Oakham C of E Primary School and The Parks School share a Governing Body which meets 5 times per academic year.
My name is Stewart Needham, I am the Chair of Governors for Oakham C of E Primary & The Parks School. My role is to assist the Governing Body in carrying out its duties. I have served on the governing body since 29th January 2018. I feel very passionate about our schools and primary education in general as I believe it represents the most influential years of our children’s lives. I want to ensure that everything we do as the governing board is focused on providing the best possible start in education for all of our children.
The Governors are similar to directors in a business, and act as ‘critical friends’ to the Executive Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team. Governors work with the Executive Headteacher on strategic and developmental issues, and on target setting, performance management and appraisal. They visit the schools to meet members of the Senior Leadership Team and to carry out their responsibilities in terms of monitoring and providing oversight. However, the Executive Headteacher alone is responsible for the day to day management of the schools.
Minutes of Full Governing Body meetings and committee meetings are available, on request, from the school office.
If you wish to contact the Governing Body, please email Mrs Sharon Spencer, Clerk to the Governors, sspencer@rltschools.com who will direct your query to the most appropriate Governor.
If you have any comment for, or need to contact, the chair of governors please email Stewart Needham: oakhamchair@rltschools.com or leave a message at the school office.
Governance Structure
As part of the Rutland Learning Trust, The local governing board work collaboratively and in partnership with the board of trustees. The board of trustees delegate certain governance functions to the local govering board.
As the local governing board, we set the strategic direction and make decisions about Oakham C of E Primary & The Parks School. Local governors work closely with school staff to understand and monitor financial, academic & improvement progress. For more details about how the Rutland Learning Trust & Local Governing bodies are structures, including our scheme of delegation, please visit our trust website.
Rutland Learning Trust Governance Structure
Our local Governing Body uses the trusts committee structure and Governor Champions to undertake our monitoring and evaluation. The membership and terms of reference of committees are reviewed annually.
The committees are: Business Committee & Headteacher Performance Management.
Some of our committees are given delegated powers to make decisions that do not require approval from the local governing body as per the scheme of delegation. In addition, like many governing bodies, we sometimes form working groups to focus on specific projects or areas to develop.
Instrument of Governance
An Instrument of Government is the legal document for Local Authority schools that records the constitution of the governing body and the term of office for each category of governor as well as the name of the schools.
Governors of Oakham Church of England Primary School and The Parks School
All governors are required annually to declare any interests they may have in relevant businesses or other educational establishments. All information relating to this as well as details of all current governors can be found below.
Declaration of interests and further relevant information.
- There are no other relevant business interests for our governors to declare.
- None of our governors have declared that they have any extra governing roles in other schools.
Name | Position | Appointing Body | Date of Appointment | Date of Term End |
Mr Ben Searle | Co-opted | Governing Board | 24/09/2020 | 23/09/2024 |
Mrs Alison Swinscoe | Co-opted | Governing Board | 23/09/2021 | 22/09/2025 |
Mrs Victoria Maxwell | Co-opted | Governing Board | 24/09/2020 | 23/09/2024 |
VACANCY | Co-opted | Governing Board | ||
VACANCY | Co-opted | Governing Board | ||
VACANCY | Co-opted | Governing Board | ||
VACANCY | LA | LA | ||
Mrs Liz Needham | Foundation | Diocese | 22/09/2023 | 21/09/2027 |
Rev Stephen Griffiths | Foundation | Diocese | 07/11/2018 | Ex-officio |
VACANCY | Foundation | Diocese | ||
Mr Steve Cox | Staff (Head) | Governing Board | 24/08/2015 | Ex-officio |
Mrs Caroline Abdul-Raham | Parent (The Parks) | Parent Election | 15/06/2021 | 14/06/2025 |
VACANCY | Parent (The Parks) | Parent Election | ||
Mrs Alex Gregory | Parent (OCOEP) | Parent Election | 15/06/2021 | 14/06/2025 |
Sarah Potrykus | Parent (OCOEP) | Parent Election | 01/02/2022 | 31/01/2026 |
Mr Stewart Needham (Chair) | Parent (OCOEP) | Parent Election | 01/02/2022 | 31/01/2026 |
Mark Davis | Parent (OCOEP) | Parent Election | 01/02/2022 | 31/01/2026 |
VACANCY | Parent (OCOEP) | Parent Election | ||
Mrs Claire Wade | Staff (OCOEP) | Staff Election | 24/09/2020 | 23/09/2024 |
VACANCY | Staff (OCOEP) | Staff Election | ||
VACANCY | Staff (The Parks) | Staff Election | ||
VACANCY | Staff (The Parks) | Staff Election |
Governors who have served in the past 12 months
Name | Position | Appointing Body | Date of Appointment | Date of Term End |
Mrs Diane Wensley | Co-opted | Governing Board | 12/06/2021 | 15/03/2023 |
Mrs Natasja Deacon | Parent (OCOEP) | Parent Election | 01/02/2022 | 11/10/2023 |
Governors Attendance (Previous Year)
Name | Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 | Term 5 | Term 6 |
NO FGB | ||||||
Alison Swinscoe | Apologies | |||||
Ben Searle | ||||||
Caroline Abdul-Rahim | ||||||
Natasja Deacon | Apologies | Apologies | Apologies | |||
Mark Davis | Apologies | Apologies | ||||
Sarah Potrykus | Apologies | Apologies | Apologies | |||
Victoria Maxwell | Apologies | |||||
Steven Griffiths | Apologies | Apologies | Apologies | Apologies | ||
Liz Needham | ||||||
Steven Cox | ||||||
Alex Gregory | Apologies | |||||
Claire Wade | Apologies | Apologies | Apologies | Apologies | ||
Sharon Spencer | ||||||
Stewart Needham | ||||||
Diane Wensley | Apologies | Apologies | Retired | Retired | Retired |