My name is Dr Stephen Handsley, and I am privileged to have been appointed Chair of Governors in November 2022. At St Clare’s School, Governors, staff, parents, and children work together in a happy,  creative and high attaining environment; with our core values of PRIDE – RESILIENCE – COURAGE, underpinning everything we do.

As Chair, I strive to ensure that objectives of both staff and pupils are met, with continuous improvement in all areas of the school being aspirational and realistic, and to be working with such a professional team of staff and governors.

As Governors, we are very proud to be part of the local community and are fully committed to working with Laura and her staff, the children, and parents/carers, to ensure that we keep encouraging our pupils to inspire each other, believe in themselves and succeed in all areas of life! Governors are appointed to ensure that objectives are met, and that future planning is both visionary and realistic. The Governing body exists to serve five main purposes. For simplicity, these are to:

to support and encourage our Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team, and all school personnel, to ensure that every one of our children has access to an enriched education and to all the opportunities that they deserve.

• provide strategic direction for the improvement of the school whilst ensuring the school has a clear vision, direction, and ethos
• to support and encourage our Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team, and all school personnel, to ensure that every one of our children has access to an enriched education and to all the opportunities that they deserve
• monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the school
• hold the school and Headteacher to account for the standards achieved and the quality of education
• to oversee the financial performance of the school in these very challenging times to ensure that the money the school receives is spent wisely

In addition, we support the school in several key areas such as pupil welfare, progress and achievement, finance and budgets, staff development and recruitment.  Governors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, bringing different skills to the fore and meet regularly with Laura and her staff to check that the school continues to monitor and evaluate it’s objectives both strategically and operationally.   The children in our school achieve high standards across the curriculum. We are justifiably very proud of them and would like to thank the parents who encourage and support their children so admirably. In such a special school, such as ours, parents take a great interest in their child’s learning, development, and welfare.

Dr Stephen Handsley

Chair of Governors

The St Clare’s local governing board operates within the broader Esteem Multi Academy Trust governance structure. Please click here to see the register of interests for The Esteem MAT Members, Trustees, Executive Team and Accounting Officer Central Governance Documents | Esteem MAT

Please click here to access the Esteem Multi Academy Trust central governance and financial information. This includes the Esteem MAT Articles of Association, Funding Agreement, our audited accounts and Annual Report.  Statutory Documents| Esteem MAT

Please click here for more information on how we structure governance within our Trust, the remit of those in a governance role and our Scheme of Delegation  Governance | Esteem MAT

We currently have the following vacancy:

Co-opted Governor

If you are interested in more information about becoming a governor, please contact Emma Kealey at ekealey@esteemmat.co.uk or follow the link School Governors: About the Role – Governors for Schools