Meet the Governors

Jill Mather - Chair of the Governing Board

I have had a life-long interest in education:  I taught English in state secondary schools for nearly 40 years and currently work part-time for Exeter University on its teacher training programme. I still do some tutoring in English and work with teenagers at St James’ Church in Exeter. In my leisure time I enjoy allotment gardening, long-distance walking and spending time with our grandchildren.

I have known Newtown since the 1980’s when my children attended what was then Newtown First School. We chose Newtown then because it was a small community school with an inclusive ethos and our children thrived in its friendly atmosphere. I have, therefore, enjoyed getting to know the school again as a governor, and more recently as Chair. In my work as a governor I will be doing my best to try to ensure your children enjoy a safe, successful and stimulating time here, prepared to move on to their secondary schools with confidence.

Philippa Danvers - Vice Chair of Governing Board 

I am lucky enough to have been a primary school teacher for many years, as well as bringing up three children who all went to Newtown during the late 80’s and 90’s. They enjoyed their time at the school immensely and it was a very special time in their education. During my career, I have had the opportunity to fulfil a range of leadership roles as well as writing online plans for teachers and teaching art to large numbers of children!

Sally Herbert

Hayley Back

Jane Morris

James Meeke

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

The Chair of the Governing Board can be contacted via the school office or by email

The Role of the Governing Board

• to ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• to hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
• to oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent

Statement of Governance 2020-2021

“Embracing Excellence, Celebrating Diversity and Nurturing Individuality”

On 16^th March 2020, the country went into its first lockdown and overnight we were faced with the challenge of living with the uncertainty and fear brought about by the global pandemic, readjusting to life without our familiar routines. 

For parents, this meant juggling the demands of work, child-care and home-schooling; for children, it meant adjusting to learning from home without the support of their friends and teachers; and for teachers, it meant providing for the needs of children in their homes as well as for the group of children attending on-site. “Blended learning” became the day-to-day reality with virtual lessons delivered by teachers, Zoom assemblies and homework submitted electronically. 100% of our most vulnerable children and those with Educational Health Care Plans attended school in lockdown, and, overall, places were provided for 30% (41) of pupils to attend school, averaging 27% a day. 

For governors, the big question was how to maintain our oversight of the school but also to support the school in the challenges it was facing. Jill Mather, the Chair of the Governing Board, was in regular, weekly contact with Sally Herbert by phone or Zoom from the start of the pandemic. Following advice from the National Governors’ Association, during lockdown we focused in our meetings on the safety of our children and the well-being of the whole school community.

Safeguarding our children 

The governors met monthly from March 2020, using Microsoft Teams, receiving regular reports from Sally Herbert on the provision for children both in school and at home. A detailed Covid Risk Assessment was completed by the Headteacher, signed by the Chair of Governors, and updated each time we moved into a new phase of the pandemic. Governors continued to monitor the numbers attending school, the arrangements being made for children in receipt of free school lunches, safeguarding referral procedures and record-keeping. 

Although we could not come on to the school site, we could see the regular communications between staff and families on Class Dojo and could attend Zoom assemblies. We were also delighted to see the new fence at the front of the school, which not only provides a safe boundary to the wildlife garden, but also raises the profile of the school in the local community. 

Well-being of the school community

Sally Herbert has reported each month to us the arrangements made to keep the staff and children safe in school through social-distancing and the establishment of bubbles. In the first lockdown, a rota system was set up to try to ensure a fair allocation of work across the staff and to protect those shielding or isolating. 

We would like to thank Sally Herbert and the whole staff team for the tremendous flexibility, cheerfulness and resilience shown throughout the pandemic. Governors have seen staff going above and beyond to keep their classes happy and secure: there are some vibrant examples of art around the school site which are just a snapshot of their approach to nurturing the children through this period.  

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

Standards in Teaching and Learning 

We have been pleased to see the continued development of the new curriculum at Newtown, driven by the four C’s of Creativity, Community, Communication and Confidence. We believe its intentions are clear, securely founded in the “Newtown Way” of “Embracing Excellence, Celebrating Diversity and Nurturing Individuality” in children who can say, “We are Ready; We are Respectful; We are Safe”. 

Governors are grateful for the opportunities to join staff in their planning and training meetings, their monitoring “Deep Dives” into the teaching of different subject areas and their scrutiny of pupils’ books. Our role on these occasions is a monitoring and fact-finding one and we have been frequently impressed by the rigour of scrutiny shown by the staff. 

The KS1 Phonics tests (usually carried out in the summer with Year 1) were completed in December with 86% of children passing in Year 1 and 94% by the end of Year 2. Well done to all the children and families reading at home to support the targeted teaching from the teachers! SATs were suspended in 2020 and 2021, so in the absence of external data, governors are using monitoring opportunities in school and internal school data to gain a picture of the progress made by pupils. External advisors and local working partnerships with staff in nearby schools offer methods of ensuring that internal data is reliable. 

Of national concern is the progress of disadvantaged students and at Newtown we share that concern, monitoring closely the allocation of resources and provision for these students. Two of our governors, Saxon Spence and Tom Richie, have special responsibility for monitoring the provision of children with additional needs and they have been in touch regularly with the school and with Alex Dolphin, the SENCO. 

Leadership  

We would like to thank Sally Herbert for the inspiring leadership shown during the pandemic. She has been able to answer fully our (many, many!) questions throughout this period, assuring us that Covid-safe arrangements have been made and that children are secure and happy in their work. She has driven the development of the new curriculum, enabling and empowering her subject leaders in the joint initiative. In turn, she has been ably supported by her senior management team and administrative team. 

We have been delighted to recruit five new governors (John Rowe, Tom Ritchie, Bex Jawneh, James Meeke and Suzi Leather) during this time and have had to find innovative ways of offering them induction in the absence of the faceto-face courses and meetings. Bex Jawneh is our new parent governor, a link for parents to the Governing Board. We look forward to a time next term when we can again attend parents’ evenings, plays and concerts and talk to parents in an informal way. We have so much missed being able to talk to children, parents and staff in school this year and are very much looking forward to “business as usual” next year.

Partnership Working

Working partnerships are so important to us as a small, distinctive school, allowing us to promote our core values and to learn from others. We believe firmly that we are stronger together, celebrating our diversity as we work together for our children in Exeter.  

We have supported Sally Herbert in her membership of the River Exe Learning Partnership (RELP) schools: the Headteachers’ forum has been an essential support in her leading the school through the pandemic and responding (often at a moment’s notice) to the next government initiative. 

Despite the pandemic we have strengthened our links with our local community: we are working closely with

Newtown Pre-school; the community at Belmont Chapel bought 30 Chrome Books for the school; volunteers from St Matt’s will be working in our garden at the end of term; Su Aves, our local councillor continues to be a great advocate for the school. We have also received excellent support and advice from the Local Authority this year, not only in responding to Covid, but also in our strategic financial planning to secure the future of the school. We have set up a working party to explore innovative ways of developing partnerships and using our site and premises fully. 

Looking forward to 2021 – 2022

At two meetings in July, the governors reviewed the School Improvement Plan and adjusted our strategic priorities in the light of the evidence. 

We look forward to playing a full part in the life of the school from September 2021, returning to the site for our meetings and contact with children, parents and staff. We would also welcome your feedback on this report if you would like to write to us or drop us an email.