A welcome from the Chair of Governors

On behalf of the full Governing Body of Airy Hill Primary School, may I wish you a very warm welcome to our school.

Firstly, a little bit about me. I have been a school Governor for almost eight years and was elected as Chair in September 2018. I find being a Governor a very rewarding. With all my 3 children attending the school over the past nine years, I can certainly say that Airy Hill School has meant a lot to our family. I am passionate about doing my best for all the children at our school.

The Governing Body is responsible for setting the strategic development of the school and to support and challenge the Headteacher in achieving its priorities and goals. We currently stand as an OfSTED rated Good school and we are positive and committed in moving forwards towards Outstanding.

Each Governor has an area of school that they take a special interest in. This means that, as well as attending full Governing Body meetings, each Governor comes into the school to monitor their specific area. We have Governors from all different backgrounds to bring a wide range of skills and expertise.

Governors are often present in school so that we can see the children at work and to talk to them, to support the dedicated staff and to ensure the clarity of vision and ethos of the school is at

We aim to give our pupils what they need to succeed in life in order to become caring members of the community with strong moral values, and to encourage their creativity and drive through thoughtful academic study so that they achieve their true potential.

Airy Hill School operates an open-door policy and we encourage parents to be involved in school life. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or Mrs Matthewman, our Headteacher.

Andrew Hatchwell

Chair of Governors

Address: 3 Esk Terrace, Whitby, YO21 1PA.

What is the role of a governing body?

 Establishing the strategic direction, by:

–           Setting the vision, values, and objectives for the school

–           Agreeing the school improvement strategy with priorities and targets

–           Meeting statutory duties

Ensuring accountability, by:

–           Monitoring progress towards targets

–           Carrying out the Performance Management of the headteacher

–           Engaging with stakeholders e.g. parents, staff and the wider school community

–           Contributing to school self-evaluation

Ensuring financial probity, by:

–           Setting the budget

–           Monitoring spending against the budget

–           Ensuring value for money is obtained

–           Ensuring risks to the organisation are managed

The governors, together as a body, have a range of legal responsibilities, being a governor is an important commitment and the trust and school will provide induction training.

 What is expected of governors?

• To acknowledge that accepting office as a governor involves the commitment of significant amounts of time and energy.
• To strive to work as a team in which constructive working relationships are actively promoted.
• To observe complete confidentiality when matters are deemed confidential or where they concern specific members of staff or pupils, both inside or outside school
• To accept collective responsibility for all decisions made by the board or its delegated agents. This means that we will not speak against majority decisions outside the governing board meeting.                      

Name	Date of Appointment	Term of Office	Appointed by:	Category of Governor	Finance Committee	Meetings Attended since 1 September 2021
Catherine Matthewman	01/09/2018	n/a	n/a	Head Teacher	Yes	4/4
Andrew Hatchwell	28/03/2022	4yrs	Parent Election	Chair of Governors Co-opted Governor	Yes	4/4
Deborah Hall	28/03/2022	4yrs	FGB	Vice Chair of Governors, Co-opted Governor		3/4
Rhiannon Porter	24/1/2022	4 yrs	FGB	Parent Governor		1/1
Margaret McKeone	28/02/2020	4 yrs	Parent Election	Parent Governor		4/4
Andy Dudman	24/09/2020	4 yrs	FGB	Coopted Governor		3/4
Chris Watson	24/09/2020	4 yrs	FGB	Coopted Governor	Yes
Sarah Green	27/4/2022	4 years	Parent Election	Parent Governor
Arthur Green	28/4/2022	4 years	Staff Election	Staff Governor

Terms of Office for previous Governors (last 12 months)

Governors’ Register of Interests 

Governor	Business Interests	Personal Interests	Interests in other educational establishments
Sarah Green	None	Staff member at Airy Hill	None
Deborah Hall	None	None	None
Andrew Hatchwell	None	None	None
Catherine Matthewman	None	None	None
Arthur Green	None	None	None
Andrew Dudman
Chris Watson