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Governance
Gemma Grierson – Chair of Governors
I am delighted to be the Chair of Governors at St Stephen’s. I have been a parent governor at the school since January 2021 and believe St Stephen’s is a very special school – a culmination of the dedicated team of staff, inspiring leadership, wonderful parent community and most importantly the children that give the place its purpose.
My own professional background is in primary education, most recently as a Headteacher of a primary academy in London, so volunteering as a governor is a wonderful opportunity to use my knowledge and experience to help support our school as it continues on its journey. My eldest son attends St Stephen’s and I have two younger children still at home so we have many years ahead as part of the school community.
Governors hold an important role at St Stephens. We have a strategic rather than operational role which means we are not involved with the day to day running of the school. Instead our focus is on supporting and challenging the school’s leadership team to drive school improvement and help St Stephen’s be the best that is can be.
Our core functions include ensuring the clarity of the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction; holding executive leaders to account for educational performance of the school and its pupils; as well as the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Our team of governors meet 6 times a year as a full committee. In addition to these meetings, we operate in sub-committees and as individual link governors to carry out monitoring visits in school. Our governors come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds and our team is made up of a combination of Foundation governors, parent governors, Trust appointed governors and staff governors. Over half of our governors are Foundation governors, with a focus on preserving the religious character of the school and upholding its Christian distinctiveness.
|
Chair of Governors |
Gemma Grierson (H&S Governor) |
|---|---|
|
Vice Chair of Governors |
Ros Hicks |
|
Headteacher |
Claire Taylor |
|
Clerk to Governors |
|
|
Foundation Governors |
Reverend Philip Hawthorn Katherine Slater (PP Governor) Jo Marsh (Finance Governor) Ros Hicks (SEND Governor)
|
| Trust Appointed Governors | Roger Jones ( Safeguarding Governor) |
|
Parent Governors |
Felix Wright (H&S Governor) Gemma Grierson (SEND & EYFS Governor) |
|
Staff Governor |
Sophie Spicer-Downing |
St Stephen's Governors Attendance and Business Interests 2022-2023
