Governors

What we do

The governing body is a crucial and active part of the school community and acts as ‘critical friend’ to the senior leadership team. It provides strategic direction to the school and acts to provide both support and challenge to ensure sound financial management and quality first teaching across the school.

The governing body works with the school to formulate and implement a vigorous and challenging school improvement plan. It strives to provide all children — regardless of their gender, ability, background or beliefs — with a high-quality education in a caring and nurturing environment.

We also regularly engage with our parents, staff and children using formal and informal approaches. This includes annual parent surveys, the government’s Parent View and ongoing surveys with school children through the school council.

Full Governors Terms of Reference
Personnel Committee terms of reference

How we work

Our governing body is formed by 13 governors drawn from staff, parents, local authority representatives and members of the local community.  The constitution comprises of:

Posts: 13 – 1 x staff, 5 x parents, 5 x co-opted community, 1 x LA plus Head Teacher

Each governor serves a four-year term of office and is appointed to the full governing body and to one or more sub-committee.

The governing body consists of a full governing body and three sub-committees, each with specific terms of reference (which you can see by clicking the links):

 

 

Finance & Premises Committee Terms of reference
Children & Curriculum terms of reference

“Watcombe Primary School’s governance is strong and effective. Using skills audits to secure new governors has ensured the board has a mix of new and experienced governors who are clearly working as a team. The governing body has a clear direction and purpose and is led well by the Chair.” [Karen Powell, Effective School Governance]

You can read the full report here Governance Health Check 17

As part of these visits, governors may be: scrutinising performance and attainment data; reviewing attendance registers and measures to improve attendance; reviewing incidence logs of behavior, racial or bullying; visiting members of the leadership team to understand their work; talking to children, parents and staff to gauge their experiences and opinions of the school.

Governors are also involved in the recruitment and appointment of all staff. They attend all parents evenings, some special assemblies and prize givings

Annual Meeting Timetable
Governor Minutes of Meeting
Register of Attendance

Terms of Reference for designated governors roles

Chair of Governors

Fiona Prior

ToR 22 23 Chair Of Governor

Safeguarding, E-safety

Kelly Snell
TOR 22-23 CC Committee Safeguarding

 

 

Health & Safety, Security & Premises and GDPR

Laura Colman
ToR H&S governor 22-23

Sports Premium

Stephen Porter
TOR Sports Premium governor 22-23

Data

Fiona Prior

Pupil Attainment Terms Of Reference

Personal development, Behaviour and Welfare

Jo Steed
ToR personal development, behaviour and welfare governor 2022

SEND

Position vacant
TOR 21-22 CC committee SEND

Vice Chair of Governors

Steve Porter
ToR 22-23 Vice Chair of Governor

Pupil Premium

Fiona Prior
TOR 21-22 Pupil Premium

Headteachers Appraisal

Fiona Prior and Steve Porter

Early Years

Elly Stevens
ToR EY Governor 22-23

In addition to the terms of reference, our governors also have a code of conduct detailing their roles, responsibilities and the standards expected of them.

Contacting your governors

 

The school governors oversee a number of key areas. Parent governors, in particular, are here to represent your view and can help you if you have any questions, concerns or complaints. If you would like to speak to a school governor informally, we can often be found on the school playground before school. If you would like to contact us formally or are unable to come and speak to us personally, we can be contacted through the school office on 01803 327419 or in writing by leaving a letter for the attention of school governors.

Alternatively, if you do not wish to contact us via the school or cannot pop into the office, you can contact the governors via email: [email protected]

Please note: that most committees only meet a couple of times per term so it may not always be possible to answer a query straight away. However, your query will always be acknowledged and we will endeavour to give you a timescale for answering your questions.

Co-opted governor

Fiona Prior

Fiona has been a governor at Watcombe Primary School since 2009. Originally a parent governor, Fiona is now a co-opted governor. She is both Chair of Governors and Chair of the Personnel Committee. She is also responsible for analysing pupil attainment and progress. Fiona is a Senior Content Editor specialising in small business issues including employment law, tax, and marketing. She spent eight years managing and updating the content on the Government’s Business Link website and now works with clients including HSBC and Microsoft. Fiona is also an active member of the PTA.

Roles

Chair of governors, Data, Personnel, Head’s appraisal

Category

Co-opted governor

Term of Office

Third term of office 12/12/21-12/12/25

Business interests 2022/23

None

Roles

Vice Chair & Chair of finance

Category

Co-opted governor

Term of Office

Seventh term of office 12/09/20-12/09/24

Business interests 2022/23

None

Co-opted governor

Steve Porter

Steve is the Chair of the Finance Committee and has been serving for over 24 years having joined the governing body as a parent governor when his two sons attended the school. He is a vastly experienced governor and has served under four headteachers – recruiting three of them. Steve also played an active role with the School PTA being Chair for 6 years.  Steve spent 41 years working in various management roles within BT, finishing as General Manager for Work Allocation. In this role Steve controlled the people responsible for delivering work to the engineering workforce across the South of England. Being a large company Steve was responsible for delivering annual budgets in excess of £15 million. Steve took early retirement in 2011 to spend time travelling and getting involved with local cricket and golf clubs, not forgetting his duties as Governor! Steve also volunteers at Citizens Advice on a regular basis.

Parent governor

Katy Watts

Katy is a new Parent Governor and is also a member of Friends of Watcombe. Katy is enthusiastic in contributing towards the continued successful development of the school by providing strategic and practical support, where possible. Katy brings a wealth of experience in dealing with finance and administration through previous professional roles including a 10 -year position as a Probate Assistant in a local law firm and more recently as a Paraplanner Administrator. Katy is Company Secretary for her own local construction business and her administration skills are broad and vast. Katy has provided accurate and detailed accounting to HMRC through Inheritance Tax accounts and End of Year and VAT accounting. She has corresponded with, and provided official accurate documentation to, Her Majesty’s Court Services and The Court of Protection as well as HM Probate Registry, over the years. Katy is keen to offer her knowledge and experience to the school to challenge and support The Leadership Team and to ultimately assist in continuing to drive the good standard of education and care for all pupils at the school.

Roles
Category

Parent governor

Term of Office

First term of office 08/11/2019 – 07/11/2023

Business interests 2022/23

None

Roles
Category

Co-opted governor

Term of Office

First term of office 04/07/2020 – 03/07/2024

Business interests 2022/23

None

Co-opted governor

Gill Bratcher

Gill has been a Property Lawyer at WBW Solicitors for the last 15 years. She currently works in our Torquay Branch and deals with residential property transactions. She lives with her husband and grown-up son. She also has a grown-up daughter who has now moved out. Gill has been a Governor at the School for one year and is learning as she goes. She is also on the Financial Committee.

Parent governor

Kelly Snell

Kelly has been a Parent Governor for the past five years with joint responsibility for Safeguarding and e-safety. She has two sons who attend Watcombe Primary School and a daughter who has started in the Pre-School in this September. For the past ten years Kelly has been a Community Midwife working at Torbay Hospital and within the local community which has led her to gain a vast experience in safeguarding which enables her to support the school safeguarding team in their roles.

Roles

Safeguarding & Headteacher Appraisal 

Category

Parent governor

Term of Office

Second term of office 2/12/16 – 1/12/20

Business interests 2022/23

None

Parent governor

Laura Colman

Hello I’m Laura and I am a mum of 2 boys, I joined as a parent Governor when my eldest was starting year 1 and it gave me the opportunity to understand how the school is run and what a successful team we have working together especially in these very hard circumstances with the introduction of Covid 19 and the importance of having controlled and safe bubbles.
My work experience has been varied from event management, customer services and advertising.
In my spare time I am an active member of Torquay golf club and represent the club by playing for the Devon 2nd Team and Torquay ladies Still Cup team. Because of my enjoyment of the game and I have 2 active boys I am also the Junior Secretary for the golf club.
Roles

Health & Safety & Data Protection Officer

Category

Parent governor

Term of Office

First term of office 15/01/19-14/01/2023

Business interests 2022/23

None

Roles

Early years

Category

Parent governor

Term of Office

Second term of office 25/04/22-25/04/25

Business interests 2022/23

None

Parent governor

Elly Stevens

Elly is our newest governor and she has one child within the school and another starting in the school nursery in September. Elly says, “I have worked in the early year’s sector for over 17 years and have been manager of a preschool for the past 15 years. I have experience in working with children with additional needs and also I am the child protection officer for my setting. In addition to this, I am also on the PTA with the school.

Co-opted governor

Jo Steed

I have three daughters, two of which attend the school in years 2 and 6, and my eldest attends The Spires College. I have been a member of Friends of Watcombe PTA for a couple of years and always willing to help out with events and fundraising when I can. 

I have worked within the NHS for 18 years for the Torbay Drug and Alcohol Service providing admin and clerical support.

Roles

Personal Development, Behaviour & Welfare

Category

Parent Governor

Term of Office

Second term of office  20/09/21-20/09/24

Business interests 2022/23

None

Roles

Co-opted 

Category

Staff Governor

Term of Office

01/09/22-01/09/26

Business Interests 2022/23

None

Local Authority governor

Michelle Stanley

Co-opted governor

Jenny McVeigh

Co-opt governor

Hi, I am Jenny, a newly appointed Parent Governor. I have two children within KS1 at the school. For the past ten years, I have worked as a teacher at Combe Pafford School. My current responsibility is Leading Teaching and Curriculum within the post of Deputy Head Teacher. I have always been passionate about learning and ensuring that school is a positive experience for all pupils. I look forward to working alongside school staff, Senior Leaders and the Governing Body to further develop and drive improvement within the school.

Roles
Category

Co-Opted Governor

Term of Office

02/11/22-02/11/26

Business interests 2022/23

None

What they say…

Child safety

“The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Consequently, pupils feel very safe at school and enjoy happy relationships with each other and with adults.” [Ofsted report Feb 2014]

Safeguarding

“The two safeguarding governors visit the school at least termly. They demonstrate a strong understanding of policy and procedures and complete independent checks. Minutes of their visits demonstrate the wide range of safeguarding issues discussed with appropriate challenge.” [Karen Gannon, School Development Partner, 20th September 2017]

Child protection

“Governors recognise that supporting troubled families is a priority for the school and that the problems/underperformance of Torbay’s Children’s Services requires the school to take decisive action. The school’s further development and investment in a pastoral team to provide additional early-help is exampled by governors as decisive action taken to further safeguard children.” [Karen Gannon, School Development Partner, 20th September 2017]

Behaviour

“The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils know the different forms that bullying can take. For example, they are skilled in using computers and know how to stay safe from cyberbullying.” [Ofsted report Feb 2014]

Bullying

“I don’t think bullying happens, it’s just fallouts.” [Pupil survey 2017]

“If I thought bullying was happening I would tell an adult.” [Pupil survey 2017]

“I used to go to a different school and was really unhappy since I moved here I’ve been happy.” [Pupil survey 2017]

Improving governance

“Governors take part in training courses, for example on the safe recruitment of staff, and ensure that their statutory obligations are fully met, including safeguarding. These actions have enabled governors to strengthen the way they check on the work of the school and hold the headteacher and senior staff to account. For example, governors visit the school regularly, often checking on specific aspects such as ensuring that pupil premium funding is used effectively and then report their findings back to the whole governing body.” [Ofsted report Feb 2014]

Update Sept 2017: Five governors attended the local authority level 2 Child protection training (Sept 2017).

Governor efficiency

“Watcombe Primary School’s governance is strong and effective. Using skills audits to secure new governors has ensured the board has a mix of new and experienced governors who are clearly working as a team. The governing body has a clear direction and purpose and is led well by the Chair.” [Karen Powell, Effective School Governance]

You can read the full report here: Effective school governance audit July 2017

Get in touch

The governors are an active and visible presence in school. We are always keen to speak to our parents, carers and children. Your thoughts and feedback are important to us.

If you have any concerns or questions you would like to ask, you can often find one of us on the playground before or after school for an informal chat. Alternatively, you can leave a message in person, by phone (01803 327419) or by letter for us at the school office. You can also contact governors by emailing us at [email protected] We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Join the team

If you are interested in becoming a school governor, see this guidance from Torbay Council.  If you would like to be considered as a governor then please access the documents below:

Parent Governor Election Leaflet

Parent Governor Nomination And Eligibility Form

All new governors are supported in their work by an Watcombe Primary School governor induction and are assigned a mentor drawn from the governing body. All governors — both new and existing— are also provided with access to a range of training opportunities to keep them informed about their responsibilities and developments in education and to help them perform to the highest standard.

Governor skills and knowledge are audited each year and a training and recruitment plan is drawn up to address any gaps as necessary.