Our Governors

At Chaucer Infant and Nursery School, we have a team of governors that work as volunteers to support the school. Their role is to develop a vision and strategy for the school; oversee financial performance and make sure that money is well spent; hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and to engage with young people, staff, parents and the wider school community to understand their views. 

Governors are expected to attend 6 Local Governing Team (LGT) meetings each year for approximately 2 hours per meeting. During these meetings governors look at a wide range of information to monitor how well the school is performing. Detailed reports including safeguarding, data and finance are discussed at these meetings, as well as a more general headteachers report.

 

Governor Support

To support the work that goes on, governors are encouraged to participate in school visits twice a year for approximately an hour. Governors observe what is happening in school, look at the school environment and talk to the young people about their school.

New Governors

If an individual is interested in being a member on our LGT they would meet with their chair and headteacher and discuss what they could bring to the team. Following the recruitment process they would then be invited to attend the LGT meeting where they wouldbe appointed. Governors are appointed for a 4-year term of office. Once appointed governors receive an induction and training for the role.

Our Local Governing Team

We are proud to have a committed team that is made up of individuals with a range of backgrounds and experience.

For more information, please contact the Governance Professional, Louise Rowland at l.rowland@embarkfed.org.uk

 

Role	Name	Appointed by/Elected by	Term of office	Business interests	Relationships with other governors/staff
Chair of Governors	Jason Smith	Appointed by GB	01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029	None	Yes
Vice-chair of Governors	Wendy Disley	Appointed by GB	01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029	None	N/A
Headteacher	Tiffany Smith	By virtue of office		None	N/A
Interim Head of School	Lisa Nappin	By virtue of office		None	N/A
Staff Governor (Teaching)	Gaynor Topley	Staff	15/10/2025 - 14/10/2029	None	N/A
Co-opted Governor	Katie Smith	GB	01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029	None	N/A
Co-opted Governor	Councilor James Dawson	GB	01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029	None	N/A
Parent Governor	Laura Muirhead	GB	01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029	None	N/A
Parent Governor	Hayley Shelton	GB	01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029	None	N/A
Parent Governor	Kirsten O'Ryan	GB	10/10/2025 - 09/10/2029	None	N/A
Parent Governor	Adam Walters	GB	10/10/2025 - 09/10/2029	None	N/A

 

LGT Attendance 25-26

LGT Meeting - School Name - 25-26	17/09/2025	15/10/2025	07/01/2026	25/03/2026	06/05/2026
Jason Smith (Chair)	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended
Wendy Disley	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended
Katie Smith	Attended	Apologies	Attended	Apologies	Apologies
Councillor James Dawson	Apologies	Attended	Apologies	Apologies	Apologies
Laura Muirhead	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended	Apologies
Hayley Shelton	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended
Kirsten O'Ryan	N/A	N/A	Attended	Attended	Attended
Adam Walters	N/A	N/A	Attended	Attended	Apologies
Gaynor Topley (staff)	N/A	Attended	Attended	Attended	Attended