Townfield Primary School
Governing Body Roles & Responsibilities
What are School Governors and what do they do for Townfield Primary School?
As Townfield Primary is a Single Academy Trust, our equivalent to governors are called Trustees. They essentially carry out the same role as a "governor", however have added responsibility to their roles. The Governing Body has a range of duties and powers and a general responsibility for the conduct of the academy with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement including, setting targets for pupil achievement, managing the academy finances, making sure the curriculum is balanced and broadly based, appointing staff and reviewing staff performance and pay.
The Governing Body has considerable discretion as to how to discharge its responsibilities but is required to constitute itself in line with the regulations and to appoint a Chair and Vice Chair. The Governing Body may delegate certain of its responsibilities to certain Trustees, and as such these individuals form prt of sub committees which deal with specific aspects of school, e.g. Audit & Risk Management, Curriculum, Standards & Buildings, Finance & Staffing, etc.
Responsibilities of the Governing Body
Governing Body personnel are one of the country's largest voluntary groups with around 345,000 school governors contributing to strategic development and raising standards of achievement at over 30,000 schools. All the schools Members and Trustees work on a voluntary basis, sharing with us their invaluable skills and experience for the good of Townfield Primary School and wider community.
Individual Trustees have no power or right to act on behalf of the governing body except where the whole governing body has delegated a specific function to that individual or where regulations specify that a function is to be exercised in a particular way.
Trustees re drawn from different parts of the community, such as parents, the wider community and other professional groups. This helps to ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience, but does not mean that Trustees of a particular category "represent" that group on the Governing Body.
For example, Parent Trustees do not act as a representative of the parents at the school and do not report back to them. A Trustee with a child in the school may only bring their own considerations to the table to prevent conflict of interst and ensure they act in accordance with their own personal role and responsibility.
As well as these important collective duties, Trustees also develop individual roles and interests. For example, Trustees are appointed to work with staff and their curriculum area. The Chair and Vice Chair of Governors have regular contact with school. The work of the Chair is wide, varied and always stimulating, dealing with issues ranging from the formality of committee business to the pleasure contributing to ensuring an ever improving standard at Townfield for our children.
The honest and completely transparent working relationship established with the Headteacher and staff is greatly valued by the Trustees and is considered an essential ingredient to be found in any successful school.
Governing Body Overview
Townfield Primary is a Single Academy Trust (SAT). The school converted to an academy in July 2014 and currently has capacity for 450 children, with a nursery school taking children from aged 3-4. . Townfield Primary is a Single Academy Trust (SAT). The school converted to an academy in July 2014 and currently has capacity for 450 children, with a nursery school taking children from aged 3-4. The school is well subscribed and from September 2020 is now a three-form entry school.
Governing Body Structure
As Townfield Primary is a SAT, the Governing Body Structure is broken down in to 2 tiers; Members and Trustees. Trustees are also part of specific Committees which have been set out to ensure those with beneficial skillsets are used appropriately and also to ensure internal scrutiny is maintained, as much as possible. As per the advice of the National Governance Association (NGA) , the Governing Body does not overlap roles of Members and Trustees to prevent any potential conflicts of interests arising.
Who is part of the Governing Body?
Clerk to Governing Body
The Members and Trustees are supported by the Clerk to Governing Body. As well as providing administrative support they also assist and advise the Headteacher and Chair in relation to research, regulations/legislation, policies, Financial Handbook compliance, and governance requirements.
Contact can be made with any member of the Governing Body via the Clerk to the Governing Body, Mrs McDowell
Telephone - 0151 652 8498 ext 304
Post - Townfield Lane, Prenton, Birkenhead CH43 2LH
Email - mcdowellb@townfield.wirral.sch.uk
Committees
In addition to termly meetings by Trustees, there are individual committees which are set up to deal with specific elements of school dealings. Trustees are placed on committees which best suit their skillset, so they can use their knowledge and experience to the best possible advantage of school.
Audit & Risk Commitee
Mr Nigel Court (RO) - Chair
Mr Iain Miles (external)
Mrs Andrea Shillinglaw
Standards & Curriculum Commitee
Mrs Andrea Shillinglaw - Chair
Mrs Moira Loftus (AO)
TBC
Buildings, Finance & Staffing Committee
Mr Chris Hatton - Chair
Mrs Caroline Prosser
TBC
Pay Committee
Admissions & Appeals Committe Committee members to be determined and agreed at next FGB meeting
Investigations & Disciplinary Commitee
Governance Records
Current Governing Body
|
Name |
Position |
Date of Appointment |
Term of Office |
Appointing Body |
Register of Business / Pecuniary Interests |
Attendance Record (Trustees FGB) 2019/2020 |
Committee Meetings |
Members AGM |
Attendance Record (Trustees FGB) 2020/2020 |
Committee Meetings |
Members AGM |
|
Mr T Behan |
Member |
01/10/2014 |
4 years |
1 |
- |
||||||
|
Mrs D Bostock |
Member |
24/03/2020 |
4 years |
Headteacher Our Lady’s Bishop Eton |
|
- |
|||||
|
Mrs C Prosser |
Member & Chair of Trustees |
28/09/2020 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
2/5 |
0 |
|
3 |
- |
|
|
Mrs A Shillinglaw |
Trustee |
07/07/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
4/5 |
2 |
|
3 |
1 |
|
|
Mr C Hatton |
Trustee |
01/10/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
3/5 |
0 |
|
3 |
- |
|
|
Mr N Court |
Trustee |
30/09/2020 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
4/5 |
3 |
|
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Other Appointments
|
Name |
Position |
Date of Appointment |
Register of Pecuniary Interests |
|
Mrs M Loftus |
Headteacher, Trustee & AO (Accounting Officer) |
01/01/2020 |
None |
|
Mrs J Murphy |
CFO (Chief Financial Officer) |
21/09/2019 |
None |
|
Mrs B McDowell |
Clerk to Governing Body & Company Secretary |
01/01/2019 |
Governor BHSA (LGB) |
Resignations (in last 12 months)
|
Name |
Position |
Date of Appointment |
Term of Office |
Appointing Body |
Register of Business / Pecuniary Interests |
Attendance Record (Trustees FGB) 2019/2020 |
Committee Meetings |
Members AGM |
Attendance Record (Trustees FGB) 2020/2021 |
Committee Meetings |
Members AGM |
Date of Resignation |
|
Mrs L Collins |
Trustee |
29/04/2019 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
1/5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10/02/2021 | ||
|
Mr P Natton |
Trustee |
07/07/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
4/5 |
2 |
|
0 |
- |
|
14/11/2020 |
|
Mr A Molyneux |
Trustee |
01/09/2019 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
5/5 |
2 |
|
0 |
- |
|
09/11/2020 |
| Mrs J Roach | Member | 20/03/2020 | 4 years | Member | None | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
07/11/2020 |
|
Ms J Taylor |
Trustee |
07/07/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
1/5 |
1 |
|
0 |
- |
|
06/11/2020 |
|
Mr T Behan |
Trustee |
07/07/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
5/5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
- |
0 |
27/09/2020 |
|
Mrs L Carroll |
Trustee |
19/01/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
2/2 |
1 |
|
0 |
- |
|
6/11/2020 |
|
Mrs K Griffiths |
Trustee |
07/07/2018 |
4 years |
Trustees |
None |
2/2 |
1 |
|
0 |
- |
|
6/11/2020 |
Register of Interests for Accounting Officer
| Name | Declaration of Interest | Last Confirmed |
| Edward Behan | Director - Autism Together, National Leader of Governance - Department for Education | March 2021 |
| Debbie Bostock | Nothing to declare | March 2021 |
| Nigel Court | Nothing to declare | Jan 2021 |
| Christopher Hatton | Nothing to declare | Jan 2021 |
| Moira Loftus | Nothing to declare | Feb 2021 |
| Beccy McDowell | Governor (LGB) - Birkenhead High School Academy | Jan 2021 |
| Iain Miles | Wirral Internal Auditor (scruitiny of 5 Wirral Secondary Schools) | Jan 2021 |
| Jeanette Murphy | Nothing to declare | Jan 2021 |
| Caroline Prosser | Legal Director at Hill Dickinsons, who are the schools legal advisors. Caroline does not have any dealings whatsoever with the schools legal dealings as a client of this firm. | Jan 2021 |
| Andrea Shillinglaw | Company Secretary - Quantum2 Ltd | Nov 2020 |
Governing Body Scheme of Delegation
Below is the Scheme of Delegation in relation to how the Governing Body deals with each element of governance and who responsibility rests with to oversee, scrutinise and approve.
Key Governance Documents
- Articles of Association
- Funding Agrement
- Updated Funding Agreement
- Financial Notice to Improve following ESFA Investigation Report October 2020
- Audited Accounts
- Financial Statements 2016-2017
- Financial Statements 2017-2018
- Financial Statements 2018-2019
- Financial Statements 2019-2020