The Governing Body
In accordance with the Government's requirement for all governing bodies, the three core functions of the Lawn Primary and Nursery School Governing Body are:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
(Taken from the DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guidance, March 2024, the full handbook can be downloaded here from the DfE website)
About the Governing Body
The governing body of Lawn is made up of: The Head Teacher (ex-officio), one staff member, one appointed by the Local Authority, two parent governors, one Trust governor and two community governors. Governors are volunteers and do not get paid for being governors.
Community governors are appointed by the Governing Body and are people who, in the opinion of the governing body, have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.
We also have associate members. These are appointed for the particular skills they can bring to the governing board and/or to give people an introduction into governance.
We operate a 'circle model' of governance (no committee structures other than the required statutory committees) and hold 2 full Governing Body meetings per term (6 a year), focusing on finance/resources for at least 3 of these meetings.
To carry out our duties we have a number of delegated roles and responsibilities.
Contact the Governors
Our Chair of Governors is Gill Graves
Our Vice Chair is Matthew Paterson
If you need to contact the governors please leave a message with the office and check it regularly. If you feel it is urgent, please let the office staff know and they will contact us to inform us.
Meet the Governors
The Governing Body is part of the wider leadership team of our school and members work closely with the headteacher to realise our ambitions for the school.
Our governors are a well informed and committed group of people from varying professional backgrounds with a wide range of experiences and interests. They are actively involved in school life and are dedicated to improving the learning opportunities for all our children. They are committed to maintaining and developing our school's distinctive character, where each child is valued and offered a welcoming, safe, happy and stimulating community environment, enabling the best possible learning outcomes.
| Name | Type of Governor | Start Date | Term expiry date |
| Mrs G Graves | Trust/Foundation | 16th January 2023 | 15th January 2027 |
| Mrs C Cowell | Co-opted | 14th November 2022 | 13th November 2026 |
| Mrs H Moss | Staff | 14th November 2022 | 13th November 2026 |
| Mr M Paterson | Parent | 5th February 2024 | 4th February 2028 |
| Ms M Smith | Co-opted | 2nd October 2023 | 1st October 2027 |
| Ms A Jeeves | Parent | 7th October 2024 | 6th October 2028 |
| Vacant Position | Local Authority | ||
| Mrs A Wilson | Headteacher | NA | NA |
| Mrs E Hussey | Clerk | NA | NA |
| Mrs C Old | Associate |
Roles of the Governing Body
All schools are required by law to have a governing body and the Department for Education (DfE) decides what categories of governors there should be, as well as the minimum number of these.
At Lawn Primary School, there is provision for 8 governors including the Headteacher.
Once they have become members, the governors are there to represent the children not the people who elected or co-opted them.
The Role of a Governor
To carry out our duties we have a number of delegated roles and responsibilities These roles and responsibilities are listed here
More information about what a governor does, can be found by following this link to The Role of a Governor - a document produced by Governors for Schools
Further information regarding the role of governors and governing body can be found in the Lawn Primary School Governor Handbook.
Minutes and other publications
Copies of approved minutes, save where confidential matters (such as pay), are available on application from the office. Due to the spacing of meetings, it may be sometime after a meeting before they are available. The minutes from the first full governing body meeting held in October, for example, will be available after the next full governing body meeting which is in December.
To see last year's governors attendance to meetings figures click here
Financial Information
Please follow the prompts on the web link to find information regarding to our financial benchmarking.
Staff Salaries
There are no staff members earning above £100,000 per year.
