Welcome to our Governors’ section

In accordance with the Government’s requirements for all governing bodies, the core strategic functions for Westfield School Governing Board are:

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

2. Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff

3. Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent In addition, the governors undertake to

4. Ensure the safety of all members of the school community in accordance with the ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ Act (2015)

The governing board of Westfield School is made up of 12 governors, all serving a four-year term of office.

This breaks down to:

• 2 staff governors (including the Headteacher)

• 2 elected parent governors

• 1 Local Authority governor

• 7 co-opted governors Co-opted governors are appointed by the governing board and are people who, in the opinion of the governing board have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

All governors complete an annual skills audit so we can identify membership gaps and skills training.

GOVERNORS

Name	Office held	Appointed by	From	To
Andrew Howard	Chair	Appointed by GB/board	6 July 2023	5 July 2027
Erin Clare	Safeguarding Link Governor	Appointed by GB/board	21 October 2025	20 October 2029
Mrs Aysha Ahmed	Vice Chair	Parent appointed by GB/board due to no election candidates	19 May 2021	19 March 2029
Mrs Debbie Howlett		Elected by school staff	7 February 2023	6 February 2027
Mrs Laura Air		Appointed by GB/board	24 February 2026	23 February 2030
Ms Tara Deakes		Ex-officio by virtue of office as headteacher/principal	1 September 2019	31 August 2027
Neil Strain		Appointed by GB/board	21 October 2025	20 October 2029

GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE RECORD 2025/26

Name	Category of governor	Attendance at meetings 2025/26 school year
		Full Governing Board (6 meetings) plus 1 x Extra Ordinary Meeting	Pay Committee
Tara Deakes	Headteacher	6 out of 6	n/a
Andrew Howard	Co-opted	6 out of 6	1 out of 1
Aysha Ahmed	Parent	6 out of 6	1 out of 1
Debbie Howlett	Staff	4 out of 6	n/a
Erin Clare	Co-opted	4 out of 6	n/a
Neil Straun	Co-opted	4 out of 6	n/a
Laura Air	Co-opted	4 out of 4	n/a
Jayne Pitson  Resigned 8/9/26	Associate Member	4 out of 6	n/a
Ben Halder  Resigned 10/9/26	Co-opted	5 out of 6	1 out of 1
Emma Newell  Resigned 2/12/25	Co-opted	2 out of 2	1 out of 1
Mike Ware Resigned 18/5/26	Co-opted	3 out of 4	n/a
Gill Towell 19/5/26 to 11/9/26	Co-opted	1 out of 2	n/a

ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT FOR THE GOVERNING BOARD 2026-27