St Mary's CE Foundation
Meet the Governors
Our Governors
The Governing Body is the school’s critical friend. It has a vital role in setting St Mary’s strategy, vision and values and making sure that it provides the best possible education for our pupils. We also promote and encourage the development of St Mary’s Christian ethos. In every school, governors have three core functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governors set policies and procedures, monitor standards and make sure that St Mary’s remains a safe and secure environment. We support the Headteacher and staff, whilst monitoring and evaluating the progress our pupils make – both academically and in their personal and social development – and the effectiveness of the School Development Plan.
We do NOT get involved in operational matters or the day-to-day running of the school, which are the responsibility of the headteacher and senior leadership team.
Contact us:
If you would like to speak to a governor, you can contact us via the school office, which will pass on your request. We will then get in touch with you as soon as possible.
If you have a concern or complaint, please do remember that governors must not get involved initially. As a first stage, complaints should go to the relevant staff member or headteacher. If you are not satisfied with the school’s response, then this is the time for the complaint to be passed up to the governors for further investigation or appeal. See our Complaints Procedure (on the website) for more information.
Name | Category of Governor | Appointed by | Appointment date/ End of term of office | Committee Membership | Business Interests | Full Governing Body meetings attended 2019-20 | Committee meetings attended 2019-20 * |
Tracey Harrison Co-Chair of Governors | Local Authority | Essex County Council | 1.09.2020
31.08.2024
| Education (Chair)
| None | 6/7 | 1/2 |
Jo Culhane Co-Chair of Governors | Co-opted | Governing Body | 20.05.2020
19.05.2024 | Education
| None | 7/7 | 2/2 |
Matthew Curzon Headteacher | Staff | Ex-officio | N/A ex-officio | Finance & Premises; Education; Personnel & Salary Review; Ethos & Community
| None | 7/7 | 7/7 |
Alan Corbishley | Foundation | Parochial Church Council | 13.07.2020
12.07.2024 | Finance & Premises; Ethos & Community (Chair) | None | 7/7 | 3/5 |
John Elliott | Co-opted | Governing Body | 04.07.2018
03.07.2022 | Finance and Premises (Chair); Personnel &Salary Review | None | 7/7 | 5/5 |
Julia Dowson Teacher
| Staff | Staff | 21.05.2018
20.05.2022
| Education | None | 5/7 | 1/2 |
Ian Pledger | Co-opted | Governing Body | 29.01.2020
15.03.2024
| Finance & Premises
| None | 5/7 | 3/4 |
Britta Crawford | Parent | Parents | 01.12.2017
30.11.2021
| Education; Ethos & Community | None | 5/7 | 2/2 |
Pete Simmonds | Parent | Parents | 27.05.2021
26.05.2025
| To be arranged
| None | N/A | N/A |
Daniel Bryan
| Parent | Parents | 25.09.2019
24.09.2023 | Finance & Premises; Personnel & Salary Review | None | 7/7 | 4/5 |
Kara Power | Associate Governor
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| n/a | Education Committee (without voting rights) | None
| N/A | N/A |
The Revd Dr Colin Fairweather | Foundation | Ex-officio | 14.05.2021 | To be arranged | None | N/A | N/A |
Kim Radford Clerk |
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Governors who have resigned during the past 12 months |
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Malcolm Lloyd | Foundation | Diocesan Board of Education | Appointed 25.07.2014 Resigned 24.02.2021
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Rev Paul Wilkin | Foundation | Ex-officio | Appointed 03.03.2008 Resigned 17.11.2020
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Clair Rava | Parent | Parents | Appointed 25.09.2019 Resigned 19.03.2021 |
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Emma Pelly | Parent | Parents | Appointed 05.11.2017 Resigned 30.06.2021 |
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Hannah Bouette | Parent | Parents | Appointed 25.09.2019 Resigned 01.07.2021 |
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There is one vacancy for a Co-opted governor and one vacancy for a Foundation governor.
* There were fewer committee meetings than usual during 2019-20 due to Covid-19