Meet The Governors

Crossways Federation Governing Board

Governors

The Crossways Schools have one governing board that provides oversight to both the Crossways Infant School and the Crossways Junior School in the federation, collectively referred to as “Crossways’.

Chair of Governors: Emma Aiken-Jones

Vice Chair: Sarah Wickett

Clerk to the governing board: Michelle Galliott

For the full list of governors and the latest attendance and pecuniary information please see the attached files.

The governing board consists of staff, parent and community governors; ensuring stakeholders across the Crossways community are represented.

The Chair of Governors and the Vice Chair are appointed annually.

Responsibilities

The governing board have three core functions:

Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

Hold the Federation Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of Crossways and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff

Overseeing the financial performance of Crossways and making sure its money is well spent

The governing board fulfil these responsibilities through the Full Governing Board, its committees and governors focusing on individual priorities (referred to as link governors), which are align with the School Development Plan and agreed annually.

In addition, governors review and approve the policies used by Crossways to ensure that they reflect the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the schools, aswell as ensuring compliance with statutory requirements.

The day-to-day operational and strategic leadership of Crossways are the responsibility of the Federation Head Teacher and the other members of the Federation Leadership Team.

Name	Status
Emma Aiken-Jones	Chair of Governors, Co-opted (Parent)
Dominique Ayotte-Reader	Associate (staff)
Alan Bucke	Co-opted (Parent)
Claire Clarke	Federation School Business Manager, Co-opted (Staff)
Philip Clarke	Chair of Pupil Development, Co-opted (Parent)
Katey Dowdeswell	Co-opted (Parent)
Katy Eales	Co-opted (Parent)
Paul Gardiner	Chair of Finance & Resources, Co-opted (Parent)
David Jenkins	Local Authority
Paul Medlicott	Federation Head Teacher
Emma Mitchell	Federation Deputy Head, Co-opted (Staff)
Helen Mitchell	Parent
David Vernon	Co-opted community
Anthony Phillips	Co-opted community
Michelle Galliot	Clerk to FGB & all committees until 31/08/22
Rachel Beattie	Clerk to FGB & all committees from 01/09/22

Structure of the governing board

The Full Governing Board meet as a group at least five times a year.

In addition, the governing board has the following committees which meet on average at least four times a year:

Pupil Development Committee – this committee focuses on teaching and learning, curriculum, pupil welfare and pupil attainment and progress.
Finance & Resources Committee – this committee focuses on the finances of Crossways including approving annual budgets and large areas of spend, as well as oversight of resources including buildings, maintenance and health & safety.
Pay Committee – this committee reviews and approves changes to the staffing structure and ensures appropriate performance management processes are in place for all staff.

Federation Head Teacher performance management is carried out by a separate panel of two to three governors (supported by a local authority educational specialist) that report into the Pay Committee.

Safeguarding and Staff Wellbeing are two areas that are reported directly to the Full Governing Board.

Full details of the scheme of delegation are set out in The Governing Board Protocol, see the document attached. Each committee also has Terms of Reference which are approved by the Full Governing Board annually.

From time to time working parties of a small number of governors will be established to complete work in a particular area of focus.

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	Emma Aiken-Jones
Whistleblowing	Emma Aiken-Jones
Health and Safety	Helen Mitchell
GDPR and computing	Alan Bucke
Inclusion (including SEND and Pupil Premium)	Sarah Wickett
Children and Staff Mental health and wellbeing	Phillip Clarke
Curriculum, with emphasis on: English, Maths, History, and Geography	Cori Davies, Dave Vernon, Anthony Phillips
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 Emma Aiken-Jones by email: emma.aikenjones@crossways.org.uk.

Crossways Federation Governing Board

Attachments