Governors

Vision and Ethos

The governors’ vision is for Hollybush to ‘Inspire Ambition and Success’. We aim to nurture a respect amongst our children, staff and community, that allows everyone to aim higher. We want a school that builds resilience in our children, that celebrates all our achievements, and empowers self-belief.

To achieve this we work with staff, communicating honestly and with compassion. In this way we build trust to enable the understanding needed for everybody to develop together.

Our intent is for all children to develop a sense of identity, an understanding of community and an aspiration and vision for the future.

Functions of governance

Our three core functions of our governance are to:

• ensure the clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school;
• hold the school’s leadership to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff and
• oversee the financial performance of the school by making sure its money is well spent.

Constitution of Governing Body

The make-up of the Governing Body is defined in our Instrument of Governance, which was made by order of Leeds City Council Education Authority on 1st December 2020.

The Governing Body consists of 12 members:

• 1 Headteacher
• 2 Parent Governors
• 1 Local Authority (LA) Governor
• 1 Staff Governor
• 7 Co-opted Governors.

All governors are appointed by the full Governing Body.

Members of the Governing Body

• Chair: Janice Priestley
• Vice-Chair: Jane Dickinson
• Headteacher: Briony Robertson
• Parent Governors: Matthew Holden Kirsty Thomson
• LA Governor: Cllr Caroline Gruen
• Staff Governor: Lisa Buxton
• Co-opted Governors: Luis Cantu Trevor Patterson Jonathan Tecwyn Rowena Walmsley Vacancy (Katherine Foster stood down on 31st July 2023)
• Associate Members: Emma Haddon (Deputy Headteacher) Bridgitte Causer (School Business Manager)

The Governing Body meets once per term.

Clerking is provided through the Local Authority Governor Support Service.

Committees

The Governing Body has a two sub-committees, which act with the delegated authority of the main board. The meet once per term to have in-depth discussions on key areas of the schools’ work, and they report into the main board meetings. All governors have voting rights on the board and sub-committees. Associate Members do not have voting rights, except for the Business Manager who has voting rights on some aspects of matters of the Resources Committee agenda.

The sub-committees are:

• Learning, Teaching and Pupil Support committee (Chaired by Jane Dickinson)
• Resources committee (Chaired by Luis Cantu).

Additional Committees

• Headteacher Performance Management Committee consisting of three governors who, along with an independent educational advisor, reviews the performance of the Headteacher and make recommendations to the Pay Committee. School staff are debarred from serving on this committee. The committee is chaired by the Chair of Governors.
• Pay Committee consists of three governors who oversee the performance management and pay awards for staff.
• Complaints Review Committee if formed of three governors who form a Governor’s Appeal Panel for the investigation of Stage Two complaints.

Declaration of Interest

Cllr Caroline Gruen is an elected member of Leeds City Council and is a Governor at Leeds West Academy.