Governance at Golcar J,I & N School
Who are our School Governors?
Our Governors are part of Britain’s largest group of volunteers. We come from all walks of life and bring a range of experiences and skills to our Governing body. You don’t have to be an education professional to be a Governor, but you do have to be passionate about education and be willing to commit some of your free time to work with the school.
We also have a Governor from the school staff as well as 2 Parent Governors.
What do our School Governors do?
As individual Governors we have no power but collectively as a group, or Governing body, we have legal rights and responsibilities.
Our Governing body is the strategic leader of our school and has a vital role to play in making sure every child gets the best possible education.
The purpose of the Governing body is to ‘conduct the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement at the school’.
Our Governing body has a strong focus on its three core functions:
- ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction for the school
- holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
- overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
We aim to be an effective Governing body as this is a source of tremendous strength for the school and helps its leaders cope with major issues and handle change.
What our Governing body does not do?
- inspect the school
- have involvement in the day-to-day running of the school
- authorise all expenditure
- decide which pupils will be admitted to the school
- decide how pupils are taught individual subjects.
Our Governors are:
- generously committed to the role
- discreet, open minded and fair
- willing to raise questions constructively and participate in discussion and decision-making
- prepared to participate in the life of the school
- able to attend governor meetings and training events
- open to new ideas and ready to learn
- act at all times with honesty and integrity and be ready to explain their actions and decisions to staff, pupils, parents and anyone with a legitimate interest in the school.
- follow the Nolan Principals of behaviour
Our Governing process:
Our Governing body meets 7 times a year at meetings known as Full Governing Boards. Our Head Teacher is also a member of the Board.
These meetings are professionally clerked and all minutes are available on request. The meetings have an agenda which varies to include all the ‘ must do’ business of the school through the year as well as our own hot topics and priorities. As many of the meetings focus on progress information and data as well as financial information, members of the Schools senior leaders also usually attend,
To make the Governing body more efficient, some of the areas of interest are devolved to individual Governors or ‘link Governors’. These Governors will focus on specific areas within school, such as Safeguarding, then feed back information and observations to the Board. Summaries of visits by link Governors are available on the Schools website.
For further information, request for minutes or interest in becoming a school Governor please email the Chair: sharon.appleby@golcarjin.com
Mrs S Gallant
I am head teacher at Golcar Junior, Infant and Nursery, appointed in September 2022. I am an experienced school leader having been a head teacher for over 15 years, and senior leadership for 10 years before I became head teacher.
I am passionate about giving children the best education, particularly focussed on building great memories of childhood alongside exciting and engaging learning. Children should play, pretend, explore, question, experiment and experience. They should have lots of opportunities around our community and further afield to apply their understanding in real contexts.
I also am dedicated to building effective teams and nurturing our adults in school ensuring our school family all enjoy excellent physical and mental well-being.
I am very much looking forward to continuing to build on the success at Golcar JIN School and further develop our provision to prepare our children for a successful and happy future.
Sharon Appleby
Lucy Prendergast
Hello, my name is Lucy Prendergast and I have recently joined the school, teaching Owls class in Reception.
I have been teaching since 2009 where I have specialised in the Early Years. I have a passion for setting the foundations for learning and creating a positive, fun and engaging learning environment both indoors and outdoors.
I have worked in a variety of schools in both Kirklees and Calderdale where I have had to support and develop staff and teams in order to raise the profile of a play based curriculum. I have also been a local authority moderator for Early Years.
I hope to share this knowledge in order to further support the teaching and learning here at Golcar. In my spare time I enjoy walking, going to the gym and travelling.
Lyndsey McManus
I became a Parent Governor last year because I wanted to become more involved with the school, providing support while gaining a better understanding of the children’s school journey.
I have worked in various management roles in the Retail Sector for over 20 years with my focus primarily being statistics and data analysis, experience I can use to support the Governance of the school.
I am a busy mum of two but in my spare I enjoy keeping fit, running and swimming and I recently earned my archery license.
Caleb Hornsby
My name is Caleb Hornsby and I have been on the board for just under a year. I am a Golcar resident and have been for the last 11 years. My three children will be attending Golcar JI & N school in the coming years, my eldest is currently in Reception.
I am Secondary School teacher with a pastoral responsibility as a Head of Year and this experience supports me in my role as link governor for Safeguarding and Staff Wellbeing. I look forward to continuing to work with and support such a wonderful school.
Jamie Lockwood
Hi, my name is Jaime Lockwood and I am the new member of the board.
I have lived in Golcar for the last 22 years and all 3 of my children have had the pleasure of attending Manor Road.
I work in the Legal sector but my passion is our village. Golcar is a wonderful community and I feel the need to give something back to it.
I can think of no better way to do that than by becoming a governor at the school that not only helped my children through their early education but is a cornerstone of our village.
I’m also the secretary of The Golcar Winkle Club so it won’t be unusual to find me putting flags or Christmas decorations up around the village.
Jayne Kirk
My name is Jayne Kirk, and I joined the board in January 2025. This decision was driven by my passion for education and my desire to actively support not only my daughter’s journey through school but also to foster a love for learning in all children. Originally from Nottinghamshire, I now work in Cheshire and have called Huddersfield home for the past 16 years. My educational background includes a degree and PhD in Chemistry from the University of York. I began my career as an analytical scientist and now work as a product manager for a scientific instrumentation company.