Welcome to our Governing Body
Dear Parents,
It is my privilege to be your Chair of Governors, helping, together with the full Governing Body, to set the strategic direction of the Academy, holding the Head Teacher and Senior Leadership Team to account and ensuring financial stability.
I have been a community governor since 27th November 2013 and Chair since October 2015. During my time as Chair the Governing Body carried out a three/five year strategic review involving an analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities that resulted in the recommendation that the Academy joined the Samuel Ward Academy Trust.
I am pleased to say that joining the Trust in July 2017 has proved the right decision and I feel that the Academy is well positioned, with the support of the Trust, to continue to provide consistent, outstanding education for your children with an excellent team of staff in place to deliver.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents who support and encourage their children so well, helping to keep the Academy rated outstanding.
I look forward to continuing to support the Senior Leadership Team and staff, who I am sure will continue to deliver the results that we can all be proud of.
I have always believed in openness of management and information in business and would like to extend that to any parent/guardian who wishes to discuss with me the workings of the Governing Body and any other non-confidential information on the operation of the Academy.
With best regards,
Martin Brown
Meet the Governors
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Martin Brown |
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Simon Shirm I am Simon Shirm, a community governor of the Academy, a post which I have held since October 2005. I moved to Kedington in September 1991 with my wife Claire. We have 3 children all of whom have received a wonderful education from Kedington Primary Academy, 2 of whom have gone onto university and the youngest attends Samuel Ward Academy. I started my career as a professional musician before spending 15 years or so in the insurance industry. These days, I am a director of both a training consultancy and more recently an e-learning company so I have a great interest in education and training in the business world. In my spare time I am a frustrated guitar hero and as well as playing with a local Kedington band ‘Quaff’, I help out at Haverhill County Music School each Saturday. I am very proud to be part of Kedington as a community and doing my bit in any way I can. |
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Karen Boxall My name is Karen Boxall and I have been a parent governor since September 2008. I live in Kedington, I was married there and both my children were christened there, so I feel that Kedington and it's community are a big part of my life. I have two sons who both attended the Academy and are now at Samuel Ward Academy. I was encouraged by my sister to become involved in the Academy when she was a Governor. It is very interesting and indeed very rewarding. As well as a parent governor I am the governor for Special Educational Needs (SEN) and PE. The only real interest that I have time for is juggling!.....my family, my work and my parent governor commitments. But I wouldn't change it for the world! |
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Mark McGuire My name is Mark McGuire and I have been a parent governor since July 2012. I'm currently in my second term and have recently taken on the role of Vice-Chair of Governors. I am an Operations Director for a silicon chip design company based in Cambridge and I have lived in the village of Kedington, with my wife, Katherine for the past 17 years. We have three beautiful daughters, two whom currently attend Kedington Primary Academy, my eldest is now at Samuel Ward Acadmey. Chloe my middle daughter is in Year 5 and my youngest daughter, Louise, is in Year 3. My brother and sister-in-law also live in the village and my niece attended Kedington Primary School, so the village and the Academy is very much part of our family life. I thoroughly enjoy playing my part within a great team of Governors and ensuring the Academy continues to deliver very high educational standards. My interests include golf (that I don’t have much time for with 3 daughters), squash, football and snowboarding. |
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Nick Rutter I’ve lived in the village of Kedington for 3 years with my wife, we have a daughter who attends the school. I felt that I wanted to give back to the community by becoming a parent governor. My background is IT within the education sector so I feel that I am able to contribute a great deal to the academy. |
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Dean Willett My name is Dean Willett and I became a Community governor at the beginning of the school year in September 2017. After negotiating two children through the local education system and out the other side, I thought it would be a good idea to use some of the experiences and lessons learnt and give something back to the local Academy. Kedington is an excellent village with a great community, with the Academy at the heart of it. The teachers and governors do an amazing job and are rightly proud of the Academy's achievements. After 15 years living in Haverhill, we moved to Kedington in 2012 and have loved every moment. I work as a senior manager in the waste industry, filling large holes in the ground with rubbish! |
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Rob Yeo Hello, I’m Rob Yeo and I’ve been a parent governor since September 2017. Our children Tom and Piper attend the school, with Finn hoping to join them in a couple of years. We moved to Kedington 5 years ago when Piper was born, and we love it. The Academy is such a pivotal part of the community, and the experience we have had has been so positive I want to contribute and be a part of it as best I can. I work as the Operations Director for a laboratory consumables manufacturer. We have been through many changes in the 5 years I have been there, and I hope to bring some of my experience and adaptability to bear at the Academy. In the limited spare time I have left after parenting and work, I’ve been known to play golf (very badly) and brew beer (more successfully). |
Kedington Primary Academy is part of the Unity Schools Partnership multi-academy trust. Information about the trust’s members and board of directors can be found on the trust’s website.
Kedington Primary Academy Local Governing Board.
Composition
Kedington Primary Academy local governing body (LGB) has 9 members. It is appointed by the academy trust board and is a committee of the trust board. The LGB includes:
- 2 elected Parent Governors
- 2 Staff Governors, one of which is the Principal/Headteacher and the other elected,
- 5 Community governors appointed by the trust, 1 of which is identified by the Trust from the wider MAT community.
Responsibilities
The Department for Education states that governing bodies have three core strategic functions. For an academy within the trust, these three core functions will be shared with the trust as follows:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
The trust is responsible for setting the vision for the whole trust and the academies within it.
Each LGB is responsible for ensuring implementation of the vision and ethos within their own academy. The ethos should reflect the Trust values. The Academy Improvement Plan should reflect impact of the trust strategic direction within the academy.
- Holding the Principal/Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the academy and its pupils;
This is a shared responsibility. The LGB is responsible for assisting with the recruitment and selection of the principal with the employer; the trust board having final approval. The board expects the Chief Executive and her/his team to work with the LGB on appointments.
Similarly, the LGB is responsible for assisting the Chief Executive in the performance management of the principal.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the academy and making sure its money is well spent.
The LGB is responsible for recommendations about the academy’s annual budget and monitoring expenditure against the agreed budget. Some financial decisions will be recommended by the LGB and need board approval. These are set out in the schedule of delegation.