Our Governors

The aim of the Governing Body is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for education and financial performance at the school. The three core functions of the Governing Body are:

 

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

 

• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff

 

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

 

The ethos of our school is captured in our motto “Enjoying, Learning, and Achieving Together” and in the REFLECT values: Respect, Enjoyment, Friendship, Leadership, Endeavour, Cooperation, and Trust. 

 

As governors, we are committed to this ethos, and to making sure that our school promotes British values of equality, freedom, democracy, tolerance, personal responsibility, and the rule of law. 

In addition, we promote and encourage the distinctively Christian character of Pluckley, as a Church of England school. 

Governors are critical friends to the schools’ leadership team. By undertaking regular monitoring of all aspects of school life, we should not only discover progress and achievement, but also lack of progress and underachievement, if and where it is occurring. On this basis we can provide challenge, as well as support, to the senior leadership team, as appropriate. Monitoring visits and regular meetings of the Governing Body are reinforced by regular training and extensive support from TKAT (the academy chain to which our federated schools belong).

Each year the LGB produces a Governance Impact Statement, summarising their activities and achievements over the previous academic year.

Pluckley Impact Statement

There are several categories of governor. Parent governors and staff governors are elected by the parents and staff respectively to offer their particular skills and perspectives. Appointed governors are drawn from other parts of the Pluckley communities to provide connections with the wider world and additional professional skills and experiences, while Foundation governors have particular responsibility for the Christian ethos of the school at Pluckley, and the ‘REFLECT’ values across the school.

We currently have 6 governors:

• 1 Headteacher
• 1 Staff governor
• 2 Parent governors
• 1 Foundation governor
• 1 Appointed governor

Vacancies:

• 1 Foundation governor
• 2 Appointed governor

Chair of Governors: Interim Chair - Mrs J Alexander, an elected parent governor joanne.alexander@pluckley-tkat.org

Vice-Chair of Governors:  Vacant position as VC is currently Interim Chair

Current Constitution for Pluckley

Name	Type	Responsibility	Attendance % Ac Yr 22-23
Joanne Alexander joanne.alexander@pluckley-tkat.org Interim Chair 08.01.2024 to Current term: 15.10.2020-14.10.2024 Start date: 15.10.2020	Parent	Interim Chair of Governors Parent Voice Safeguarding GDPR Wellbeing	100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	Volunteer for the Pluckley PTFA since October 2019
Rev. Elizabeth (Sandra) Marsh Current term: 29.04.2022-28.04.2026 Start date:  29.04.2022	Foundation	RE	50%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	Foundation Governor at Charing Primary School and Egerton Primary School since September 2021
Lorraine Smith Start date:  25.09.2019	Head Teacher		100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	None
James Setchell Current term: 31.08.2020-30.08.2024 Start date: 31.08.2020	Staff	Staff	100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	None
Ciara Jones Current term: 29.04.2022-28.04.2026 Start date: 29.04.2022	Parent	Health and Safety Premises Finance Parent Voice	75%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	None
Evelyn (Evie) West Current term: 04.07.2023-03.07.2027 Start date: 04.07.2023	Appointed	Attendance SEN Pupil Premium	N/A
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	Owner of The Country Blush - Wedding & Event Planning since July 2023
Jennifer Old	Business Manager		N/A
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	Business Manager for Napier Primary Academy, Ore Village Primary Academy & Smarden Primary Academy
Sam Yacomine	Clerk to Governors		100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	Employed by TKAT and Rainham School for Girls since 2015 Staff Governor at RSG since 2023

 

Name	Type	Responsibility	Attendance % Ac Yr 22-23
Vicki Carmichael Current term: 19.03.2023-18.03.2027 Start date: 01.02.2015 Resignation Date: 31.08.2023	Appointed	Chair of Governors Curriculum Outcomes Assessment Leadership & Management Attendance	100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	None

Maurice Tunney Current term: 12.06.2023-11.06.2027 Start date: 12.06.2023 Resignation date: 05.11.2023	Appointed	Curriculum Outcomes Leadership & Management	100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	None
Amanda Stevenson Current term: 12.06.2023-11.06.2027 Start date:  12.06.2023 Elected as Chair: 17.10.2023 Resignation date: 08.01.2024	Appointed	Chair of Governors Curriculum Outcomes Assessment Leadership & Management	100%
Declarations of Interest including transactions to 31st August 2023	None

There are five meetings of the full Local Governing Body each academic year. They receive reports on the performance of the school from the Head Teacher, and consider monitoring reports produced by individual governors on all aspects of the life of the school, including pupil progress, attainment, behaviour, and wellbeing, as well as the ethos and values of the school.

The governors are judged by Ofsted, alongside the Head Teacher and her team, for the quality of Leadership and Management at the school.

All governors are volunteers and give up a considerable amount of time in the service of the schools.