GOVERNORS’ NEWS
December 2015
Message from Chair of Governors
New School
On behalf of the Governing Body of St
The Governing Body of St. Peter’s CEP School, Kent County Council
Peter’s School, I would like to welcome
and Rochester Diocese have sought for several years to relocate and
you to our Governors’ newsletter. For
expand the school onto a new site at Hawkenbury. Until recently this
those parents who are new to the school
proposal had stalled as the proposed school site at Hawkenbury was
my name is Helen Best and I have been a
not available.
Governor for 13 years and Chair of
In September 2015 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s Cabinet took
Governors for the last 3 years. To our
the decision to enter into an agreement with Berkeley Homes for the
new pupils, parents and staff members, I
development of land at Hawkenbury. This decision has now unlocked
welcome you all to our school and I wish
the potential for St. Peter’s to be relocated, as the proposed school
you happiness and success throughout
site will sit within the development area.
your time at St Peter’s school. To the
KCC has advised that the anticipated availability of the new school
whole school community, I hope you all
site will mean that St. Peter’s could be relocated and expanded for
have
September 2018. Despite the best efforts of all parties, it will not
an
enjoyable
and
successful
academic year!
be possible to rebuild the school or expand the PAN (Published
Since our last Governors’ newsletter we
Admissions Number) for 2017 admissions.
have successfully appointed Mr Sam
The proposal to relocate and expand the school will be subject to
Swindells
relevant statutory processes and full consultation will follow nearer
as
our
new
Deputy
Headteacher and we warmly welcome him
to the time. The school will continue to work closely with KCC and
to our school. Mrs Karin Green has
the Diocese as the proposals develop. As further information
recently become a Staff Governor and
becomes available this will be shared with parents and the wider
we also have two new Parent Governors,
school community.
Mrs
Pamela
Lock
and
Mr
Jonathan
Hussein, who were elected by parents in
Hello, my name is Phillip Mayes and I've been a Foundation Governor
March. There are articles from both in
since September 2012. There are 3 Foundation Governors in total,
this newsletter so please read on to learn
myself, Mike Warren, the Vicar at St Peter's Church and Margot
about their initial experiences as Parent
Davison. As Foundation Governors we have specific responsibility for
Governors and some additional aspects of
monitoring
the work of your Governing Body.
character. I am also the Chair of the Resources Committee which
We continue to actively engage with all
meets termly and is responsible for the smooth financial running of
appropriate stakeholders in our pursuit
the school.
of a new, expanded and relocated school
As well as a close physical link to the school, the church has an
for St. Peter’s. Further details are
excellent relationship with the school and is regularly used for
included for your information. As we
assemblies, when visitors talk to the children, and of course for the
continue our communications with all
amazing Nativity productions and carol services in addition to other
stakeholders we will want to engage with
services throughout the year. I can't wait to see what the children
you as developments are secured.
have up their sleeves this time after the amazing and moving First
I look forward to meeting you at the
World War Nativity last year. This Christmas Eve there is a
school’s events throughout the year and
children's Nativity service at 3pm in the Church and we would love to
on behalf of the Governing Body I wish
invite any parents and children from the school to come and
you all a Happy Christmas and a Peaceful
celebrate the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ. Just like school it is
New Year!
a lovely family environment.
and
developing
the
school's
distinctive
Christian
Pamela Lock – Parent Governor
St Peter’s School Parent Survey 2015
Since being appointed as a Parent Governor
In the Summer term we asked parents to complete our Parent
earlier this year, I have been settling into the
Questionnaire using ‘Survey Monkey’ covering all aspects of
role. I was invited to attend a Friday morning
school life. Firstly, thank you to all those parents who
assembly. This took place at the end of Maths
responded as your feedback is critical for continuous school
week and it was exciting to hear about the
improvement and future planning.
experiments that each class had undertaken to
disappointment at the level of response - 31% (down from 48%
solve a mathematical puzzle. It was lovely to see
previously) despite the facility for completion on line.
how involved and engaged the children were
In order to improve on a wider response we plan to gain
with this topic and how much they had enjoyed
feedback in the Spring term and at Parent Consultations
taking part. I was particularly impressed with
(where iPads will be available) and set a reduced number of
the way in which the teachers explained to the
questions. Also the School Council will be involved in setting
school why they had nominated specific children
questions using Survey Monkey for every child at St Peter’s.
for a ‘Star of the Week’ certificate and the
Your responses were again overwhelmingly positive and have
way in which the School’s values had been
been carefully considered in full at our Strategy Committee.
reflected in their behaviour.
In every question but one the majority ‘Strongly Agreed’ with
I also attended a KCC New Governor Induction
Course which provided me with important
information about my role and responsibilities.
I’m becoming more familiar with the conduct of
Governor
Meetings
and
the
associated
paperwork. It’s only now that I can fully
appreciate how much work goes into running the
school and it’s very rewarding
contribute something in this way.
being able to
However, there was some
the statement. The school being well led and managed and your
child feeling happy, safe and being taught well scoring highly.
To improve on feedback on your child’s progress, the
introduction of Year 1 Mathematics homework and more
teacher feedback on topic work has been considered and
planned for.
The full results from Survey Monkey are published on the
school website under ‘Letters’, and as always your responses
are highly valued and feed into the School Plan for 2015/2016.
Jonathan Hussein – Parent Governor
Hi, I am Jonathan Hussein and have been a Parent Governor since March 2015. So far, it has been an interesting
and thoroughly enjoyable experience, both getting to know the inner workings of the school and, of course, the rest
of the Governing Body. I put myself forward earlier in the year as I wanted the opportunity to contribute in some
way to the continued success and development of the school, its staff and above all the children. In a short time
I've been involved in many interesting topics and discussion ranging from the new school plans to school budgeting.
I've attended several training courses and have benefited from the support of the rest of the governors, all of
whom share the common goal of continued pupil development and success.
My own professional experience has been 15 years within the financial sector so, as a result, I have been involved
more specifically as part of the school's Resources Committee, whose goal it is to ensure that the children get the
maximum benefit out of the resources available.
It's fair to say that being a governor has been as much about knowing what the role is not. I have, on a number of
occasions, had to explain to my two daughters that their dad being a governor is not an opportunity for them to
suggest "improvements" to school rules! They continue, however, to lobby for extended playtime.
St Peter's Governing Body is a collaboration of skills, experiences and knowledge working towards a common goal
and as a result is very rewarding to be a part of.
The Governing Body
The Governing Body at St. Peter’s School consists of three Parent Governors, three Foundation Governors, one
Local Authority Governor, three Co-opted Governors, one Staff Governor and the Headteacher. Further details
about the Governing Body can be found on the school website under ‘Governors’. We can be contacted through the
school office and welcome your comments. The Governors look forward to meeting you soon at the exciting events
planned throughout the year.