Governors
Crossways Schools is a federation of Crossways Infant School and Crossways Junior School. There is one governing board that provides oversight to both schools. It is collectively referred to as Crossways.
Chair of Governors David Jenkins
Vice Chair Anthony Phillips
Clerk to the Governing Board Rachel Beattie
For the full list of governors and the latest attendance and pecuniary, please see the attached files
The governing board consists of parents, staff and members of the community. This ensures a wide range of stakeholder representation. There is a mixture of elected posts and co-opted posts within the staff and parent governors. Board members from the community are co-opted according to the skills they offer.
The Chair of Governors and the Vice Chair are appointed annually. The term of office for governors is four years. All can serve more than one term.
Responsibilties
The governing board has three main functions
This is achieved through discussion at the eight board meetings per year and visits to school by individual governors to discuss with staff specific areas highlighted as priorities in the school development plan. As the strategic priorities change the areas of monitoring also change. However, there are two areas where we are required to have permanent governor monitoring. These are Safeguarding and the education for children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). We also have permanent monitoring of Health & Safety and Staff and Child Wellbeing.
In addition, governors review and approve the policies used by Crossways to ensure that they reflect the vision, ethos and strategic direction of then schools as well as ensuring compliance with statutory requirements
The day-to-day operational leadership at Crossways is the responsibility of the Federation Head Teacher and their leadership team.
Governor |
Role |
Term of Office |
David Jenkins |
Local Authority Governor and Chair |
01.01.20 – 31.12.23 |
Anthony Phillips |
Co-opted governor and vice chair |
16.09.21 – 15.09.25 |
Emma Aiken-Jones |
Co-opted governor |
02.02.20 – 01.02.24 |
Katy Eales |
Co-opted governor |
01.09.22 – 31.08.26 |
Katey Dowdeswell |
Co-opted governor |
01.09.22 – 31.08.26 |
Alan Bucke |
Co-opted governor |
24.09.23 – 23.09.27 |
Thomas Baxter |
Co-opted governor |
01.09.23 – 31.08.27 |
Carrie Rees |
Elected parent governor |
01.09.23 – 31.08.27 |
Sam Baker-Green |
Elected parent governor |
01.09.23 – 31.08.27 |
Dominique Ayotte Reader |
Elected staff governor |
23.05.23 – 22.05.27 |
Jo Geoghegan |
Federation HT and Ex Officio Gov |
Duration of employment |
Paul Medlicott |
Co-opted staff governor |
01.09.22 – 31.08.26 |
Claire Clarke |
Co-opted staff governor |
15.10.20 – 14.10.24 |
Rachel Beattie |
Clerk to governors |
Employed Post |
Individual areas of focus (Link governors)
For the current academic year we have link governors which include the required roles, as well as those areas chosen by the governing board to align with Crossways’ School Development Plan:
Area of focus |
Governor responsible |
Safeguarding |
David Jenkins |
Whistleblowing |
David Jenkins |
Health and Safety |
Katy Eales |
GDPR and computing |
TBC |
Inclusion (including SEND and Pupil Premium) |
Emma Aiken-Jones |
Children and Staff Mental health and wellbeing |
Katey Dowdeswell |
Curriculum, with emphasis on: English, Maths, History, and Geography |
David Jenkins/Katey Dowdeswell |
Quality of teaching, pupil attainment and progress |
Anthony Phillips |
Chair of Governors Annual Statement
The governors keep the Crossways community updated on their work through contributions to newsletters during the year and an annual statement. Please find attached the most recent annual statement.
Governor Contacts
We encourage everyone to use the established methods of communicating with school for day to day matters. However, if you would like to raise a matter with the governors, please contact the Chair or Governors David Jenkins by email via the school office: c/o office@crossways.org.uk
Business & Pecuniary interests 23-24