Governing Body

Every school has a governing body. It supports and encourages continuing development and improvement within the school. It does this by ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and setting the strategic direction of the school, challenging the leadership team, and recognising success. It also  oversees the financial performance of the school, making sure its money is well spent.

Our governing body is made up of nine people:

• 2 parent governors (elected by parents)
• 1 local authority governor (appointed by the local authority)
• 1 staff governor (elected by staff)
• 1 headteacher
• 3 foundation governors
  • appointed by the Parochial Church Council of the Parish of St Mary’s, Lamberhurst
  • one of them will be the Principal Officiating Minister of the Parish of St Mary’s, Lamberhurst
• 2 co-opted governors (appointed by the governing body for their skills and experience)

All governors are in the role for four years, except staff governors who are in the role for two years. They can be re-elected or reappointed.

Our governing body operates under the Circle Model of Governance, working as a 'whole team' without committees. This means that all governors have up-to-date information regarding the school. They are therefore able to offer timely support and challenge, as well as take action should the need arise. There are two small panels: one that reviews staff pay and another that reviews headteacher performance.

Current Governors

 

Each governor monitors one or more areas. They are responsible for making at least one visit to the school per term, making observations and reporting back to the governing body.

Name	Type	Term	Monitoring role(s)
Lizzy Connors	Staff	04.12.2022-03.12.2026	Wellbeing.
Ian Cooper	Parent	19.03.2025-18.03.2029	Finance; personal development and wellbeing.
Lindsay Denning	Local authority	21.03.2022-20.03.2030	Safeguarding.
Peter Edgesmith (Chair) (Headteacher performance panel)	Co-opted	07.04.2015-06.04.2027	Curriculum, teaching and development; headteacher performance management;  inclusion (SEND and Pupil Premium); leadership and governance.
Molly Mills (appointed ahead of time to learn about the board and help ahead of Ofsted inspection)	Co-opted	20.10.2026-19.10.2030	Inclusion (SEND and Pupil Premium).
James Simpson (Pay panel)	Co-opted	09.01.2020-08.01.2028	Finance; health and safety.
Oliver Stride (Vice chair) (Pay panel)	Parent	19.03.2025-18.03.2029	Attendance and behaviour; finance; leadership and governance.
Jan Stride (Headteacher performance panel)	Foundation	07.07.2025-06.07.2029	Collective worship and Christian ethos; Early Years; headteacher performance management.
Jennifer Tobin	Foundation	01.02.23-31.01.2027
Charlotte Vickery-Booth	Headteacher	Since 01.09.2025

 

The Governors are always available and happy to receive comments or questions relating to their roles and responsibilities at any time. Anyone with any comments, queries or questions regarding the overall strategic running of the school, and how the school’s performance is monitored, may contact the Governors.

The Chair of Governors, Mr Peter Edgesmith, can be contacted in writing via the Clerk to the governing body, Dan Sumners, either by post using the school postal address or clerk@lamberhurst.kent.sch.uk

Day-to-day administrative queries regarding the school should be addressed to the school office. Teaching or classroom queries should be directed towards teaching staff, and any queries regarding special educational needs should be directed towards our Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator Mrs Carla Belling. Any further questions or comments relating to the day-to-day running of the school should be directed to the Headteacher.

Meetings

 

The governing body meets at least six time per year. At these meetings the headteacher reports on current school performance and progress against the School Development Plan. Throughout the year subject leaders may be asked to make presentations on particular subjects or priorities. Governors report on monitoring vists.

Scheduled meetings for 2026/27

All meetings are on Tuesdays from 5.30pm-7pm.

• 20 October 2026
• 8 December 2026
• 26 January 2027
• 3 March 2027
• 18 May 2027
• 13 July 2027

Current Governor Attendance 

 

	2025-26	2026-27
		20/10	08/12	26/01	03/03	18/05	13/07
Lizzy Connors	4 of 6	Y
Ian Cooper	4 of 6	Y
Lindsay Denning	3 of 6	Y
Peter Edgesmith	6 of 6	Y
Molly Mills	N/A	Y
James Simpson	4 of 6	Y
Oliver Stride	5 of 6	Y
Jan Stride	6 of 6	Y
Jennifer Tobin	4 of 6	N
Charlotte Vickery-Booth	6 of 6	Y

Previous Governors, September 2024 - July 2025

Details of the current membership, and for all governors who have been 'in post' during the past 12 months are set out below, together with business interests for current governors, and attendance data for the 2024-25 academic year.

Name and Category	Term of Office and Appointing Body	Area of focus	Relevant Business or Pecuniary interests declared,  May 2025	Other education establishments governed	Relationship with school staff, including spouse, partners and relatives	Attendance of FGB meetings
						2022-23	2023-24
TBC Foundation Governor
Mr Andrew Blamey Foundation Governor	08/11/2021– 07/11/2025 Appointed by Diocese PCC, St Mary’s, Lamberhurst (First appointed  09/11/2017)	Leadership & Management; Performance Management of Headteacher	None	None	None	4 / 6	6 / 6
Mrs Caroline Bromley Headteacher	1/9/06- Ex-officio	Headteacher	Headteacher, Lamberhurst St Mary’s School	None	None	6 / 6	6 / 6
Mr Peter Edgesmith Co-opted Governor	07/04/2023- 06/04/2027 Appointed by Governing Body (First appointed 07/04/2015)	Chair of Governors, SEND, Pupil Premium; Leadership & Management; Performance Management of Headteacher	None	Chair of Governors, Hollington Primary Academy	None	6 / 6	6 / 6
Mr James Simpson Co-opted Governor	09/01/2024- 08/01/2028 Appointed by Governing Body (First appointed  09/01/2022)	Health & Safety; Budget monitoring	Managing Director, Adrian Scripps Ltd	None	None	4 / 6	4 / 6
Mrs Lindsay Denning Local Authority Governor	21/03/2022- 21/03/2026 Nominated by LA, appointed by Governing Body	Safeguarding; Behaviour & Attitudes and Personal development	Teacher, Kent College	None	Spouse, Mr Guy Denning, Specialist Instrument Music Teacher	5 / 6	4 / 6
Mrs Lizzy Connors Staff Governor	04/12/2022- 03/12/2024 Elected by Staff Body		Yr 1 Class Teacher, Lamberhurst St Mary’s School	None	None	4 / 5	5 / 6
Mrs Jen Tobin  Foundation Governor	01/02/2023– 31/01/2027 Appointed by Diocese PCC, St Mary’s, Lamberhurst	Act of Worship and Christian Ethos; Quality of Education (including EYFS)	Teacher, Kent College	None	None	1 / 3	5 / 6
Mr Ian Cooper Parent Governor	19/03/2025-18/03/2029 Appointed by Parent election			None	None
Mr Ollie Stride Parent Governor	19/03/2025-18/03/2029 Appointed by Parent election			None	None

Previous Governors, September 2023 - July 2024

Name and Category	Term of Office and Appointing Body	Area of focus	Attendance of FGB & Committee meetings	Relevant Business or Pecuniary interests declared	Other education establishments governed	Relationship with school staff, inc spouse, partners and relatives
Mrs Philippa Caddick Parent Governor	27/11/2020- 26/11/2024 Parent election	Behaviour & Attitudes and  Personal development; Staff Wellbeing; Member of Pay Panel	5 / 6	Director, Innspirit Ltd Partner, Caddick Partnership (Investment Consultancy)	None	None
Mr Andrew Gooch Parent Governor	27/11/2020- 26/11/2024 Parent election	Quality of Education (including EYFS); Staff Wellbeing	5 / 6	Director, HoldFast Training Ltd; Secretary, Charlie Parker Nutrition Consulting Ltd; Trustee, Queen’s Gurkha Engineers Regimental Trust	None	None
Rev Andrew Axon Foundation Governor	07/12/2016 - 30/04/2025 Ex Officio Diocese	Vice Chair of Governors,  Act of Worship and Christian ethos, Budget Monitoring	5/6	Church of England Vicar at St Mary's church, Lamberhurst & St Luke's Church, Matfield	None	None

 Diversity

We recognise that a diversity of thought, voices and perspectives is essential to good governance and the effective running of any organisation. We collect diversity information from our governors and use it to

• target recruitment to address gaps in experience and diversity;
• develop and adapt board practices to ensure full participation;
• prioritise training and awareness-raising in identified areas; and
• address potential ‘blind spots’ through seeking wider advice and perspectives on current and upcoming opportunities, challenges and risks.

We have decided not to publish this information to protect our governors’ privacy. As it is a small group, it would be easy to identify individuals and therefore their characteristics.