Our Governing Body

Governors work closely with head teachers, school staff and representatives from the local authority (LA).

We currently have three vacancies on our Governing Body for Co-opted Governors. If you are interested in this position and feel you would like to support the school in this role, please contact the school office as soon as possible for a nomination form.

Role of the Board of Governors

The Governing Body of a school is responsible for ensuring that it is run to promote the very best of outcomes for children.

Its duties include:

setting strategic direction, policies and objectives
the school budget
reviewing progress against the school’s budget and objectives
appointing, challenging and supporting the head teacher

The Governing Body is made up of:

parent governors (elected by parents)
staff representatives (elected by school staff)
local authority governors (appointed by the local authority)
community governors (appointed by the governing body)

Governor Code of Conduct

Governor Committee Structure

We are pleased to share the new roles and responsibilities of our governing body below.

Name	Representing	Term of Office	Committee	Responsibilities	Register of Interests	Relationship to Staff
Mrs Jane Fox - Chairperson	Co-opted Governor	04/02/2024-04/02/2028	Curriculum Finance, Premises & Staffing Pay review Head teacher performance management	Leadership and Management GDPR Health and Safety Safeguarding SFVS	None	None declared
Mrs Andrea Norman - Vice Chairperson	LA Governor	26/03/2021-25/03/2025	Appeals Curriculum Finance, Premises & Staffing Head teacher performance management	EYFS Personal Development Culture incorporating PSHCE/SMSC/British Values Pupil Premium Recovery Premium Sports Premium	Employee at a local authority primary school	None declared
Mrs Rachel Leonard	Headteacher	01/09/2021-	Appeals Curriculum Finance, Premises & Staffing Pay review		Headteacher Governor at a local authority primary school	None Declared
Mrs Sally Newton	Co-opted Governor	20/01/2022-19/01/2026	Curriculum Pay review	Quality of Education SEND	Employee of an academy trust	None declared
Mrs Samantha Harrison	Parent Governor	28/04/2021-27/04/2025	Appeals Curriculum Finance, Premises & Staffing	Behaviour and Attitudes Wellbeing	Parent Employee at a local authority primary school Governor at a local authority primary school	Relative of a member of teaching staff
Mrs Sarah Watson	Staff Governor	03/11/2021-02/11/2025	Curriculum Finance, Premises & Staffing	EYFS School Website	Teacher	None Declared
Father Kyle McNeil	Co-opted Governor	29/03/23-28/03/27	Curriculum Finance, Premises & Staffing		Governor at a local authority primary school	None Declared
Miss Charlotte O'Neil	Co-opted Governor	16/10/23 - 15/10/27		SEND	Deputy Head	None Declared
Mr Mark Berry	Co-opted Governor	20/03/2024-20/03/2028		CLA	Grandparent	None Declared

How To Become A School Governor

If you require further information on the roles and responsibilities of School Governors or you are interested in becoming one, visit the Durham County Council website School Governor section.

Statutory Guidance for Governing Bodies

Blackhall Primary School adhere to the statutory guidance from the Department of Education. This means that governing bodies must have regard to it when carrying out duties relating to the constitution of governing bodies in maintained schools.

The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools (2017)
Governing Committee Information

Committee Terms of Reference

Members of our Governing Body also meet as smaller sub-committees where we look at specific areas of the school such as finances, the school’s results and the progress children are making (as a whole group) as well as non-academic (social) development of the children. These subcommittees report back to the full governing body. We look at what the school is doing to improve, what impact it has on children’s progress and make sure money is well spent. We try to make sure our discussions are well informed and balanced and we have the interests of the children at the core of all our decision making.

Terms of Reference

Governor Attendance

Schools are now required to display a record of Governor attendance at meetings for each school academic year.

Record of Governor Attendance 2023-2024

KEY
✓ – Attended meeting
A/A – Apologies sent and accepted by meeting
N – Did not attend
X – Not a member of the committee

	Full Governing Body Meeting	Full Governing Body Meeting	Full Governing Body Meeting	Finance, Premises & Personnel Committee	Finance, Premises & Personnel Committee (Pay Review)	Finance, Premises & Personnel Committee	Finance, Premises & Personnel Committee
	11/12/24	01/04/25	08/07/25	08/10/24	07/11/24	18/02/25	20/05/25
Mrs Jane Fox - Chairperson				✓
Mrs Andrea Norman - vice Chairperson				✓
Mrs Rachel Leonard				✓
Mrs Samantha Harrison				✓
Mrs Sally Newton
Mrs Sarah Watson				A/A
Father Kyle
Miss Charlotte O'Neil
Mr Mark Berry
Mrs Hill Huntington - Clerk				✓