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Governors

Newton Leys Primary School and Nursery Governing Board

Our Governors are a key part of the strategic leadership of the school and play a vital role in helping to ensure our children get the best from their time at Newton Leys Primary School and Nursery.

Our Governing board are a diverse group of individuals with a broad range of professional and personal skills, experiences, and attitudes. They are a group of volunteers, who help set and dedicate themselves to the vision, values, and strategic direction of the school, maintaining the highest of standards, whilst encouraging continual forward planning and thinking in their drive for excellence. Together they share a common goal, which is to help the school provide our pupils with the best education possible. 
 Effective governance is based on six key features:

  • Strategic leadership that sets and champions vision, ethos, and strategy
  • Accountability that drives up educational standards and financial performance 
  • People with the right skills, experience, qualities, and capacity
  • Structures that reinforce clearly defined roles and responsibilities
  • Compliance with statutory and contractual requirements
  • Evaluation to monitor and improve the quality and impact of governance

They share responsibilities for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the school in delivering a fulfilling, broad and balanced education for all the children.
The Governing Board meets at least 9 times throughout the school year: 1 Full Governing Board meeting, 1 Teaching, and Learning Committee meeting, and 1 Resources Committee per term.
Governors serve for a 4-year term - below is a list of our current Governors, the category of Governor they are and the date when they were appointed.

Clerking Services to the Governing body are provided by Milton Keynes Council.

Minutes of all meetings are held on file within the School Office, and copies of non-confidential minutes are available on request.

If you wish to contact a member of the Governing body, please email office@newtonleysprimary.org and your message will be passed on. Alternatively you may wish to send private and confidential correspondence to the Governors in a sealed envelope, via the School Office.

Our Governors have a wide range of skills and experience, which they share with our school on a voluntary basis.

Name Type Role Appointed by, Start Date & Term Committee Membership Relevant Pecuniary Interests & Relationships
Andy Shaw Co-opted Governor Chair of Governors, Health and Safety Governor, Safeguarding, Safer Recruitment, ICT 8/9/2024 - 8/9/2028 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning Spouse is a member of SLT in a secondary school in the area
Josh Swift Parent Governor Development, OPAL, Maths and STEM 1/10/2024 to 30/9/2024 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning Headteacher at another school in a different county
Sarah Dyer Parent Governor   28/1/2026 to 27/1/2030 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  
Esther Thorpe Co-opted Governor

Vice Chair, Teaching and Learning Chair

Pupil Premium, Early Years, 

21/10/2019 to 27/06/2027​ Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  
Karnika Dubey Co-opted Governor    14/7/2026 to 13/7/2030 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  
Nicola Pollard Co-opted Governor

Attendance

SEN and CLA

9/12/2025 to 8/12/2029 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  
Desiree Ko Co-opted Governor   14/7/2026 to 13/7/2030 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  
Iain Mortimer-Fox Co-opted Governor   19/3/2024 to 19/3/2028 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning Staff member
Lora Edmonds Staff Governor   05/09/2022 to 04/09/2026 Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  
Emma Donoghue Headteacher   01/04/2021 to present Full Governing Body, Resources, Teaching & Learning  

 

Governors who have served in the past 12 months
Tom Colvin Parent Governor 1/10/2024 to 19/11/2025