How the governing body works
The governing body at Bayford is responsible for setting the school’s vision, developing strategy and policy, monitoring the school’s effectiveness in implementing that strategy and policy, approving the school’s budget and monitoring management accounts, agreeing a staffing structure, and generally working alongside the Headteacher and other staff to support them and act as critical friends.
Individual governors take on specific roles and responsibilities for various aspects of our school life, and to help them do that governors also undertake training. All governors receive an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check on appointment, which is regularly renewed.
Governors meet twice a term as a full governing body, but all governors also serve on one of our two permanent sub-committees, which meet regularly through the year (dates for all meetings are posted on this site on the school calendar):
Resources Committee
Deals with issues around finance, premises management and staffing, including pay policy, health and safety, security, maintenance, budget setting and monitoring, insurance, and this web site.
School Improvement Committee
Deals with all aspects of teaching and learning, pupil welfare and behaviour, both monitoring the school’s day to day work and supporting staff in planning for future developments.
Other committees
There are also other committees and panels which only meet as and when required in response to any specific issues (such as a complaints or discipline and grievance panel), and less formal working groups to develop our response to new challenges and opportunities.
Meet our governors
Individual governors come into school regularly to meet with staff, develop their understanding of different aspects of school life, and monitor their particular areas of responsibility.
Governors come with a wide range of skills and expertise from their lives outside school, and include representatives of the staff and parents, the local community, and the church. Being a governor is an entirely voluntary role.
You can contact the governors through the school office.
You can meet all the governors below. Here’s a key to the entries under each governor’s name:
- Term: is the governor’s current term of office (govenors may have served previous terms of office, or may serve as governors through their role, like the Headteacher).
- Attendance: The percentage for attendance is a record of each governor’s attendance at meetings (full governing body and the two main committees) in the previous school year (‘n/a’ means the governor has not yet served a full school year). The Department for Education requires us to publish this information.
If a governor has any relevant business or financial interests to declare they will be listed below. You can read our Instrument of Government (constitution, currently dating from 2015) using the link below. You can also read a copy of our Trust Deed from 1857 which still requires us to be a Church of England school serving the local community, although it allows us to provide adult education too!

Mel Berry
Clerk to the Governors
Mel attends all meetings of the governing body and its two committees, taking minutes and making sure we have all the information we need in advance.

Sam Baker
Co-opted governor
- Term: 1 Sep 21 to 31 Aug 25
- Attendance: n/a
Sam serves on the Resources Committee and is our lead for art and DT. Sam also helps monitor Early Years.

Roy Boulton
Co-opted governor
- Term: 1 Sep 23 to 31 Aug 27
- Attendance: n/a
Roy is a local resident and former teacher. He serves on the School Improvement Committee where he monitors Music and Science.

Maggie Broomer
Co-opted governor
- Term: 8 May 19 to 7 May 23
- Attendance: 100%
Maggie is Vice-Chair of the governing body, chairs the School Improvement Committee, and is our lead for health & safety and humanities.

Malcom Foster
Headteacher
- Term: ex officio
- Attendance: 100%
As Headteacher Malcom attends both committees and serves as a governor as part of his role.

Parent governor tbc
Parent governor
- Term: tbc.
- Attendance: n/a
This place is currently vacant.

Brenda Lambie
Local authority governor
- Term: 18 Sep 23 to 18 Sep 27
- Attendance: 100%
Brenda is Chair of Govenors and serves on both committees as part of her role. She is our nominated governor for child protection, and our lead for inclusion, SEND, GDPR, and French.

Iain Lane
Foundation governor
- Term: ex officio
- Attendance: 100%
Iain is appointed by the Archdeacon of Hertford, chairs the Resources Committee, and is our lead for finance, RE, and collective worship. He is also our webmaster.

Sarah Mansfield
Parent governor
- Term: tbc.
- Attendance: n/a
Sarah is an elected parent governor and serves on the School Improvement Committee where she monitors Computing, English & PSHE.

Krystina Schaferova
Parent governor
- Term: tbc
- Attendance: n/a
Krystina is an elected parent governor and serves on the Resources Committee. She monitors Maths and PE/Sport.

Colin Taylor
Foundation governor
- Term: 25 Sep 21 to 24 Sep 25
- Attendance: 60%
Colin is Churchwarden at St Mary’s, Bayford, serves on the School Improvement Committee, volunteers in school, and is our lead for EYFS.

Amanda Welch
Staff governor
- Term: 1 Sep 21 to 31 Aug 25
- Attendance: 100%
Amanda is elected by the school staff and serves on the Resources Committee.
Business and financial interests
Governors are required to publish any relevant business and financial interests. These are deemed to include:
- being a governor of another school or educational institution;
- any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and school staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives).
If any such interests exist, they will be listed below. Interests which clearly arise from the nature of the appointment, for example in the case of staff governors, are made clear above and not separately declared here.
Declaration of Interest is also an item at every governors’ meeting and governors are required then to declare any interest which might impact on any specific items of business on the agenda, or any decisions to be taken at that meeting.
Interests declared
Maggie Broomer is a close relative of Mel Berry, Clerk to the Governors. Maggie is also Clerk to Bayford Parish Council.
Former governors
Here you can find the names of anyone who served as a governor within the last twelve months but who has now stepped down, or come to the end of their term of office and not stood or served again:
Lisa Holliday, co-opted governor
Sally Scott, parent governor
Fiona Smith, parent governor
Philip Wood, parent governor
The four governors above stepped down from their role at the end of the summer term 2023 or at the beginning of the autumn term 2023.
This list is updated at the end of each school term.
This page was last updated on 1at December 2023