Mere Valley Federation Governing Board 

Chair of Governors

Rebecca Cosgrove

Ifrah Siddiqui

Vice Chair of Governors

Kim Dallas

Executive Head Teacher

Hayley White

Staff Governor

Rachel White – Merebrook Infant School

Co-opted Governor

Regina Roche

David Jolly

Kate Burridge

Emerson Valley parent Governor

Merebrook parent Governor

Local Authority Appointed Governor

Vacancies

Co-opted Governors

Associate Governors

Tracy Hurwood – Head of School – Merebrook Infant School

Governor-Attendance-2023-24

Governance constitution and attendance

Please click on the link below to find more information on the constitution of the governors and their attendance at governing body meetings.

Constitution-MereValleyFederation

Becoming a school governor

Our school like every school is managed by a Board of Governors that works alongside the Head Teacher to meet the educational needs of the pupils in a secure and safe environment.

Become a School Governor in Milton Keynes

How is the governing body made up?

Every school has a governing body which in size from usually 9 to 20. Some governors are elected by parents or staff, some are appointed by the governing body itself and some are appointed by the local authority or religious foundations. This is to help the governing bodies reflect the communities that they serve. The composition is determined by the instrument of governance which has been agreed by the governing body.

The governing body have different delegated meetings with their own committees and Full Governing Board meetings. The committees are: Teaching and Learning and Resources.

The teaching and learning committee are responsible for: Strategic Oversight, Curriculum, Monitoring of progress and attainment and Behaviour policy.

The Resources committee are responsible for: Finance, Personnel, Buildings and Health and Safety.

What do school governors do?

1. Contribute to the strategic discussions at governing body meetings which determine:

• the vision and ethos of the school;
• clear and ambitious strategic priorities and targets for the school;
• that all children, including those with special educational needs, have access to a broad and balanced curriculum;
• the school’s budget, including the expenditure of the pupil premium allocation;
• the school’s staffing structure and key staffing policies;
• the principles to be used by school leaders to set other school policies.

2. Hold the senior leaders to account by monitoring the school’s performance; this includes:

• agreeing the outcomes from the school’s self-evaluation and ensuring they are used to inform the priorities in the school development plan;
• considering all relevant data and feedback provided on request by school leaders and external sources on all aspects of school performance;
• asking challenging questions of school leaders;
• ensuring senior leaders have arranged for the required audits to be carried out and receiving the results of those audits;
• ensuring senior leaders have developed the required policies and procedures and the school is operating effectively according to those policies;
• acting as a link governor on a specific issue, making relevant enquiries of the relevant staff, and reporting to the governing body on the progress on the relevant school priority; and
• listening to and reporting to the school’s stakeholders : pupils, parents, staff, and the wider community, including local employers.

3. Ensure the school staff have the resources and support they require to do their jobs well, including the necessary expertise on business management, external advice where necessary, effective appraisal and CPD (Continuing Professional Development), and suitable premises, and that the way in which those resources are used has impact.

4. When required, serve on panels of governors to:

• appoint the headteacher and other senior leaders;
• appraise the headteacher;
• set the headteacher’s pay and agree the pay recommendations for other staff;
• hear the second stage of staff grievances and disciplinary matters;
• hear appeals about pupil exclusions.

What is involved?

A governor is appointed in a voluntary unpaid capacity for a four year term of office and can resign at any time. The Board of Governors meets as often as its business requires, which may be once a month, depending on the size of the school. The Board of Governors will be made up of members with different skills, knowledge and experience. The business of the school is progressed by the whole Board of Governors working together in the best interests of the school children. Every governor is expected to contribute to the conduct of school business and every governor can expect to learn something new.