elaine is a graduate of Bradford University with a degree in Industrial Technology and Management. She has worked in a variety of technical positions for engineering and IT companies.

Whilst her children were young she ran her own mail order and publishing business.

Now retired from project management and implementation with a software company she is a member of the PCC at St Johns Church and enjoys textiles, history and art.

Luke Bedford: Deputy Headteacher and Associate Member

After graduating with a degree in Forensic Science, Luke took a gap year in which he travelled to South Africa where he taught in schools, he re-trained as a teacher. He has now taught for 10 years in various primary schools and is now one of the Deputy Headteachers at St John's Primary School. He has taught within the school for the last 7 years.

Name	Term of Office	Link Role	Name of Business	Nature of Business	Nature of Interest
Alex Hope Head teacher	N/A	N/A	Knaresborough St John’s	Education	Head teacher
Lindsay Richardson Satff	25.03.2021 to 25.03.2025	N/A	Knaresborough St John’s	Education	Deputy Head Teacher
Rev Garry Hinchcliffe Foundation	Ex officio		Knaresborough	Religion	Team Rector
Jack Wilson Foundation	01.12.2021 01.12.2025		Retired The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Knaresborough, Goldsborough, Nidd and Brearton	None Religion	None Trustee
Jessie Lewis Parent	07.05.2020 to 07.05.2024		Solista ltd Teddy and Belle	IT contracting Floristry	Director Sole Trader
Catrina Spencer Parent	18.11.2021 to 17.11.2025			Education	Teacher
Ann Westmoreland Co opted (chair)	01.02.2018 to 01.02.2022	Safeguarding	None	None	None
Katherine Demir Co opted	06.10.2022 to 06.10.2026		International Institute of Anti-Ageing	products	Head of Retail
Co opted	07.05.2020 to 07.05.2024
David Sapherson Co opted	28.11.2019 to 28.11.2023	Finance
Elaine Armes Associate member	06.10.2022 to 05.10.2023
Luke Bedford Associate Member	25.03.2022 to 25.03 2023