- Please read our draft Equality and Diversity Statement and post any comments you have on the website. Thank you!
Our school Governors play an important part in helping to raise the school's standards. They are responsible for setting the strategic direction and ensuring accountability. They act as a critical friend and are involved in monitoring and evaluating the school's performance.
The Governing Body comprises 15 Governors. This includes 4 Community Governors, 3 Local Education Authority Governors and 3 Staff Governors (including the Headteacher) and 5 Parent Governors who are elected by parents of the school. They meet for full Governing Body meetings 3 times a year. In addition there are sub-committee meetings for matters concerning Premises, Staffing, Curriculum & Academic Standards, Finance, Race Equality and Marketing & Communications.
All governors can be contacted via the school.
Debbie Howell
..was elected as a staff representative to the Governing Body. She has taught in both Key Stages at the school since 1992, holding various roles. She is currently KS2 coordinator, Literacy and NQT/ITT coordinator. Debbie worked for many years as an Advanced Skills Teacher, supporting other teachers in the Authority, and is currently Deputy Head Teacher at the school. Debbie has two teenage children and enjoys various sports, art and cooking.
Donna Harrison
..has just been elected as a Parent Governor. She trained as a secondary Teacher and was Head of Year 11. Along with her husband she is a Beaver Scout Leader and a member of East Keswick Wildlife Trust. She has one child in school and another who can’t wait to be old enough to start. She is very enthusiastic and wants to ensure that the school continues to play a key role in the local community.
Gilly Wright
..has lived in the village for 18 years. She is a member of Bardsey Parish Council and has been actively involved with the school and village in the redevelopment of the playground area off Keswick Lane. She has been a primary school teacher in the area and also worked as a fitness instructor in Leeds. As a keen volunteer she is involved with both St Gemma's Hospice and 'Wetherby in support of the Elderly'. In her spare time she enjoys walking, runnning and the theatre.
Jane Ambrose (Chair)
..is a qualified radiography teacher. Her three children attended the school and she was chair of the Parents Association at that time and an elected Parent Governor. She has been a committed member of the Governing Body for 20 years. She is on the local committee of the NSPCC and runs the Leeds branch of a medical charity. Her hobbies are golf , flower arranging and Sudoku puzzles.
Jennifer Atkinson
..was appointed as a Community Governor in 2009. She has worked in the NHS as a nurse since 1965, latterly as a District Nurse in the Seacroft area of Leeds for 29 years before retiring in 2010. In her leaisure time, Jenny's interests include reading, walking, theatre and holidays.
Jonathan Mawson
..was elected as a Parent Governor and is now an LEA Governor. He has three young children, two of whom attend the school. He is a registered Architect and is a partner in a Yorkshire Architectural practice with a national reputation for the design of swimming pools. His interests include sailing and hockey.
Jonathan Utley
..was elected as a Parent Governor and has two boys at the school. Since graduating from Leeds University in International History and Politics he has worked for British Rail, GE and NG Bailey in a variety of business improvement roles. His spare time is largely spent coaching junior football at Collingham, cricket at Bardsey and hockey for Leeds.
Julia Leatham
..has recently joined the governing body as a teacher representative. She currently teaches in Year 2. Although she is new to the governing body, she is neither new to Bardsey nor to the position of governor. She has been teaching at Bardsey for at least 16 years and has taught across the whole age range during that time. She is currently curriculum leader for Maths and RE. Julia was also a governor at her own children's primary school for 20 years. She has 2 children in their early twenties and enjoys reading, music and the theatre during her leisure time.
Peter Sparling (Vice Chair)
..is a retired solicitor, a director of Opera North, Governor of the English Speaking Union and a former leader of Leeds City Council. He is an LEA Governor and chairs the Resources sub-committee.
Richard Larking
..was elected as a Parent Governor and has two children at school. A former serving member of the armed forces, he is now a practising solicitor for a large plant and aggregates business in South Yorkshire. He also enjoys a range of sports, including golf and tennis, as well as being a season ticket holder at Sheffield Wednesday FC and Leeds Rhinos RLFC.
Sally Clark
..is Head Teacher of the school and sits on the Governing Body in this capacity. She took up her position in April 2011, having previously worked in a range of leadership roles in schools in Leeds, most recently as Deputy Head Teacher at a school in Rawdon.
Steven Verity
..has just been elected as a parent Governor. He is a surveyor by profession and currently is a board member Trustee of a national charity. As a former pupil of the school he certainly knows the school inside and out. He has one child in school and believes in being an active participant in the local community.
Tim Roebuck
..was a parent governor and is now an LEA governor. He is a chartered HR practitioner and is currently working in the learning and development field with a particular interest in organisational culture and management performance. In his spare time, he enjoys learning more about science and nature but especially being outdoors and likes nothing better than walking or getting muddy on his bicycle.
Tom Acland
..was elected as a Parent Governor and has two children at the school as well as an older child who is a former pupil at Bardsey. He is a business owner, as well as being a keen sportsman and sports fan in his spare time.