Meridian Primary School Governing Body
The governing body has a statutory duty to support the headteacher and the staff as they go about their work. We are all volunteers and have chosen to become governors because we believe the children at Meridian Primary School deserve the best possible education. Our main duty is to hold the headteacher to account for the quality and standards of the job she does in all aspects of the running of the school. Our role is strategic.
The full governing body meets six times a year. Much of our discussion at those meetings is focused on the work of our two main committees. The Finance, Premises and Personnel Committee (FPP) and the Standards Committee (SC) each meet twice in every term. We also enjoy the support of several Associate Governors who are unelected and also volunteers.
We work as a team to understand and influence the way the school operates and the standards that children achieve in all aspects of their lives in the school. Governors often visit the school whilst it is at work. We scrutinise the standards data produced by the school, monitor the quality of teaching through advisors and inspectors and listen to and talk with children, staff and parents. We scrutinise the budget on behalf of Central Government to ensure our funds give the community we serve good value for money. We welcome scrutiny of our own work by staff, parents and agencies such as the South Cambridgeshire Local Authority.
From the start of the coronavirus pandemic we have continued with our work and will continue to do so until the challenge the virus presents is behind us. We focus on business critical tasks, supporting the headteacher and collectively keeping the safety and welfare of all the children and staff at the forefront of our thinking. For obvious reasons we are rarely in school at present but we are in contact with the headteacher as often as we always have been, we value the contributions made to our discussion by the staff governor and welcome constant feedback from governors who are parents at the school. We also keep ourselves fully informed as to both local and national expectations of schools and governors during the challenges of the pandemic.
We are led by a Chair and Vice Chair and supported by a Clerk. Parent governors are elected by all the parents and other governors by the governors themselves. We always appreciate offers of help and invite you to get in touch if you would like more information or would like to become a governor. Contact Peter Newton at: Chair@meridian.cambs.sch.uk
We are very proud of the staff and the pupils and delighted to show you our latest Ofsted report which you will find on our website under 'Ofsted'.
Recruiting a future Chair of governors
The Chair of our governing body will be finishing his term of office during the next twelve months, and we are looking to recruit a governor to join our team, to prepare to move into the Chair position. If you think you - or somebody you know - might be interested in this position, please see the documents below, which give some details about the school and the role, and include who to contact for further information.
Current Governors
Peter Newton Local Authority Chair of Governors
Carole Etchie Ex-officio Headteacher
Debbie Jack Co-opted Vice Chair of Governors, SC (Chair)
Matt Bigam Co-opted FPP
Judith Brown Parent FPP (Chair)
William Cramer Parent FPP
Anna Edwards Parent SC
Miranda Horvath Co-opted SC
Jo Lewis Co-opted FPP
Caroline Mulderij Co-opted SC
Yogendra Parmar Co-opted FPP
Rebecca Sands Staff SC
Cathy Swift Co-opted FPP
Kathy Talbot Parent SC
Lottie Phillips Clerk
Associates: From January 2020
Laura Jeffrey
Lola Green
Angela Ragnauth
Jo Hume
Marina Torregrossa
Past Governors
The following have now stepped down as governors or reached the end of their term:
None of these had any relevant business or pecuniary interests or other potential conflicts of interest.
No present Governors have any relevant business peculiar interests or other potential conflicts of interest.