Letter from the Chair of Governors

Tuesday 16th June 2020

Dear parents and carers,

On behalf of the Full Governing Board, I hope this letter finds you safe and well during these unprecedented
times. We had our first virtual meeting as governors on Friday 12th June and, although it wasn’t the same as
our face-to-face meetings, we adapted our technology and we want to reassure you all that we are here to
support you, your families, and our school.

Mrs Slack and her team have continued to work tirelessly over the last few months since the lockdown began.
This has made it possible for school to be open right the way through for children of key worker
parents/carers. For this we are most grateful.

During a situation like this, safeguarding has to be the top priority for the school. The risk assessments and
operational adjustments made by the senior leadership team have created a safe environment for all and a
small group of governors has been created to meet more regularly to support SLT through this.
We are also welcoming two new members to our board: Mr Peter Drew who is our new co-opted governor
and Mrs Karen Brammall who is our new parent governor. More information about our governors and their
responsibilities will be shared in our newsletter at the end of term.

We hope that you can continue with the school work provided and sent home to pupils and we appreciate
your support with this. We know that this can be challenging as well as rewarding for all concerned. All of us
on the board are parents or grandparents and we all have different circumstances at home; we reiterate Mrs
Slack’s message to prioritise the children’s happiness and wellbeing, along with your own, first and foremost.
As we draw to the end of this academic year we wish our Year 6 pupils our very best wishes for their future
education as they move to Year 7. This is not how any of us envisaged their transition to the next step in their
education. However, we hope that the children can all look back with pride and fond memories of their time
spent in the Carr Head community and we will miss them.

Looking to the future, we look forward to welcoming our new Reception class. There will inevitably be some
catching up to do but as a school we will see this as an opportunity. It will be a time of mixed emotions; some
will be excited whilst others may be nervous and apprehensive. These are totally understandable responses
and when the time comes we will all bear this in mind. We are as desperate to get back to normality as you
are but this is a journey and we will do it together.

Thank you all, and stay safe

Mrs Aly Spencer

Chair of Governors

Meet the Governors

There are 13 members of the governing body at Carr Head, all of whom give their time freely for the good of the school and the children. The full governing body meets once each term and the smaller committees feedback to the full governing body. The role of the governing body is to provide support and challenge for the headteacher and to hold the headteacher to account. The focus of the
main committees are standards, resources/ finance and health and safety/buildings. Individual governors may be tasked with monitoring specific curriculum areas and the impact on learning within these areas. From January 2015 each class will be linked to an identified governor. These governors may attend class assemblies, be available to meet parents at parents’ evenings or accompany the children on class trips.

Chair of Governors: Mrs Aly Spencer
Deputy Chair of Governors:  Mrs Esther Ward 

Full list of Governors
All governors are appointed for a term of office of 4 years.

All governors are appointed by the governing body unless they are elected
by a parental ballot which happens when there are more candidates than vacancies.

Nominated Governors

Mr M Rayner Child Protection and Safeguarding Governor
Mrs P Harwood Inclusion Governor
Mr N Pawson SEND Shadow Governor
Mrs A Spencer PP and SEND Governor
Mr I Hacking Link Governor
Mrs H Thornley Independent scrutineer
Mrs Karen Brammall Parental Engagement

Resources Committee

Mrs Esther Ward (Chair)
Mr I Hacking
Mrs A Slack
Mrs H Thornley
Mr N Pawson
Mr P Cain (Vice Chair)
Mr P Drew

Standards & Effectiveness Committee

Mrs A Spencer
Mrs A Slack
Mrs P Harwood (Vice Chair)
Mrs L Garside
Mr M Rayner

Attendance figures:

List of Relevant Business and Pecuniary Interests: Mr P Cain: Governor at Baines School Poulton-Le Fylde

There are no other business, financial or material interests.