Governing Body

Welcome to the Governing Body section of our website.

What do the Local Governing Body do?

The governors have a strategic role supporting and challenging the Principal. Governors work as a team, in the best interests of the children and the school, to raise educational standards. More specifically, they:

• Appoint the Principal, who has day to day responsibility for everything that happens in a school and is accountable to them
• Agree how the school’s money is allocated
• Agree policies about the way the governing body and the school work
• Ensure new initiatives and guidelines from the Department for Education and the education authority are put in place

The full governing body usually meets once a half term, but more when there are pressing issues such as building works etc Most of the governors’ work is done in meetings when financial, staffing, curriculum and premises issues are discussed in detail. Governors also visit the school to analyse, manage and monitor pupil progress, attainment and school improvement.

Who are our governors on the Local Governing Body?

The local governing body of Yew Tree Primary Academy is composed in the following way:

• Authority/Co-opted governors – appointed by governors
• Parent governors – elected by Parents
• Foundation governors – appointed by governors
• Staff governor – elected by Staff
• Principal – ex officio by virtue of their office
  

Meet our Governors

Ms R O’Regan – Chair of Governors

I am a co-opted Governor and have been a Governor since 2012. Outside of my activities at the school, I am the global director of business development and marketing for an international law firm, and sit on their Executive Board. Prior to working within marketing and business development, I qualified as an auditor and directed a national internal audit and risk team for a firm of chartered accountants. I have been involved in both a voluntary and professional capacity with a variety of charities and not for profit organisations throughout my career, and have sat on the board of several credit unions throughout the North West.

Mrs. P. A. Farrell – Vice Chair of Governors

I was invited to join the Governing Body as a Co-Opted member in 2015 when the Governing Body was reconstituted. I had been a Community Governor since Yew Tree CP opened in 2011 and before that I was a Governor in Greengates and New Hutte Schools. I attend most, if not all, of the Governing Body meetings which allow me to have a well-rounded view of the schools progress and challenges. I am particularly interested in inclusion and special educational needs and disabilities. I am the designated governor for special educational needs and disabilities and safeguarding.

I am local to the area and have been involved in voluntary work with a number of charities in the area for over 25 years.

I am dedicated to the progression of the school and all of its pupils regardless of their backgrounds. I aim to challenge the school’s leadership to always strive for improvement and to continually evolve to our children’s needs.

Ms J Gallagher - Co-opted Governor

Mr R Casey – LA Governor

Mrs P Bergin – Parent Governor

Mrs R O’Hanlon – Principal

I am extremely proud to be the Principal at Yew Tree Primary Academy. I joined the team in the post of Assistant Headteacher in 2011 and taught in Y5, Y6 and Y2 before gaining the position of Headteacher in April 2017. Prior to joining Yew Tree, I worked as a Learning and Teaching Consultant for Knowsley MBC and as a class teacher and senior manager in three Primary Schools across the Borough.

Local Governing Body Information

Meeting Schedules 2021-2022

Attendance Logs

Governor Attendance Log 2019-20

Register of Business Interests

Governors Register of Business Interests form 2021

Governors Term of Reference

Governor Privacy Notice

Governor Update

The Local Governing Body have been busy so far this year with a number of them attending training at school to consider the role of a governor including training on the new Education Inspection Framework to ensure they have a clear understanding of how a school is judged under the new framework. Governors have also been involved in our Peer Review process led by NAHT and two other local headteachers who have spent two days reviewing the work we do across school.

During this term, many of our governors have or will be spending time with staff on Microsoft Teams for link governor visits. So far, these have included Curriculum and Safeguarding.