Governors

Welcome to our Governors' section.

Governing Board

Every school has a governing board consisting of a specific number of governors. Generally, governors fall within the following categories:

• Parent Governors
• Staff Governors
• Authority Governors
• Co-opted Governors

The day to day management of the school is the responsibility of the headteacher. The Governing Board provides strategic management while supporting the work of the headteacher and school staff.

There are three types of formal meetings that Governors attend. Firstly, the meeting of the Full Governing Board. The next two meetings are both committee meetings. These are called ‘Resources’ and ‘Standards and Effectiveness (SEC)’. The Resources Committee meetings look at matters such as the building, finances, staffing and resources. The SEC Committee meeting looks at the curriculum, standards, teaching and pupil welfare.

The Governors of Cherry Fold Community Primary School believe it is important that Governing Boards reflect the diversity of the school communities they serve. Diverse Boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people. The Governors are currently collecting data on the diversity of the board, including data on age, gender, and ethnicity. They will use that data to inform their recruitment and training needs and ensure there is always a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision making. At the present time, we do not publish this diversity data online, as individual Governors could be identified, and we have a legal obligation to protect their personal data.

Please find below details of how our Governing Board is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

Our Governors

Name: John Thompson

Type of Governor: Chair of Governors (2020) / Co-opted (2017)

I am proud to be a Governor at Cherry Fold Community Primary School since 2017 and I was elected Chair of the Governing Board in September 2020.

I have worked in education all my life – 37 years with Lancashire County Council, including involvement in admissions to schools, special educational needs and Governor Services and latterly, since 2015, with Governor Support Ltd with whom I work as Clerk to the Governing Board of approximately 10 schools in East Lancashire.

I have a passion for education, but I also have outside interests, eg sport – football (I won’t tell you which team I support!), table tennis and I love horse racing too. I also undertake local volunteering at Blackburn Royal Hospital and with Crossroads Care Trust amongst other things.

I think the heart of being a Governor is to try and influence and harness the potential of all children in our care at Cherry Fold Primary School – always having our motto of ‘Enjoy, Respect, Succeed’ at the forefront of everything we do and to develop the whole school in striving to be the best we can be.

Name: Chris Keene

Type of Governor: LEA (2004)

I have been a primary school governor in our community since 1988, having served for 4 years prior to that at my old school from the 1960’s, which was Rosehill Junior School.  I became a governor because I believe that primary schools play a crucial role in the life of their community, with Cherry Fold working hard to provide every pupil with an opportunity to achieve all of their learning & life goals.  I’m currently chair of the Standards & Curriculum Committee & am delighted to see how much progress each child makes during their journey through Cherry Fold.   We’re blessed with a wonderful staff team, the governors are very proud of them & our children & families, which is why I particularly enjoy presenting governor’s awards at school assemblies.