Annual Governance Statement

St. Vincent’s Catholic Primary School Annual Governance Statement Autumn 2024 for Academic Year 2024/25

Approved by the Board of Governors November 2024; review date November 2025

The Board of Governors

Current Governors	Type of Governor	First Appointed	Current term of office expires
Mrs Anita Harrop	Headteacher	01/09/2015	Statutory
Mrs Deborah Mc Duff	Staff Governor	06/04/2022	05/04/2026
Mrs Alice Kilburn	Foundation Governor	01/09/2019(parent governor)	31/08/2028
Canon Jonathan Brandon	Foundation Governor	01/09/2019	31/08/2025
Mrs Sarah Butler	Foundation Governor (Vice Chair)	10/2015 (as Parent Governor)	31/08/2026
Mrs Joanne Donnachie	Foundation Governor (Chair)	01/09/2010	31/08/2026
Ms Louise Dickinson	Foundation Governor	01/09/2010	31/08/2026
Mrs Chinelo Aniedu	Foundation Governor Designate	07/03/2025	31/08/2028
Mrs Christina O'Connor	Foundation Governor Designate	28/01/2025	31/08/2025
Mr Matthew Lee	Local Authority Governor	28/02/2023	28/02/2027
Mr Patrick Coyle	Parent Governor	01/11/2023	01/11/2027
Mr Tim Barnard	Parent Governor	01/11/2023	01/11/2027

Previous Governors	Type of Governor	First Appointed	Term of Office finished
Mr Raymond Machell KC	Foundation Governor	01/09/2010	31/08/2024
Mr Adrian Godding	Foundation Governor	11/2016 (as Associate Member)	resigned 31/08/2024
Ms Susanna Ngai	Associate Member	20/06/2023	20/06/2024
Mr Carl Thorgaard	Foundation Governor	05/09/2018 (as parent governor) 01/09/2020	31/08/2024
Mrs Sinead Donnelly	Parent Governor	11/02/2021	Resigned 01/09/2023
Mrs Patricia Young	LA Governor	01/09/2010	Resigned 21/06/2022
Mr Stuart Nichols	Staff Governor	06/10/2016	Resigned 01/04/2022
Mrs Cathy Belford	Associate Member	11/2016	Resigned 10/11/2020
Mr George Tsiantar	Foundation Governor	01/09/2010	Deceased 07/2020
Canon John Rafferty	Foundation Governor	01/09/2010	Resigned 01/09/2019
Mrs Sorcha McNamara	Parent Governor	05/09/2018	Resigned 01/09/2019
Mrs Dinah Davis	Foundation Governor	01/09/2010	Resigned 31/08/2018
Mrs Christina Burns	Foundation Governor	01/09/2010	Resigned 31/08/2018
Mr Oliver Gilmartin	Parent Governor	01/10/2011	Resigned 31/08/2018

1 CLERK TO GOVERNORS

Julie Lawson, Trust GS, Green wood Street, Altrincham, Cheshire 0161 3487188 or contact Karen Wong, School Business Manager at the School.

2 COMMITTEES

Remits for the Committees are available on request from the School or on Governor Hub

Finance Committee

Curriculum Committee

Pay review Committee

Louise Dickinson (Chair/Clerk)

Sarah Butler (Chair/clerk)

Jo Donnachie (Chair/Clerk)

Jo Donnachie (Vice Chair)

Alice Kilburn (Vice Chair)

Anita Harrop (in attendance)

Anita Harrop

Louise Dickinson

Sarah Butler

Debbie McDuff

Sarah Butler

Karen Wong (in attendance)

Christina O'Connor

Patrick Coyle(Nursery & TSC)

Ivana Butterworth(in attendance)

Naomi Farrell (in attendance)

Ciara Sutton (in attendance)

Ivana Butterworth(in attendance)

Buildings and Health & Safety Committee

Admissions Committee

Human Resources Committee

Matthew Lee (Chair/Clerk)

Jo Donnachie (Chair/Clerk)

Chinelo Aniedu(Chair /Clerk)

Anita Harrop

Sarah Butler

Anita Harrop

Jo Donnachie

Anita Harrop

Canon Jonathan Brandon

Tim Barnard

Louise Dickinson

Jo Donnachie

Karen Wong (in attendance)

Lee Payne (in attendance)

Michael Burke (in attendance)

Ivana Butterworth (in attendance)

Nursery/SSC Human Resources Committee

Headteacher’s Performance Review

Patrick Coyle(Chair/Clerk)

Jo Donnachie (Chair)

Jo Donnachie

Sarah Butler

Anita Harrop

Adviser-Karen Morris

Ivana Butterworth (in attendance)

Appeals Committee (any governors available from the following)

Jo Donnachie

Matthew Lee

Canon Jonathan Brandon

Louise Dickinson

Sarah Butler

Tim Barnard

Patrick Coyle

Christina O'Connor

Chinelo Aniedu

Alice Kilburn

3 LINKED GOVERNORS

Remits for Linked Governors are available on request from the School or on Governor Hub

Governor	Area of Responsibility	School Link	Visit Frequency	Reporting Committee
Canon Jonathan Brandon	Religious Education Focus on Delivery of the new RE scheme	A McCann/D Mc Duff	Once/term	Curriculum
Sarah Butler Debbie McDuff	3Is for the National Curriculum, Combined ARE across all years, Statutory Assessment Points	C Sutton/ N Farrell	Once/ term	Curriculum
Anita Harrop	Nursery/ Sunshine After School and Holiday Club	I Butterworth	N/A	Board
Ray Machell	Contracts	K Wong	N/A	Board
Jo Donnachie	Child Protection & Safeguarding	A Harrop	Once /term	HR & Board
Alice Kilburn	Exceptional Offer and achievement of Pupil Premium/ SEND/ Looked After Children/ Inclusion/Neurodiversity	C Sutton/ N Farrell	Once/ term	Curriculum & Board
Alice Kilburn	Reading and Writing	A Burke/ N Sheldon	Once/year	Curriculum
Alice Kilburn	Enrichments and Pupil Groups	N Farrell	Once/year	Curriculum
Matthew Lee	Health & Safety	K Wong	Once/ year	H&S / Board
Matthew Lee	Security & Parking	K Wong	Once/ year	Buildings/ H&S
Matthew Lee	Humanities (Geography, History)	M Lawrence, L Campbell	Once/ year	Curriculum
Christina O'Connor	Computing Curriculum and Online Safety (including Filtering and Monitoring)	L Patiniott C Needham	Once/year	Curriculum/Board
Chinelo Aniedu	Diversity and Equality	C Luckham,E Leather	Once/year	Board
Debbie McDuff	Prayer and Worship	A McCann	Once/year	Curriculum
Patrick Coyle	Maths	D Hobday	Once/year	Curriculum
Christina O'Connor	Science	J Kerigan	Once/year	Curriculum
Sarah Butler	Music & Art	H Carr/ C Robinson	Once/year	Curriculum
Jo Donnachie	EYFS curriculum indoor and outdoor	N Farrell	Once/year	Board
Patrick Coyle	PE	J Morris	Once/year	Curriculum
Tim Barnard	Design and Technology	M Hollins	Once/year	Curriculum
Jo Donnachie	British Values	C Gerrard	Once/year	Curriculum
Jo Donnachie	SMSC	LDreniw/ELeather	Once/Year	Curriculum
Louise Dickinson	Digital Plan	A Harrop/ K Wong	Once/year	Finance/Board
Patrick Coyle	Sports Premium	C Sutton	Once/year	Board
Adrian Godding	Physical and Mental Health Workload	N Sheldon	Once/year Once/year	Board/ HR
Louise Dickinson	GDPR & Cyber Security	K Wong	Once/year	Finance
Sarah Butler	RSE & PHSE	L Dreniw	Once/ year	Curriculum
Chinelo Aniedu	Speech and Language Oracy and EAL	M Lawrence/ E Leather	Once/ year	Curriculum

4 ATTENDANCE

Academic Year 2019/2020

96% attendance at Board of Governors’ meetings

98% attendance at committee meetings

Academic Year 2020/2021

92% attendance at Board of Governors’ meetings

97% attendance at committee meetings

Academic Year 2021/2022

78% attendance at Board of Governors’ meetings

97% attendance at committee meetings

Academic Year 2022/2023

95% attendance at Board of Governors’ meetings

94% attendance at committee meetings

Academic Year 2023/2024

94% attendance at Board of Governors’ meetings

95% attendance at committee meetings

Linked Governor Visits 2023/2024

100% Linked Governor Visits completed.33 visits in total.

Academic Year 2023/24

Governor	Attendance at Committee Meetings	Attendance at Board Meetings (including Community Facilities’ AGM)
Anita Harrop	100% (29/29)	4/4
Jo Donnachie	100% (28/28)	4/4
Alice Kilburn	100% (4/4)	4/4
Canon Jonathan Brandon	75% (3/4)	4/4
Carl Thorgaard	75% (5/5)	3/4
Matthew Lee	100% (5/5)	3/4
Sarah Butler	76% (15/15)	4/4
Raymond Machell	100% (1/1)	4/4
Louise Dickinson	100% (12/12)	3/4
Susanna Ngai	80% (4/5)	2/4
Adrian Godding	80% (4/5)	3/4
Debbie McDuff	100% (4/4)	4/4
Patrick Coyle	100% (2/2)	3/4
Tim Barnard	100% (2/2)	4/4

5 CHAIR’S STATEMENT / STATEMENT FROM THE BOARD

Please see annual letter from the Chair of Governors here.

6 BOARD'S STRATEGIC PRIORITIES DELIVERED 2023/24

Develop Risk Register.
Support Leadership Team on delivering outstanding RE and OFSTED inspection.
Develop Funding and Development Plan.

7 BOARD'S STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR 2024/25

Mitigate 'Red' risks and monitor amber and green risks on Board's Risk Register.
Deliver Funding and Development Plan.
Renew Vision and Strategy in July 2025.

8 RECORD OF TRAINING 2022/23 AND 2023/24

Board of Governors' Training and Workshops 2022/23
Safeguarding and Child Protection Training for Governors	Online on National College for all Governors
Prevent Duty Training for Governors	Online on National College for all Governors
Understanding Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence for School Governors	Online on National College for all Governors
Vision and Strategy from July event Prevent for Ofsted	8th November 2022 for all governors
Speech and Language Development	13 May 2025
Vision and Strategy Day	1 July 2025

9 CALENDAR OF TRAINING 2024/25

10CALENDAR OF MEETINGS

11 CODE OF CONDUCT

Please see CES Code of Conduct here.

12 GOVERNING BOARD EVALUATION

Governor Hub Governing Board Health Check completed Autumn 2021.
CES Annual Board Self Evaluation scheduled Summer 2025.
Internal Review of Governance completed June 2022 and May 2024.
CES Governor Skills Audits completed in June 2022 and Autumn 2023. Scheduled Spring 2025.
360-degree feedback of the Chair completed Autumn 2022 and Summer 2024. Scheduled Autumn 2025.
Performance one-to-ones for all governors completed by the Chair every Autumn term. Last completed in October 2024.

13 GOVERNOR DECLARATIONS

Governor Name	Responsibility	Business Interest	Other establishment governed	Relationships with staff/governors	Date
Mrs Jo Donnachie	Foundation Governor (Chair)	Altrincham Football Club	None	None	Nov 2023
Mrs Sarah Butler	Foundation Governor (Vice-chair)	None	None	None	Nov 2023
Ms Louise Dickinson	Foundation Governor	None	None	None	Nov 2023
Mrs Anita Harrop	Headteacher (Statutory Right)	None	None	None	Nov 2023
Mrs Alice Kilburn	Associate Member	St Vincent’s Church Parish Secretary	None	None	Nov 2023
Mrs Deborah McDuff	Staff Governor	None	None	None	Nov 2023
Canon Jonathon Brandon	Foundation Governor	St Vincent’s Church Parish Priest	St Ambrose Catholic College Governor	None	Nov 2023
Mr Matthew Lee	Local Autority Governor	None	None	None	Nov 2023
Mr Patrick Coyle	Parent Governor	None	Board Member and Trustee of League Football Education	Sibling is a Member of Teaching Staff at St Vincent’s	Nov 2023
Mr Tim Barnard	Parent Governor	None	None	None	Nov 2023
Mrs Christina O'Connor	Foundation Governor
Mrs Chinelo Aniedu	Foundation Governor