May Park Primary School’s Governors sit on an Academy Committee (AC), whose purpose is to support and advise the Principal and Excalibur Academies Trust’s Board of Trustees in delivering effective welfare, behaviour and extra-curricular provision. In every aspect of its work, ACs look through the lens of the child, asking: “What is it like to attend this school?”, whilst being mindful to avoid adding to the Principal’s workload.
ACs help shape a school’s vision, build links with local community, provide specialist volunteer skills/knowledge and give vital input to statutory processes (for example complaints, exclusions and recruitment).
The responsibility of monitoring and improving educational outcomes lies with the Trust’s professional Academy Improvement Team.
The responsibilities of the Academy Committee encompass: –
Culture, vision and ethos – working with the Principal to formulate the culture, vision and ethos for the school in keeping with the values of Excalibur Academies Trust
Personal development and welfare of the pupils and staff welfare – supporting and challenging the Principal to ensure all activity effectively contributes to personal development and welfare and report to Excalibur’s Board of Directors.
Behaviour and Attendance – supporting and challenging the Principal to ensure behaviour is effective in encouraging learning, inclusion and welfare and report to the Board.
Extra Curricular provision – ensuring extra-curricular provision is appropriate and good quality and report to the Board
Safeguarding – monitoring to ensure that the school is carrying out its statutory duties and supporting and challenging the Principal to do so effectively
Engagement and promotion of the school within local community – promote and champion the school in the local community; helping to build productive links between the school and community, including parents.
Staffing, behaviour and complaints panels
Senior management recruitment/performance management.
Governor Roles
The Academy Committee must appoint Governors to the following roles: Health & Safety Governor, Safeguarding Governor & SEND Governor. Depending on the school’s size, additional roles should also be assigned; examples include Education Performance Governor, Pupil Premium & Inclusion Governor and Finance Governor.
Safeguarding & Training
Excalibur maintains a strong safeguarding culture and ethos, with all Governors applying for an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check, in addition to undertaking mandatory safeguarding and cyber-security training. It is the responsibility of the nominated Safeguarding Governor to ensure this is adhered to and the Trust monitors compliance. Supplementary training to support Governors in their role is also available.
All Governors and Trustees must agree to be bound by the Excalibur Academies Trust Code of Conduct, with annual compulsory recommitment and declaration of business interests.
Parent Governors are elected by and from the parent community, staff members are elected by their colleagues and community members are local people appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the Academy Committee.
More information
Further information about the Excalibur’s Academy Committees can be found by visiting: https://www.excalibur.org.uk/governance/join-us/ or contacting the Trust’s Head of Governance Cathryn Poole: [email protected]
The members of May Park’s Academy Committee are:
Safeguarding Governor, Community Governor and Vice-Chair – Jenny Putman – Appointed 19/11/2019
Term of Office: 10 October 2023 – 09 October 2027
Jenny is a teacher and part of the middle leadership team at her secondary school. She has a Master’s in Education and Leadership from the University of Bristol which she completed whilst working full time as a teacher. She is able to apply her years of experience as a Governor to May Park.
Community Governor – Dan Northover – Appointed 19/11/2019
Term of Office: 10 October 2023 – 09 October 2027
Dan is a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at UWE Bristol, and works to educate and train new primary school teachers, with a particular focus on effective teaching and learning in English. Prior to working at UWE Bristol, he has over 10 years of experience working in primary school environments in various roles, including Teaching Assistant, Specialist Behaviour Support, Key Stage 2 Teacher and Key Stage 2 English Lead.
Community Governor – Sarah Ackerman
Term of Office: 7 May 2025 – 6 May 2029
Sarah has over 14 years’ experience working within school operations and now works within the Trust’s Shared Services team as an Estates Business Partner. She understands both the day-to-day realities and the wider strategic responsibilities of running a successful school. Her experience spans finance, HR, health and safety, estates, data protection and compliance, and she is passionate about ensuring the right systems are in place so staff can focus on teaching and pupils can thrive. As a governor, she is proud to support the school community, offering both encouragement and constructive challenge to help ensure every child has the best possible opportunities.
Additional Governor Roles:
Clerk to Governors – Suzanne Hepworth
Principal – Emma Tovey