Willington
Primary School

Governors

Governors offer highly effective support and robust challenge to the school. The Chair of the Governing Body is very knowledgeable and experienced and offers clear, extremely well-informed leadership’ Ofsted 2014.

Welcome to Willington Primary School governing body. We are a team of voluntary elected staff, parents and other interested parties. We are responsible for raising school standards by:

  • Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  • Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the schools and its pupils
  • Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

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

Governing Body Committee Structure

For further information about each of our governors please view below.

NamePositionCommitteeFirst AppointedTerm of Office EndsRepresentingResponsibilities
Councillor Olwynn GunnChair of GovernorsCurriculum and Standards Committee
Finance and Premises Standards Committee
First Pay Review
Headteachers Performance
09/03/200914/04/2025Local AuthoritySafeguarding
Early Years
Well Being
Miss Sue HineVice Chair of GovernorsCurriculum and Standards Committee
Finance and Premises Standards Committee
First Pay Review
Headteachers Performance
03/04/201228/04/2024Co-optedLAC
English/Reading
Science
SEND
Mrs Julie L WalkerGovernor / School Business ManagerCurriculum and Standards Committee
Finance and Premises Standards Committee
24/01/200530/08/2026Co-optedGDPR
Training and Development
Mrs Katherine B HarkerHeadteacherAll Committees09/01/201228/09/2024StaffFull Responsibility
Mrs Angela SmithGovernorAppeals Committee
Curriculum and Standards Committee
06/04/202205/04/2026Co-opted
Mrs Dorothy HalesGovernorAppeals Committee
Curriculum and Standards Committee
Finance Committee
07/06/202307/06/2027Co-opted
Mrs Karen TurnerGovernorAppeals Committee
Curriculum and Standards Committee
10/06/202109/06/2025Parent

Governors who have resigned/reached term of office within the last academic year.

NameCategoryDate of Resignation/Reached Term of Office End Date
Mr B TulipParent Governor07/06/2023
Mr S CornforthHeadteacher31/08/2023

Committee Voting Rights

All governors on the above committee(s) have the same status and are eligible to vote when required.

Governor Attendance

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

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

Record of Attendance 2023 -2024

NameFull Governing Body Meeting 4th October 2023Performance Review Committee Meeting 4th October 2023First Pay Review Committee Meeting 6th November 2023Full Governing Body Committee Meeting 6th March 2024Full Governing Body Committee Meeting 26th June 2024
Cllr O Gunn
Miss S Hine
Mrs K Harker
Mrs J WalkerN/AN/A
Mrs A SmithN/A
Mrs K TurnerN/A
Mrs D HalesN/A

Record of Attendance 2022 – 2023

NameFull Governing Body Meeting
5th October 2022
Pay Review Committee Meeting
28th November 2022
Finance Committee Meeting
31st January 2023
Curriculum Committee Meeting 31st January 2023Special Meeting of the Governing Body 7th March 2023Full Governing Body Meeting 8th March 2023Special Meeting of the Governing Body 23rd March 2023Finance Committee Meeting 28th March 2023Curriculum Committee Meeting 28th March 2023Full Governing Body Meeting 7th June 2023Finance Committee Meeting 20th June 2023Curriculum Committee Meeting 20th June 2023
Cllr O GunnA/AA/AA/AA/A
Miss S Hine
Mr S CornforthN/AN/A
Mrs K HarkerN/AA/AA/AN/AN/A
Mrs J WalkerN/AA/A
Mrs A SmithN/AA/A
Mrs K TunerN/AA/A
Mrs D HalesN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A

Previous Records of Attendance 

Register of Governor Interests

Governors are asked to complete a Register of Governors’ Interest form on an annual basis. The following Governor(s) have registered an interest.

Mrs A Smith – Link to other educational establishment: St Anne’s CE Primary School declared January 2023.

Mrs J Walker – Link to business and pecuniary interest: Employee of Willington Primary School declared February 2023.

Statutory Guidance for Governing Bodies

Willington 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.

For further information please view or download the full document below.

How To Become A School Governor

In simple terms the Governing Body has three main roles. Firstly, to provide a strategic overview that ensures the pupils learn most effectively and achieve the highest standards. Secondly, to act as a “critical friend” of the school by providing the headteacher and staff with support, advice and information. We monitor and evaluate to school’s effectiveness and promote the interests of the school and pupils. Thirdly, to ensure accountability. We are accountable to parents, pupils, the community, the Local Authority and Ofsted.

Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM), as part of a team Governors play an important role in improving children’s education and supporting the school’s staff. The post also allows you to develop new skills as well as applying existing ones that make a positive contribution to the community. Do I need special qualifications? No! You need interest, enthusiasm, time and genuine desire to support our students. Schools need people from their local community who can offer energy, experience and fresh ideas. However all your existing skills and experience will be very welcome and as you acquire more, you will be able to apply these to other areas of your life.

Can I become a school governor? Yes, anybody over 18 who has a child of school age. All applicants are subject to checks to ensure the safety and protection of the young people in our school. How much time does it take? Meetings are held once every term at the end of the school day and usually last and hour and a half. However, this may vary depending on the amount of committee work that you choose to do. Governors act as a team and support each other by taking on additional roles in order to be as effective as possible. How do I find out more? You can contact the headteacher or Mrs Walker in the school office who will support you in your application.

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.

Committee Terms of Reference

Committee Terms of Reference

Adobe Reader
You may need a product like Adobe Reader (free download) to view our PDF documents on our website.

Privacy Policy

We regard your privacy as important and any personal information you give to us will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations.

We do not store personal information about individuals who visit this site except where they provide contact information via our contact us page and contact forms available on various pages throughout the website.

Any information you provide will only be used for the reasons specified and it will not be shared with any third party without your consent, unless required by law.

Your contact details are kept securely and are only accessed by authorised members of staff as part of the provision of school services. If you do not wish us to keep this contact information please tell us.

This website uses Google Analytics which provides statistical data about the usage of the site. This information is not used to identify individuals, but is collected to provide us with an understanding of the areas of interest on our site and how our site is being used.

If you are connected to the internet you will have an IP Address. This may take the form of a figure, such as 333.333.22.1. The address will be automatically collected and logged as part of the connection of your computer to our web server and may be used to determine the total number of visits to each part of the site. This data is not collected and used for other purposes.

This website contains links to other websites. The School is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites or organisations and recommends you consult the privacy information on those sites.

This policy will be reviewed and updated versions will be posted on the website.

If you have any questions about the use of your personal information, the Information Commissioner is the independent regulator for both Data Protection and Freedom of Information.