Bryony Batty - PARENT GOVERNOR

Bryony was appointed as a Parent Governor in February 2021 for a four-year term of office. Bryony, whose son Alex attends Great Arley, has taught in a local school since 2004 and enjoys walking, running, and trips away in her campervan. 

Bryony has no business interests, is not a governor at any other school and has no relationship to any member of staff.

Mr Harry Cox - CO-OPTED GOVERNOR

Harry was appointed as governor by the Governing Board on 20 November 2019 for a four-year term of office. Harry has a wide range of experience in different leadership, management and director roles in engineering, project planning, finance, quality assurance, health and safety and operations. The skills and experience he brings will be an important asset to our team of governors.

Harry has no business interests, is not a governor at any other school and has no relationship to any member of staff.

Mr Peter Higham - HEADTEACHER   

Peter is Great Arley School's Headteacher, having been appointed from 11th April 2016.

Peter started teaching in 1994 with French as his specialist subject.  Since then he has worked in four Lancashire schools holding a range of roles including pastoral, SENCO and senior leadership roles.  He also has experience of governance as a Teacher Governor from 2012-2016.

Peter lives locally and enjoys many outdoor activities. 

As the Headteacher Peter has attended all the committee meetings.  He has no business interests to declare, is not now a governor at any other establishment and has no relationship to any member of staff.

Elizabeth Noble - CO-OPTED GOVERNOR

Elizabeth graduated from the University of Leeds in 1970 with an Honours degree in English Literature. She spent her career as a teacher of English, a Head of English and ultimately an Assistant Principal at Collegiate High School initially and then at The Blackpool Sixth Form College when it became a separate entity in 1989. Elizabeth retired in 2007. Her grandson is a pupil at Great Arley School. 

Elizabeth was appointed a co-opted Governor in November 2022. 

Mrs Helen Williams - LOCAL AUTHORITY APPOINTED GOVERNOR

Helen is our current acting Chair of Governors. She is also our Local Authority Governor, nominated by the LA and appointed by the Governing Board on 8th March 2016.

Helen is a retired nurse with over 30 years of working in the NHS. Helen has an interest in safeguarding, quality and safety which will provide valuable experience to our governing body.

Helen is Chair of the Curriculum and Strategies Committee and is a member of the Finance and Personnel Committee. Helen also sits on the Headteachers Appraisal Committee and Pupil Discipline Committee. She is also our nominated governor for Safeguarding and PSHE.

Helen has no business interests to declare, is not a governor at any other establishment and has no relationship to any member of staff.

Miss Lindsay Weaver - STAFF GOVERNOR

Lindsay was appointed Staff Governor at Great Arley School in May 2024.

Lindsay is currently Primary Red's Class Teacher and has over 21 years of experience in teaching Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Year 1. She has lead subjects such as PSHE, Maths and more recently, Computing.

Her educational journey began in Leeds where she obtained a degree in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Therapeutic Studies. Following this she pursued a PGCE at Lancaster St Martin's College, which laid the foundation to her teaching career. Lindsay has no business interests to declare and is not a governor at any other school. She has no relationship to any member of staff. 

Mrs Helen Shuttleworth - CO-OPTED GOVERNOR 

Helen was appointed as a Co-opted Governor in March 2024. Helen's career as a teacher spans 30 years and she is now working as a Pastoral and Safeguarding Lead having retired from her teaching duties. Helen has a passion for music and performing arts. In her personal life Helen enjoys spending time with her family, walking her dog, reading, cooking and travelling. Helen has no business interests to declare and is not a governor at any other school. She has no relationship to any member of staff. 

Miss Catherine Lea - CO-OPTED GOVERNOR

Catherine was appointed as a Co-opted Governor in November 2024. She currently works at a local primary school as SENCO and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Catherine has a particular interest in special educational needs and wanted to apply her knowledge and experience of SEND in a special school setting. Catherine has no business interests to declare however she is also a staff governor at her current school. She has no relationship to any member of staff. 

Governing Body evaluation

Self-evaluation is a fundamental feature of good governance.  We have reviewed ourselves against 20 criteria developed by the The Key, National Governance Association and All Party Parliamentary Group. A core group from the Governing Body met in June 2023 and reviewed the 20 questions. Read our self-evaluation report below. 

Vacancies

We currently have two Governor vacancies for a Co-opted Governor and a Parent Governor. 

A Co-opted Governor is an individual from the community who has the skills and experience which the Governing Body require. A Parent Governor is required to be a parent of a pupil at the school at the time of their appointment. 

If you are interested in becoming a Governor, please email admin@greatarley.lancs.sch.uk

Our Governors

Governors have a demanding but vital role to play in ensuring every child has the best education possible and high standards are promoted throughout the school.

Their main focus is to:

• Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Work to support and strengthen the Headteacher in the school's performance by being a 'critical friend.'
• Oversee and ensure that the school's budget is properly managed.

Every school has a Governing Body. It usually consists of:

• parents elected by other parents of children at the school
• citizens appointed by the LEA
• members co-opted from the community (including business community)
• foundation governors appointed to voluntary schools to represent the church which provides the school
• school staff and the Headteacher.

The three main committees of the Governing Body have been established which  meet once per term. These are:

Curriculum and Strategy, Finance and Personnel and Buildings and Health & Safety.

Every governor has voting rights on each of the committees they serve on.

For further information about the constitution of Governing Boards, please follow the link below to the statutory guidance from the Department for Education.

Constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (Opens in a new window)

Our governors are committed to maintaining and improving the work of the school. As such they oversee areas of the curriculum and school improvement taking on  particular responsibilities.

The document below details the full membership of each of the committees, who is the Chair and Vice-chair and who attends as observers. Observers provide expertise and vital information for the committees, however they do not have voting rights.

Governing Body dates 2024/25: