Our Local Governing Committee

4Governors work closely with headteachers, school staff and representatives from the Trust. Our governance structure was amended to reflect our school joining The Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust (MAT) in September 2021, when we became a Local Governing committee.

Governor Membership and Interests

Name	Representing	Term of Office	Committees	Responsibilities	Register of Interest	Relationship to staff
Mrs Paula Russell	Foundation	23/9/21 – 22/9/25	Headteacher performance management, Pay review	Chair of LGC, Curriculum	none	none
Mr Christopher Savage	Foundation	23/9/21 – 22/9/25	Admissions, Pay review	Vice Chair of LGC, CLA, Pupil Premium, Sports Premium, Catch up funding, Religious Education	none	none
Miss Katy Haggart	Headteacher – Ex Officio	1/9/21 –	Admissions, Pay review	All	none	staff member
Mr Allan Horsburgh	Foundation	23/9/21 – 22/9/25	Headteacher performance management	Training and development	BWCET – Emma Anyan, teacher St Leonard’s; BWCET – Deidre Horsburgh, Governor St Godric’s	none
Mr Michael Laing	Foundation	23/9/21 – 22/9/25	Admissions, Pay review	Wellbeing	none	none
Mrs Gail Bentham	Parent	29/11/21 –28/11/25	Admissions	EYFS, Safeguarding	none	none
Mrs Rachel Hockey	Observer – Deputy Headteacher	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	staff member

The local governing committee has a strategic role and its key functions are to:

Set the aims and objectives for the school
Set the policies for achieving those aims and objectives
Set the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
Monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making towards for achievement of its aims and objectives
Be a source of challenge and support to the head teacher (a critical friend)

The internal organisation, management and control of the school and the implementation of the strategic framework established by the governors is the responsibility of the head teacher.

Although all governors have the same roles and responsibilities, there are different categories of governor:

Foundation – these people are appointed by the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle
Head Teacher – by virtue of appointment to post of Head Teacher
Staff – by virtue of appointment the head teacher is a staff governor. Other staff governors are elected by the academic and support staff
Parent – these people must have a child in school at the time of appointment and are elected by the parents of children in school

At St Joseph’s we have a deeply committed local governing committee which meets regularly. Should you have any questions or queries for the governing body, please mark correspondence for the attention of the Chair of Governors.

Governor Attendance

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

Record of Attendance 2022-23

Archived Attendance
You can also view previous years’ attendance on our website.

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

St Joseph’s RC Primary School adhere to the statutory guidance from the Department for 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 our documents below.

The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools (2017)

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