Our Lady of Hartley Catholic Primary SchoolTogether in faith, love and learning…
Governance
KCSP Governance Model
Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership is a charitable trust and a company limited by guarantee. The Trust was established in August 2012 by the Archbishop of Southwark.
The Trust Board of Directors ('Trustees') are responsible for overseeing the management and administration of the Trust and they fulfil this role by delegating functions to committees.
The Trust understands the importance of the role of governance committees and the Trust has set out guidance and support in its Governance Handbook and Scheme of Delegation.
Governance at Our Lady of Hartley:
The school has two committees:
- Our Lady of Hartley Academy Committee (AC) – specific to our school
- Executive Governance Committee (EGC) – oversees the two Academy Committees of Our Lady of Hartley and St Joseph’s
Whichever Committee a person is on, we are ALL here to serve the school and, above all, the children. We have our mission – Learning in the Light of Christ – very much at the heart of all that we do.
The Governance Committee is a ‘critical friend’ of the school. It provides Strategic Leadership in school improvement. It does this by being appropriately involved in the school improvement cycle as follows:
- Developing and sharing the values and vision
- Setting out the aims and objectives of the school
- Setting out the policies and procedures by which the aims and objectives will be achieved
- Establishing the criteria by which the aims and achievements will be seen to be achieved
- Taking the views of stakeholders into account
- Evaluating evidence on how well the school is doing
- Finding out how well the school is doing in comparison with similar schools
- Agreeing targets for improvement
- Planning to achieve improvement
- Ensuring that deployment of staffing and resources match the school’s priorities.
Key Issues
The governance committee will consider and keep under review: the progress and attainment of all groups of pupils, evidence of narrowing gaps between under achieving groups and other pupils, improvements in the quality of teaching, the school’s improvement since the last inspection, and the school’s self-evaluation of how well it is doing currently. Governance committee members are not expected to be involved in the day to day running of the school.
Who can be a governance committee member?
- Almost everyone over 18 can become a member. Governance committee members are volunteers from all walks of life – everyone has experience and skills to offer
- An effective governance committee has people from different backgrounds and with a mix of skills. No formal qualifications are needed to be a member
- Governance committee members are not education experts – they are there to offer a fresh perspective
What makes a good governance committee member?
- The ability to work in a team
- An interest in education and a commitment to the school
- Patience, energy and enthusiasm
- A willingness to listen, learn and to spend time in school
- A willingness to undertake training
The EGC determines the strategic direction of the two schools, and it also has direct responsibility for certain key areas, such as finance. Both committees support and challenge the leadership of Our Lady of Hartley Catholic Primary School but covering different areas.
ACADEMY COMMITTEE | EXECUTIVE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE |
Teaching and learning | Oversees the 2 Academy Committees |
Student well-being | Finance |
Special Educational Needs | Health and Safety |
Pupil Premium | Safeguarding |
Child Protection | Admissions |
RE and Catholic ethos | Approves and implements Academy specific policies |
Endorses Academy specific policies | Assists with performance review of the Executive Principal |
Assists with performance reviews of the Academy Principal |
This means, for example, that if you have concerns or questions about the financial management of Our Lady of Hartley, they should go to the Finance Committee Member on the Executive Governance Committee. You can always contact them through the school office.
Our Lady of Hartley and St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School -Executive Governance Committee
Governor Name | Category | Appointing Body and Term of Office | Details of Responsibility | Register of Business Interests |
Andrew Brett | Foundation Member | Education Commission 01/09/18 | AC Chair | Declaration of Interest confirmed 01/12/22 |
Noel Keady | Foundation Member | Education Commission 06/02/20 – 05/02/24 | Chair | Declaration of Interest confirmed 13/09/22 |
Robert Littlefield | Foundation Member | Education Commission 25/07/19 – 24/07/23
| Finance Lead | Declaration of interest confirmed 04/07/21 |
Barry Mullan | Foundation Member | Education Commission 08/04/19 – 07/04/23 | AC Chair | Declaration of Interest confirmed 05/07/21 |
Steven Watkins | Co-Opted Member | KCSP 09/11/20 – 08/11/24 |
| Declaration of Interest confirmed 21/09/20 |
Patrina Begley | Ex-Officio Executive Principal | KCSP | Executive Principal | Declaration of Interest confirmed |
Our Lady of Hartley Academy Committee
Governor Name | Category | Appointing Body and Term of Office | Details of Responsibility | Register of Business Interests |
Barry Mullan | Foundation Member | Education Commission 08/04/19 – 07/04/23 | Chair Health and Safety Lead | Declaration of Interest confirmed 05/07/21 |
Rachel Glennon | Staff Member | KCSP 08/11/22 – 07/11/26 |
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Ken MacEwan | Foundation Member | Education Commission 02/02/19 – 01/02/23 | Catholic Character and Ethos Lead | Declaration of Interest confirmed 28/09/21 |
Leonard Williams | Parent Member | KCSP 17/12/20 – 16/12/24 | Curriculum and Safeguarding Lead | Declaration of Interest confirmed 04/09/22 |
Jim Baker | Ex-Officio Academy Principal | KCSP | Academy Principal | Declaration of Interest confirmed |
Our Chair of Governors, Barry Mullan, can be contacted by email:
Barry.mullan@our-lady-hartley.kcsp.org.uk
The Clerk to the committee Emma Jones, can be contacted by email:
ejones@kcsp.org.uk
Copies of Governing Body minutes are available from the School Office.
Governance handbook - https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/kent-catholic-partnership-redesign/UploadedDocument/18c257f9-bd34-40fb-9ff8-a16e952b961d/governance-handbook-final-2022-23.pdf
Scheme of delegation - https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/kent-catholic-partnership-redesign/UploadedDocument/95d08f06-7623-45b0-a589-84717782db76/scheme-of-delegation-final-2022-23.pdf