Meet Our Governing Body
Our governing body works together to support the school in providing the best possible education for all our pupils.
Who Are Our Governors?
The governing body is made up of people from different parts of our school community. Kendal Nursery School’s Governing Body is currently formed of 9 governors:-
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1 Headteacher – always a governor, working in partnership with the rest of the governing body.
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1 Staff Governor – elected by staff to represent their views.
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2 Parent Governors – elected by parents and carers. They represent the whole parent body and can listen to concerns, but they may not be able to provide an immediate response.
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4 Co opted Governors – usually local to the area and invited to join, supporting the school in line with its values and vision.
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1 Local Authority Governor – appointed by the County Council, with a focus on raising standards.
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Associate Governors – bring specialist skills and experience to support the work of the governing body. They contribute to committees and discussions but do not have voting rights at full governing body meetings.
What We Do
Our full governing body meets six times a year — three formal full governing meetings and three monitoring meetings.
Why this structure?
Many schools adopt this schedule. It gives us flexibility to address strategic issues in full governing meetings, and dedicate other sessions specifically to monitoring, follow-up, and reviewing progress.
How we use these meetings
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Full governing meetings focus on key strategic decisions: approving policies, reviewing school performance, setting priorities, and agreeing major financial or structural decisions.
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Monitoring meetings allow us to dig deeper into progress against targets, data review, follow-up on actions, and more detailed oversight
By structuring our meetings this way, we maximise the time we spend on both strategic thinking and detailed monitoring — helping us better support the school, challenge appropriately, and ensure accountability.
Our Current Governing Body
Alyssa Dobbs Headteacher
Jackie Drake Local Authority Governor
Sarah Collis Kerr Parent Governor
Fiona Procter Parent Governor
Tracey Wyatt Staff Governor
Veronica Broyd Co-opted Governor
Jemma Telford Co-opted Governor
Mick Brookes Co-opted Governor
Emilie Bradbury Co-opted Governor
Karen Bradbury Associate Governor – Observer role only
Role of a School Governor
The Governors deal with the overall management of the school, which includes curriculum, finance, staffing and planning. The Governing Body liaises with the Local Education Authority, which provides training, advice and information. Governors’ meetings take place at least once a term (minutes of these meetings are available upon request).
The purpose of having a governing body is to:
• Help the school to set high standards by planning for the school’s future and setting targets for school improvement
• Keep the pressure up on school improvement
• Be a critical friend to the school, offering support and advice
• Help the school respond to the needs of parents and the community
• Make the school accountable to the public for what it does
• Work with the school on planning, developing policies and keeping the school under review
• Exercise its responsibilities and powers in partnership with the head teacher and staff
• Not intervene in the day-to-day management of the school unless there are weaknesses in the school, when it then has a duty to take action.
If you are interested in becoming a Governor, please write a letter to the Chair of governors declaring your interest, why you wish to be a Governor and what skills you can add to the Governing Body. Please call or visit the Nursery to speak to the Head teacher for more information.