The Governors work closely with the Headteacher, school staff and representative from the Local Authority (LA). The information contained on this page was accurate as of March 2022.
The Governing Body of Tow Law Millennium Primary School has a strong focus on its three core strategic functions:
1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
2. Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governors have had a very proactive year. They have revisited our skills audit and have reviewed all roles and responsibilities ensuring the right people are appointed to the right areas and vacancies are filled with the people with the skills to strengthen the existing team of committed people. We are proud to say we have a full compliment of Governors.
As well as meeting as a full body, the governors also meet in smaller committees whose decisions are then confirmed by the full Governing Body. Effective use of working parties strengthened the effectiveness of the Governing Body ensuring accountability and timeliness of decisions. This year’s meetings have been held virtually over Teams.
Some governors take a particular responsibility for an area of the school’s work, for example, our Chair of Governors is responsible for Safeguarding. At the start of this year, Governors’ focus was on the wellbeing of pupils and staff and the longer term impact of Covid-19 on this. Curriculum visits will resume in the summer term, it will be good to see Governors back in school. For more information relating to this, please contact the Headteacher.
Following feedback from parents, we moved our annual audits from the busy summer term to the second half of the autumn term. This was another thing that Covid impacted upon, but we were creative and used technology to do this for staff, pupils and parents using Google Forms (Spring 2021). Once collated the results can be found on the website alongside an action plan to ensure effective communication to all stakeholders. Lisa Croft is our Chair of Governors and Councillor Richard Manchester as Vice Chair. If you need to contact them please address correspondence c/o the school and the Clerk to the Governing Body (TBC), School & Governor Support Service, Education Department, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UJ.
Lisa Croft can also be contacted via this email address: l.croft500@towlaw.durham.sch.uk
Governor Annual Newsletter Summer 2019
No newsletter 2020 due to Covid-19
Governor Newsletter Spring 2022
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
Tow Law Millennium 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 documents below.
The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools (2017)
Induction Policy for Governors 2021
Instrument of Governance November 2019
Annual Statement of Governance 2021
Governing Body Development Plan 2021-23
Committee Structure
| Name | Date of appointment - Current Term of Office | Term of Office Ends | Representing | Committee | Responsibilities | Register of Interest | Governance roles in other Educational Establishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa Croft (Chair) | 06/04/2021 | 05/04/2025 | Co-opted | Finance, Premises & Personnel First / Pay Review Headteacher's Performance Safeguarding & curriculum | More Able and Talented Safeguarding EYFS Core Subjects (English and Maths) Assessment | None | |
| Cllr Richard Manchester | 07/02/2018 | 06/02/2022 | Local Authority | First / Pay Review & Headteacher's Performance | Foundation Subjects (Humanities) Sports Premium | Durham Hens Durham County Council Durham & Darlington combined fire authority Three Towns Partnership Chair | LA Governor Stanley Crook Primary School |
| John Hart | 26/03/2019 | 25/03/2023 | Co-opted | Appeals Safeguarding & curriculum | Communication (FB & Website) SMSC & British Values | Dlighted (property firm – inactive) | Acting Governance Manager Tees Valley combined authority |
| Stephen Hall | 19/03/2020 | 18/03/2024 | Parent | Finance, Premises & Personnel First / Pay Review Headteacher's Performance | Health and Safety | None | |
| Lisa Jackson (Head Teacher) | Staff | Finance, Premises & Personnel Safeguarding & curriculum | Safeguarding Special Educational Needs Curriculum Core Subjects Pupil Premium LGBTQ+ Looked After | M. Jackson Building Services Husbands' business | |||
| Jenny Mountain | 30/06/2021 | 29/06/2025 | Co-opted | Appeals | Special Educational Needs Wellbeing | None | |
| Nicola Mawson | 28/11/2019 | 27/11/2023 | Staff | Safeguarding & curriculum | Core Subjects (Maths, English, Science and IT) Foundation Subjects (Humanities) Sports Premium Safeguarding & Prevent GDPR | None | |
| Jenny Linsley | 04/12/2019 | 03/12/2023 | Co-opted | Finance, Premises & Personnel | Reading Attendance | None | |
| Steven Matthews | 22/10/2019 | 21/10/2023 | Parent | None | |||
| Kirsty Duffy | 29/4/2021 | 28/4/2025 | Parent | ||||
| Claire Ritson | 01/09/2021 | 31/08/2025 | Co-opted | ||||
| Clare Wild | Stepped down 3/3/2021 | ||||||
| Russell Bell | Stepped down 16/07/2019 | Burnhill | |||||
| Steve Peat | Stepped down 06/02/2018 | ||||||
| Lorraine Collier | Stepped down 07/07/2019 |
Governor Pen Portraits
Lisa Croft
Cllr Richard Manchester
John Hart
Stephen Hall
Lisa Jackson
Jenny Mountain
Nicola Mawson
Jenny Linsley
Steven Matthews
Kirsty Duffy
Claire Ritson
Governor Attendance
Schools are now required to display a record of Governor’s attendance at meetings for each school academic year. You can also view previous years attendance on our website.
TLMPS Governors – Attendance Register 2021 – 2022
TLMPS Governors – Attendance Register 2020 – 2021
TLMPS Governors – Attendance Register 2019-2020
TLMPS Governors – Attendance Register 2018-2019
TLMPS Governors – Attendance Register 2017-2018
TLMPS Governors Attendance Register 2016-2017
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