Governors

Welcome to the Governor info page for Rudyard Kipling Primary School.

Introducing the RKPS Governors
At RKPS, the Governors act as critical friends to the Headteacher and senior leadership team, to provide
independent oversight of the management and operation of a school, with the aim of improving the quality
of education provided and raising standards. Governors are volunteers, and are not involved in running the
school on a day-to-day basis; this is the job of the Head Teacher and other senior staff. Governors support
the school through:

  • Participating in Governing body meetings - Full governing body meetings are normally held once a term, and consider issues such as setting the school vision, mitigating financial risks, and scrutinising educational outcomes.

  • Undertaking school visits - these help the Governors to understand more about the school and the reality of school life. Governor visits to classrooms are not a form of inspection, but serve as monitoring function on the implementation of the school’s plans and policies.

  •  Attending committee meetings – there are several statutory committees that must be in place, for example Personnel, Curriculum, Premises, and Finance. Most governors are members of one or two committees, whose work is reported back to the full governing body. This is so all governors are kept informed of matters and working progress.

The current RKPS Governors are:

Chair of Governors Alex Brewer & Craig Munro
Vice-Chair  Liz Brand
Parent Governors Andrew Giles, Liz Brand, Craig Munro, Simon Blackett, Katharine Wickenden, Alex Brewer, Dave Smith
Co-opted Governors Marilyn Stephens
Staff Governor Stephen Jones
Clerk to Governors John Parr

 

Introducing our governors

Alex Brewer - Co-chair of Governors

 

Craig Munro - Co-chair of Governors

I'm Craig Munro and I'm Digital Product Director at ReedPop. I am co-chair of governors, a member of the resources committee, and our subject link governor for English. I bring experience with business strategy, budgeting, and planning skills with me to be an effective governor.

Liz Brand - Vice Chair of Governors

I’m Liz Brand and I work for a global events company, which involves lots of planning and travel all over the world. I am Vice Chair of Governors and have been involved on the RKPS Governing board for over 5 years, I am also the link governor with our PE team.The skills I bring include, organising, planning, budgets, strategy, partnership working and marketing; it is so important to engage with the local community and show off our wonderful school to new and prospective children.

Andrew Giles - Parent Governor

I'm Andrew Giles, have lived in Woodingdean since 2012, and I'm Head of IT at a pharmaceutical company, where I have worked for over 20 years.  I chair the Resources committee, and I'm link governor for Maths.  I have experience in budgeting, financial planning, cost saving initiatives, and IT.

Marilyn Stevens - Co-opted Governor

I am Marilyn Stephens and now an Associate Governer for Rudyard Kipling (formerly Vice Chair)  I am retired.
I worked for East Sussex leading their PSHE (personal, social health education) and Healthy Schools Programmes, working with mutli -agency partners and parents. I am the PSHE Governor lead for the school and a member of the Quality in Education committee.
The skills I bring to my role as governor include planning and delivering projects, training and team development and a commitment to the positive development of staff as well as children.

Katharine Wickenden - Parent Governor

My names Katie Wickenden and I'm a Team Leader at a Global Financial Company. I'm currently the SEND & Safeguarding lead as part of my governing role. The skills I bring to my role as a governor are Leadership, performance management and data analysis. To support our community school and see each pupil flourish is why I love being a governor at RKPS.

Steve Jones - Staff Governor

I'm Steve Jones and I'm a Year 6 teacher and head of mathematics here at RKPS. Driving mathematics is a true passion of mine and at Rudyard we are committed to providing outstanding quality of education for all pupils. As a governor I ensure that bringing a staff viewpoint and perspective to discussion and debate takes place, as well as contributing any advice to the day-to-day operations of school life. 


Other Roles:

Discipline and Exclusion Panel: All governors (pool); 

Staff Grievance and Discipline Panel: All governors (pool);     

HT Performance Management Panel: Alex Brewer, Craig Munro, Andy Giles

Safeguarding/ SEND/ Pupil Premium: Katharine Wickenden 

Health and Safety: Alex Brewer

Sports Premium: Liz Brand;

EYFS link

Data Protection: Andy Giles

Staff, governors, parents, carers and children are all part of our vibrant and friendly school community and
to this end we want our school to be happy and safe. We need to work together to set examples of good behaviour and respectful relationships.
Please read our Working Well Together document and make RKPS a centre of excellence in all we do.

 

 

Respect