Top
Top
  "A very warm welcome from the School Governors"    
 

"Welcome to the Lowther School Family from the governing board. We are all very proud of our happy, welcoming school, which truly cherishes its diversity and inclusion and takes great care of each and every individual child.

We work closely with Mark, Alastair and Hannah and the rest of the school team to ensure our vision becomes a reality, constantly striving for improvement. Our work is carried out through regular meetings, as well as visits to the school to see first-hand how things are going.

The governors come from a wide range of backgrounds, to create a diverse team to support and challenge the school. Some are also parents or staff here, while the rest have no connection with the school other than a desire to help."

 
  Annual Whole School Evaluation for Governors  
 
The Lowther School Family welcomes you to view its annual self-review for Governors for the latest academic year:
 
 

Annual Whole School Evaluation PDF Annual Whole School Evaluation PDF (8.04mb)

 
  The Lowther School Family Governing Board  
 

Welcome to our School

Mark Tuffney
 
Sharon McNab
 
Philip Mead
 
Hannah Hughes
 
Alastair Ripley

Staff Governor

Headteacher

 

Chair of Governors

Course Producer BBC Academy

 

Vice Chair of Governors

Barrister

 

Associate Governor

Deputy Headteacher

 

Associate Governor

Deputy Headteacher

Areas of responsibility:

Curricuum and Policies
Finance
Marketing
Personnel and Pay
Premises, Health & Safety
 

Areas of responsibility:

Finance
Personnel and Pay (Chair)
 

Areas of responsibility:

Finance
Marketing
Personnel and Pay
 

Areas of responsibility:

Curricuum and Policies
Finance
Marketing
 

Areas of responsibility:

Curricuum and Policies
Premises, Health & Safety
Appointed: Sep 2001   Appointed: Sep 1998   Appointed: Sep 2010   Appointed: Sep 2021   Appointed: Sep 2021
Term of office expires:
N/A
  Term of office expires:
Jan 2023
  Term of office expires:
Jan 2023
  Term of office expires:
Sep 2025
  Term of office expires:
Sep 2025
Attendance at full governing board meetings 2021/22
6/6
 
2/6
 
5/6
 
5/6
 
5/6
 
 

Jenifer Ball
 
Carol Webster
 
Sarah Brecher
 
Will Gradidge
 
Sharon Day

LA Governor

Freelance Education and Community Partnership Consultant

 

Co-opted Governor

Teacher

 

Co-opted Support Staff Governor

Chef

 

Staff Governor

Teacher

 

Clerk to the Governing Board

School Business Manager

Areas of responsibility:

Curriculum and Polices (Chair)
SEND
English
PPG
 

Areas of responsibility:

Curriculum and Policies
Finance
Marketing
Key Stage 1
 

Areas of responsibility:

Premises, Health & Safety
 

Areas of responsibility:

Curriculum and Policies
Premises, Health & Safety
 

Areas of responsibility:

Finance
Personnel & Pay
Premises, Health & Safety
Appointed: Sep 2001   Appointed: Sep 1995   Appointed: Sep 2010   Appointed: Jan 2018   Appointed: Sep 1997
Term of office expires:
Jan 2023
  Term of office expires:
Sep 2025
  Term of office expires:
Jan 2023
  Term of office expires:
Oct 2025
  Term of office expires:
N/A
Attendance at full governing board meetings 2021/22
6/6
 
6/6
 
2/6
 
6/6
 
6/6
 
 

photo - link to details of Councillor Rita Palmer

Louise Duthart
 
Cllr Rita Palmer
 
Claire Mankowitz
 
Howard Smith
 
Aisha Bicknell

Co-opted Governor

Finance transformation specialist AET

 

Co-opted Governor

Local Councillor

 

Associate Governor

Psychotherapist

 

Associate Governor

 

 

Co-opted Governor

 

Areas of responsibility:

Finance (Chair)
 

Areas of responsibility:

Premises, Health & Safety
 

Areas of responsibility:

Curriculum and Policies
Personnel and Pay
Upper Key Stage 2
 

Areas of responsibility:

Premises, Health & Safety (Chair)
 

Areas of responsibility:

Curriculum and Policies
Personnel and Pay
Safeguarding
Training
Lower Key Stage 2
Appointed: Sep 1999   Appointed: Apr 2008   Appointed: Sep 2010   Appointed: Apr 2012   Appointed: May 2016
Term of office expires:
Jan 2023
  Term of office expires:
Jan 2023
  Term of office expires:
Sep 2022
  Term of office expires:
May 2024
  Term of office expires:
Feb 2024
Attendance at full governing board meetings 2021/22
5/6
 
1/6
 
6/6
 
4/6
 
6/6
 
 

 

 

 

Lelde Wohlfart
 
Polly Mattia
 
 
 

Parent Governor

QA Engineer

 

Parent Governor

Registered Senior School Nurse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areas of responsibility:

Finance
Marketing
Early Years
 
 

Areas of responsibility:

Premises, Health & Safety
Marketing
 

 

 

 

 

Appointed: Nov 2020   Appointed: Oct 2021            
Term of office expires:
Nov 2024
  Term of office expires:
Oct 2025
 
 
 
Attendance at full governing board meetings 2021/22
4/5
 
New appointment
 
 
 
 
 
Vacancies: None
 
Governors Outline Governors Outline PDF Governing Board Outline PDF  
School Governing Boards have an important part to play in raising standards. Our main tasks include:
Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and the pupils, and the performance management of staff
Understanding and carrying out statutory duties
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

Governors are often called 'critical friends', but we are not directly involved in the day-to-day running of the school. Our role is to build a supportive but challenging relationship with the headteacher, looking at all aspects of children's learning and wellbeing, and taking strategic decisions in the light of objective data. We ensure that policies are in place and are monitored, and work to make the school an inclusive, fair and healthy place for children to learn and thrive. Governors sit on committees to oversee the school in more detail, and report to the full Governing Board. Both committees and the full Governing Board meet approximately twice a term.

The Government's Handbook for Governors gives a full picture of our role and duties:
Handbook for Governors PDF External Link Governors Handbook PDF

Lowther's team is small, but we can expand it to fit defined needs. The core membership is the Head teacher and a staff representative, plus one LA Governor and 2 Parent Governors, who serve for 3 years. The rest of the team is currently made up of 8 Co-opted Governors, whose skills fit the set we feel we need, in order to support and challenge the school effectively. They may serve for up to 4 years, or for a predetermined project-based term. We are also able to invite people with skills on which we would like to draw for a short or longer period to be Associate Governors.

We invite people who would like to know more, who have skills we have identified (see below) and who are interested in working with Lowther Governors, or in applying to become a Governor when there is a vacancy, to register an interest and leave contact details with the Clerk to the Governors Sharon Day: s.day@lowther.richmond.sch.uk

Lowther Parent/Former Parent/Knowledge of School/Knowledge of local Community
Involvement in local Community
Expertise as a professional or volunteer
Committee experience/Communication skills
Professional experience in:
Law/Accounting/Education
HR/Employment/Recruitment
Publicity/Marketing/Fundraising
Health & Wellbeing (incl. pastoral, SEND)
Business/Enterprise/Management /Training
Environment & Sustainability

Anyone who joins the Governing Board needs to be able to attend meetings and be committed to the school's ethos and progress, to have good inter-personal skills, be willing to be trained, and to have an appropriate level of literacy in English and appropriate level of numeracy to understand basic data.

Governor Committees
 
  Lowther Governor Committees  
Register of Interests
 
  Lowther Register of Interests  
 
Contact/Find Us page link
Governors Handbook PDF Link mailto Sharon Day email link
Lowther Primary School Contact Us page link Lowther Eco Group info link Lowther Open Days page link Lowther - contact us by email link