Our Governing Body
At Whitecross Nursery School we have a team of governors that work as volunteers to support the school. Their role is to support and challenge the Headteacher, to help set the vision and strategic direction of the school and to ensure that our school is the very best it could be.
Governors have a wide range of responsibilities. These include tasks such as:
- Ensuring that the school meets its legal responsibilities.
- Setting the school budget.
- Making decisions about the school building and premises.
- Setting school policies.
- Appointing staff and making decisions about current staffing.
- Looking at how well groups of pupils are performing and ensuring action is taken if there are any concerns.
We have five full governing body meetings each year. During these meetings we look at a wide range of information to find out how well the school is performing. Our Headteacher provides a detailed report at three of these meetings, and we also look at data and other information so that we can make our own decisions about how well things are going. We also have six subcommittee meetings each year looking at progress & attainment and also school finance.
To support the work that goes on, governors visit school as often as possible. We particularly enjoy talking to the children about their interests and accompanying them on visits in the local environment.
We are proud to have a committed governing body that is made up of a team of individuals with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
The Governing Body of Whitecross Nursery School
Chair of Governing Body & Co-opted Governor – Claire Devey
Vice chair, SEND & Co-opted Governor - Su Wall
Safeguarding & Co-opted Governor - Julie Jennens
Health and Safety & Co-opted Governor – Sasha Gillan
Shadow Safeguarding Governor & Local Authority Governor - Emma Nichols
Mental Health Link Governor & Parent Governor - Jessica Allton
Parent Governor - David Galloway
Co-opted Governor - Sara Woodward
Staff Governor - Roz Walker-Smith
Headteacher - Claire FitzPatrick
Clerk to Governors - Julie Fowler
If you would like to contact our governing body, then please email our clerk at clerk@whitecross.derby.sch.uk
Governor Training
All governors undertake governor induction training on taking up the role of governor and every governor undertakes further training on relevant topics. Some of the training which our governors have undertaken over the last two years are listed below:
Equality
Corporate Parenting
Creating a New Vision for your school or trust
Domestic Abuse: The Impact on Children
FGM Recognising and Preventing
GDPR
Good Governance - Ofsted and the New Inspection Framework
Governance - Getting it right as a staff governor
Governance - Your Role, Your Responsibilities & Your Organisation
Health & Safety
Performance Appraisal Training
Prevent Training
Progress & Attainment: Using data to improve educational outcomes
Pupil Success & Wellbeing - Early Years Education
Pupil Success & Wellbeing - Arts & Cultural Education
Recognising and Preventing FGM
Safeguarding - The Governor Role
Setting performance objectives for executive leaders
Strategy - Living your values, reaching your vision, managing the risk
Succession Planning
Using Integrated Curriculum & Financial Planning