Governors

Welcome to Long Row School Governors page. Governors play an important role in the work of the school.

The Government expects Governors to:-

Please see the Governors annual statement below for more details. If you would like any further information about our Governing Body, please see Mrs Pickering in the school office.

What our Governors do…

The Full Governing Body (all Governors) meets once each term. There is a formal agenda with our Clerk to the Governors taking notes which become the official minutes of the meeting. The Headteacher provides a full update of the previous few months in a Headteacher Report and the Chair of Governors feeds back information about Governor Committee (standards and resource committee meetings), Governors visits and Governor monitoring.

Andy Fairhurst (Chair of Governors)

Annual Governance Statement – September 2024 – August 2025  (This is a live document with ongoing updates)

In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing bodies, and the Governors’ Code of Conduct (approved Jan 22), the four core strategic functions for the schools for the schools governing body are:

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
2. Holding the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
4. Ensuring the voices of stakeholders are heard.

Governance Arrangements

The Governing Body of Belper Long Row Primary and Nursery School was reconstituted on July 2021 and amended in Jan 22. It is made up of 9 governors, each having a four-year term of office.  The membership is:

• Head Teacher
• One Local Authority governor
• Two staff governor
• Three parent governors
• Four co-opted governors

The Chair of Governors is Mr Andy Fairhurst.

The Vice-Chair of Governors is Mrs Emma Monkman.

The governing body has a programme of meetings throughout the year and a committee structure that focuses on specific areas of governance:

Two committees are Resource and Standards committee.

Approved minutes are available on request through the school office.

Contacting your Governing Body

Information about the school’s governing body is available on the governors’ page of the school website.  Governors can be contacted by the following methods:

By telephone 01773 823319

By letter Chair of Governors

Long Row Primary School

Long Row

Belper

Derbyshire

DE56 1DR

By emailinfo@longrow.derbyshire.sch.uk

Current membership of the governing body

Committee structure and membership

Governors with specific responsibilities

Full Governors’ and Committee Meeting Dates

Date	Committee / Meeting	Time
22nd September 2025	Standards Committee	6.00 – 6.45pm
	Resource Committee – Budget Review	6.45 – 7.30pm
	Full Governors’	7.30 – 8.30pm
17th November 2025	Resource Committee	6.00 – 6.45pm
	Full Governors’	6.45 – 8.00pm
19th January 2026	All Governors’	6.00 – 8.30pm
9th March 2026	All Governors’	6.00 – 8.00pm
27th April 2026	All Governors’	6.00 – 8.30pm
13th July 2026	All Governors’	6.00 -8.30pm
	Full Governors’ – AGM

Governors Attendance Record 2024-2025

	22/9/2025	17/11/2025	19/01/2026	9/03/2026	27/04/2026	13/07/2026
Name	RC	FGM	SC	RC	FGM	SC	FGM	RC	RC	FGM	RC	FGM	SC	RC	FGM AGM	Total attendance at FGM
LW	/	/	/	/	/	/	/	/
AF	/	/	N/A	/	/	N/A	/	/					N/A
DK	/	/	N/A	/	/	N/A	/	/					N/A
DH	N/A	/	/	N/A	/	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
MH	N/A	Abs	Abs	/	/	/	/	N/A	N/A		N/A			N/A
JJ	/	/	/	/	/	Abs	Abs
EM	N/A	Abs	Abs	N/A	/	Abs	Abs	N/A	N/A		N/A			N/A
AH	N/A	/	/	N/A	/	Abs	Abs	N/A	N/A		N/A			N/A
EC	/	/	N/A	/	/	N/A	/	/					N/A
MW	Abs	Abs	N/A	/	/	N/A	Abs	Abs					N/A

Governor training record

• All – Sept 2025 – Safeguarding training
• AF – Nov 25 – DCC Autumn Governor briefing
• AF – Nov 25 – Property Risk assessment
• ALL March 2025 – Prevent

Governors’ declaration of business, pecuniary and personal interests

Governor	Business, Pecuniary and Personal Interests. Membership of Professional Bodies / Organisations. Governor / Trustee Position held in another school / organisation.
Mrs L. White	None
Mr A. Fairhurst	None
Mrs J Jones	None
Mr D. Keen	Parent Governor – Children at Long Row
Mrs E Cooper	Parent Governor – Children at Long Row
Mr M. Hawkins	Parent Governor – Children at Long Row
Cllr E. Monkman	Belper Town Council, Amber Valley Borough Council, Ward Councillor for Belper North, FloodWarden, Chair of facilities and environment for local economy committee, Deputy Leader Amber Valley Labour Group
Mr A Hine
Mr M Worrall

Governor Visits

Governors visit the school as part of their monitoring of the school’s development plan and specific issues identified through the School Improvement Plan (SIP). These visits are an invaluable opportunity for governors to work with staff members. In addition, subject link governors both monitor and review activities undertaken by subject and/or phase leaders. The development of a governor monitoring timetable has ensured that governors have an accurate picture of the performance of the school and can support school improvement as well as monitor and challenge current school practice and policies. Governors attend school open evenings, assemblies, presentations, and information evenings, including sporting and musical events, in order to engage with all members of the school’s community. Furthermore, governors seek opportunities for the pupils to be ambassadors for the school in the local community and further afield.

Governor monitoring 2025/2026

Governor	Date	Reason for visit / monitoring
AF	Termly	Headteacher termly briefings
EM	Termly	Safeguarding system checks
EM	Termly	Attendance monitoring
MH	Termly	Progress in English
AF	Termly	Progress in Maths
AF	November	Website Audit
	November	SEND Inclusion
EM, LC, MH	December	Headteacher appraisal
MH	December	Health and Safety Audit
DK	January	Sports funding
	March	SEND policy and practice

All governors attend termly breakfast meetings

Autumn – Pupil progress and attainment Data.

Spring – SEND provision

Data Analysis

Data is made available to governors through written and verbal presentations providing an opportunity for the members of the board to challenge the Head Teacher and the Senior Leadership Team on the educational standards of the school and its pupils. Link governors meet with subject leaders for an update regularly and this includes scrutiny of the curriculum, standards, and data from all year groups. This enables members of the governing body to ask questions about pupils’ progress and achievement.

Policies

Governors review all relevant policy documents on a regular basis to ensure that guidance is relevant, accurate and up to date. Specific attention is given to the Department for Education’s statutory requirements and compliance tests.

Staff Recruitment

The Head Teacher and a number of governors are trained in Safer Recruitment and ensure their training is kept up to date. Governors are involved in the recruitment and selection process to ensure that high quality staff, who share the school’s vision and ethos, area appointed. Governors work hard to recruit high quality teachers and leaders. A wide range of strategies are implemented to ensure that the right staff are appointed and can drive forward the actions necessary to improve the school.

Financial Management – Resource Committee

The governors work with staff at the school to address and comply with the School Financial Value Standard each year. Governors ensure that the budget is well-managed, and improvements are effective and on-going. The school is subject to external audit to ensure value for money and good budget management is achieved.

Safeguarding

Governors take responsibility for ensuring that safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements. They evaluate and review the annual safeguarding audit.  Governor signs off the single central record monthly.

Strategic Planning for the Future

Governors on the standards committee work co-operatively with the Head Teacher and senior leadership team to develop the School Improvement Plan (SIP). The SIP details the school’s priorities and is based on the issues identified through data analysis, self-evaluation, and Ofsted priorities. The SIP establishes clear strategies and tasks, details who is responsible for carrying out these tasks and the resources required to deliver them, and the monitoring tasks and procedures of the governing board.

School Improvement Plan 2025/26

SIP Key Priority 1 – EYFS

Improve outcomes for all by:-

• Ensuring deep learning through further development of the areas of learning in the outdoor provision and extend challenges through into the Year 1 learning environment.
• Ensuring a vocabulary rich stimulating environment in all areas.

Developing 2 year old check and nursery termly reporting to parents.

SIP Key Priority 2  -Leadership and management

Further develop leadership and management of the school within the community by:-

• Ensuring work life balance and non-contact leadership time to further develop strong leadership team – for strategic analysis and monitoring. All staff opportunity to have PPA out of school.
• Development of the SENDCo and new DCC inclusion lead to maintain and enhance inclusion practices.
• Ensuring a positive ethos and promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing of staff
• Collaborate with external trusts, school improvement and parents through questionnaires, parent forums and with FRW and learning mentor working with families.

Strengthening governing board – understanding ambitious curriculum, appoint new community members.

SIP Key Priority 3- Personal Development

Develop the curriculum across EYFS/KS 1 and KS 2 to ensure a progressive approach to the learning of knowledge and skills by:-

• To ensure school attendance and punctuality secures good outcomes – new DCC policy 2024

• To create whole school events and challenges; promoting active lifestyles and positive engagement for all.
• Developing the Resilience framework to support vulnerable children.
• Ensuring representation by all, inclusion and wider opportunities for SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Inter school competitions and challenges.

Visits and visitors to school – STEM, PCSO, Multi faith leaders

SIP Key Priority 4 – Behaviour and Attitudes

Improve pupil behaviour and attitudes to learning by:

• developing all pupils as leaders through roles – house captains, sports leaders, librarians and Ivengers.
• starting some pupil led social clubs. Wellbeing ambassadors. School council. Eco committee.
• reviewing equality act and inclusion in school
• enhancing more curriculum trips and enrichment activities

SIP Key Priority 5- Quality of Education

Improve outcomes for all in English by:-

• To ensure an inclusive education for all pupils – improving the outcomes in English, for boys achieving the expected standard at the end of each year group
• To improve outcomes by the end of each cohort – consolidating short burst writing in KS2 and introduce Drawing Club ‘Quest’ – Greg Botrill in KS1.
• To increase the nos. of children achieving Year 1 Phonics check through consolidation and training for new staff.

To secure improved outcomes for disadvantaged pupils through programmed Pre-teaching, interventions, pupil leadership and nurture activities.

What the Governing Board achieved in 2025/26 that will make a difference to the children in this school:

• The progress the pupils have made in key areas
• Governors have agreed the School Improvement Plan which directly impact the children
• Dates agreed for Governor Monitoring visits

• Direct parents to the pupil data on the school website
• Approved Behaviour Policy & Anti-bullying Policy
• Use of school data to inform School Improvements Plan
• Budget management shows school finance is managed well. Maintaining a healthy budget allowing the provision for educating our children. including ensuring all debt is collected.
• Building work ensures compliance and health and safety for all
• Discussed the issue to RAAC and the fact that it is strongly believed that Long Row is not affected by it.
• Safeguarding Training completed by Governors and staff
• Website review – Gold Standard, is comprehensive  and exceeds compliance.
• Policies, including Uniform and Disciplinary procedures have been approved
• Discussion around phonics and SSPF (Super Sonic Phonic Friends)
• Pupil Premium strategy – funding in place to support our children in receipt of Free school meals
• Policies, practices and audits ensure the safety of children and staff in school.
• The need to ensure pupil parent pay accounts ae kept up to date.
• We review Safeguarding at all meetings
• Feedback/Formative assessments discussed – how can we teach/demonstrate children understand what they are being taught.
• SMILERS parent/community event success; having an impact for families.
• Parents evening feedback collected annually – we thank you for a fantastic response
• Governors continue to regularly visit school, update their training and partake in school initiatives.
• The careful use of school resources
• PTA have gained charitable status
• Governors have reviewed the progress children have and are making.
• Governors have a better understanding of phonics
• Aim to increase the number of Governors to improve capacity and strengthen the governing board.
• New zero tolerance policy following an escalation of instances of bullying on school grounds from parents/carers. We will not tolerate it and if needed will be escalated to the police. this has a huge impact on staff wellbeing.
• Reviewed SEND report and provision for  pupils  needing additional support while at school.

Last updated Feb 25 LW