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Governors

We are pleased to welcome you to the governors’ section of the site. We hope it will give you an insight into who we are and what we do.

Wolvercote Primary School is an academy managed by THE RIVER LEARNING TRUST. Each school within The River Learning Trust is managed by its local governing body and the Senior Leadership Team of the school.

Working in partnership with the Headteacher and staff, governors ensure high standards of achievement for the children in the school. We focus on strategy and school improvement; we decide what we want the school to achieve, set priorities and monitor progress to realise these aims. We have three core strategic functions delegated to us by The River Learning Trust Board:

  • Setting the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school, within the context of The River Learning Trust
  • Holding the Headteacher and senior staff to account for the educational performance of the school and its children
  • Ensuring the school remains within the budget delegated by The River Learning Trust and making sure the money is well spent

What do the Governors do?

The River Learning Trust delegates key strategic responsibilities to the governors. The governors then work collaboratively with the  Headteacher and senior staff to establish the vision and ethos of the school within the context of The River Learning Trust.

We look at where the school is now, ask what we want the school to achieve and how are we going to achieve this. Together with the  Headteacher and senior staff, we use the published school performance data.and additional outcomes from the school’s self-evaluation, to inform priorities in the School Improvement Plan. We set clear, ambitious targets for the school and develop policies and budget and staffing structures to achieve these aims. We also appoint the Headteacher.

The governor’s act as a critical friend to the school, reviewing the performance of the Headteacher, checking that progress is being made towards targets, and evaluating the effectiveness of policies and the School Improvement Plan. We also help celebrate the school's successes and ensure that parents are involved and informed as appropriate.

Governors get to know the school through attending meetings and by visiting the school during the school day.

The governing body is organised into two sub-committees, which take responsibility for holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance and financial performance of the school. The sub committees are:

  • Impact Committee - This committee has an overview of the academic  performance of the school.

  • Resources Committee - This committee has an overview of the effectiveness of the schools resources including staffing, equipment and the building and grounds. It also has oversight over the schools budget.

Each governor is allocated to one of the two sub-committees and some governors take on specific responsibilities, for example, Safeguarding and Health & Safety.


Who are the Governors?

Chair of Governors: Magali Matsumiya

Vice Chair: Dan Sparrow

Chair of Impact Committee: Paul Buckley

Chair of Resources Committee: Dan Sparrow

Headteacher: Mandy Hayes

Clerk to Governors: Leyla Kizilcay

 


 

Parent Governors

  • Magali Matsumiya

  • Mary-Jane Newton

  • Rebecca Williams

Staff Governors

  • Julia Ryle-Hodges ( Teaching staff)

Community Governors

  • Dan Sparrow

  • Paul Buckley

  • Fiona Steveney

  • Dylan Price

  • Lucy Higgins

LEA Governor

  • Jo Sandelson

List of Governors who have served within the last 12 months

Updated October 2024

Name of Governor

Appointed As

Responsibilities/Link Roles

Date of Appointment and appointed by:

End of office

Meetings Attended SEPT 2023/JULY 2024 (LGB + Committee)

Mandy Hook

Ex-officio by virtue of being the Headteacher of the School

All areas covered by the LGB and committees. 

Appointed by virtue of being the Headteacher.

September 2022

-

12/12

Magali Matsumiya

Parent Governor

Chair of Governors

Resources Committee

Finance

EDi 

Appointed by:

Parents

 

April 2022

April 2026

8/9

Paul Buckley

Community Governor

Chair of Impact Committee

 

Personal Development

Appointed by:

Local Governing Body

 

June 2021

June 2025

8/8

Mary-Jane Newton

Parent Governor

Impact Committee

 

Children’s wellbeing

Communication and PR

Appointed by:

Parents

 

January 2021

January 2025

7/8

Dan Sparrow

Parent Governor

Vice Chair of Governors

Chair of Resources Committee

 

Health & Safety

Safeguarding

Medical Care

GDPR

Appointed by:

Parents

 

December 2020

December 2024

8/9

Rebecca Williams 

Parent Governor 

Resources Committee

 

Early Years

Behaviour for Learning 

Appointed by:

Parents

 

December 2021

December 2025

7/8

Jo Sandelson

Local Authority Governor

Resources Committee

Appointed by:

Local Governing Body

November 2022

November 2026

2/8

Julia Ryle-Hodges

Staff Governor

Impact Committee

Attendance

EDI

Appointed by:

Staff

September 2023

September 2027

8/8

Lucy Higgins

Community Governor

Impact Committee

Pupil Premium

Looked After Children

Appointed by:

Local Governing Body

July 2024

July 2028

N/A

Dylan Price

Community Governor

Resources Committee

 

SEND

Appointed by:

Local Governing Body

July 2024

July 2028

N/A

Governors who have served in the past 12 months who are no longer governors. 

Austen Cook

Community Governor

Chair of Governors

Resources Committee

GDPR

Finance 

Appointed by:

Local Governing Body

 

November 2016

Ext

November 2020

ENDED JULY 2024

9/9

Kerrie Butler

Staff Governor

Impact Committee

Appointed by:

Staff

February 2023

ENDED JULY 2024

2/8


 



Register of Pecuniary Interests

Governor

Relevant business interests to include:

 

*Name of Organisation

*Nature of Business

*Nature of interest

Other educational establishments governed

Relationships with this school’s staff to include:

*Spouses

*Partners

*Relatives

Date declared

Paul Buckley

Chair of the Wolvercote Neighbourhood Forum

None

None

10/09/2024

Mary-Jane Newton

Oxford University Press

Publisher

Employment

 

Oxford Union

Society

Membership

 

Beta Gamma Sigma

Society

Membership

 

UCL

University

Alumna

 

The University of Oxford

University

Alumna

 

Twig Education/Imagine Learning

Publisher

Employment

 

Artemis Studios

Performing Arts School

Non-Executive Director/Trustee 

 

Nord Anglia Education

Employment 

None

None

11/09/2024

Daniel Sparrow

Rapid Indigo Ltd

IT Services

Director

None

None

11/09/2024

Rebecca Williams

The Oxford Trust as an Education Officer 

 

The Peguera Trust - Trustee

 

Radley College - Husband works at the college in IT security


 

None

None

12/09/2024

Mandy Hook

Wolvercote Primary School 

Education 

Headteacher

None

None

15/09/2022

Magali Matsumiya

None declared

None

None

09/09/2024

Jo Sandelson

Oxford City Council

City Councillor 

None

None

12/10/2023

Julia Ryle-Hodges

Staff Member at Wolvercote Primary School

 

Primary Science Teaching Trust

Trustee 

 

Oxford University Press

Father is Chair of the Board 

None

None

08/09/2024

Lucy Higgins

None 

None

None

10/09/2024

Dylan Price

       

 

You can find out more information about The River Learning Trust and Governance here: https://riverlearningtrust.org/21/key-information

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