Our 
School Governors
The Governing Body is a combination of appointed and elected governors. Foundation Governors are appointed by the church and by the Local Authority,and elected governors include parents, staff and community members.
The roles and responsibilities of the Governing Body include:
helping establish, with the Headteacher, the aims and policies of the school
control of the school’s budget
making sure the National Curriculum and Religious Education are delivered
selecting the Headteacher
appointing, promoting, supporting and disciplining of staff
providing advice and acting as a link between the local community and school
Our current Governing Body is made up as follows:
Janice Josiah (Chair) - LA Governor
Adopted Governor for all classes
Graham Cook (Vice Chair) - Parent Governor
Adopted Governor for Class CE
Helen Craig & Sue Wilson - Headteachers ex-officio
The Revd. Stephen Robertson - Foundation Governor
ex-officio
Adopted Governor for Class JA
Ann Dorking - Foundation Governor
Adopted Governor for Class ES
Sal Thompson - Staff Governor
Adopted Governor for all classes
Pauline Spencer - Staff Governor
Adopted Governor for all classes
Susan Walker - Community Governor
Adopted Governor for Class CW
Simon Cox - Community Governor
Adopted Governor for Class LB
Roy Whitehead - LA Governor
Adopted Governor for Class JN
Alan Cotgrove - Parent Governor
Adopted Governor for Class MM
Jonathan Steele - Parent Governor
Adopted Governor for Class RP
Robert Turner - Parent Governor
Adopted Governor for Class ST
Sarah Fowler - Parent Governor
Please visit this page each term for news from the Governing Body.
Spring Term 2010
At the beginning of this term we welcomed Sue Wilson and
Helen Craig as our new Headteachers and the Governing Body has been very
pleased to see how well they have settled into their new role. Part of my role
as Chair is to have regular meetings with the Headteacher to discuss
developments and deal with any specific issues that need to be addressed. The
Governing Body always had a very open and co-operative relationship with Mr
Southgate and I’m very pleased that this is continuing with Mrs Craig and Mrs
Wilson.
Among other things, we have been looking at Policy
revisions, staffing structure, admissions for 2010/11 and safeguarding. The
safety of children in school is one of the key responsibilities of the
Governing Body and is an area where Ofsted are particularly stringent in their
grading of schools. All Governors have
undertaken an advanced CRB check . We have been reviewing the safety of our
perimeter boundaries and a new gate has been fitted at the side of the school
adjacent to class ES. At our last meeting, we asked the Headteachers to
investigate the vulnerability of the front boundary of the school. Various
options are under discussion.
In our monitoring role, Governors have been in school to
review aspects of PE, Foundation Stage, Maths, History and ICT. Our visits are
linked to the priorities in the School Development Plan and our observations
are fed back to staff and discussed at our twice-termly meetings.
Our Finance committee have agreed the school budget for
2010/2011, which includes a substantial amount for the upgrading of ICT
equipment throughout the school.
A recent innovation has been that each class has “adopted” a
Governor. Hopefully this will raise the profile of the Governing Body with the
children and also give Governors the opportunity to engage with their class in
an informal way. This term Ann Dorking
has visited class ES and Robert Turner has visited class ST.
Various governors have attended training courses this term
on “Giving Pupils and Parents a voice”, “Behaviour and intervention strategies”
and “Governing Body self –evaluation”.
As you know, Downham is now an associate member of the
Billericay Community Trust and we send a Governor to attend the Trust Governing
Body meetings each term. The trust has very exciting plans for the future and we
should see a number of benefits from this collaboration.
The Governing Body welcomes any feedback and comments from
parents/carers on any aspect of the school and we can be contacted via the
school office.
Have a very happy Easter!
Janice Josiah
Chair of Governors