Marton-cum-Grafton Primary School

 Governors

Marton Cum Grafton are proud to be part of the educational vision for Elevate Multi Academy Trust, whilst retaining our own strong identity.  The Trustees have allowed its academies to retain the same composition for their local governing bodies, which is set out below. 

The three core functions of the local governing board are:

• To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• To hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the Academy and its children;.
• To oversee the financial performance of the Academy and make sure its money is well spent.

Chair of Governors: Adam Croft

Contact: a.croft@mcgprimaryschool.org  or c/o the school, Reas Lane, Marton cum Grafton, York, YO51 9QB

Responsibilities:

Together, the Governors are responsible for:

• Setting aims and targets for the academy and checking the academy’s progress towards attaining these.

• Monitoring how well the academy’s policies and plans are working.

• Accounting for the performance of the academy and the Governing Body.

• Working with the Headteacher to make sure that teaching at the academy is effective and good quality and the children are making the best possible progress.

• Taking general responsibility for the academy and its budget.

• Challenging and supporting the senior management team and taking opportunities to show interest in and appreciation of staff and pupils.

• Promoting the interests of the academy and its pupils in the wider community.

Types of Governors:

There are several different types of Governor:

• Parent Governor

  Elected from parents at the school by parents at the academy.

• Staff Governor

  Elected from staff at the school by staff at the academy

•  Co-opted Governors

           Appointed by members of the Governing Body. They are intended to be representative of the local community and may add particular kinds of expertise.

• Foundation Governor    Foundation governors are representatives of the Church of England. 

           The local vicar is normally appointed as the 'ex-officio' foundation governor;

           The other foundation governors will be appointed by York Diocese, following consultation with the local PCC.

• Associate Member

• The LGB may appoint associate members, subject to the approval of the LGB. However, they must constitute the minority on each LGB;
• Associate members will have no voting rights and their term of office will be limited to 1 year. The term of office may be reviewed subject to the approval of the LGB;

Elevate Governance:

As a multi-academy trust, Elevate is a charitable company limited by guarantee. This means that Elevate is a single legal entity, but it has several academies within its family. Currently, Elevate has 14 Primary academies. These are mainly situated across North Yorkshire with 1 Academy in West Yorkshire.

Elevate and their academies work in collaboration with a single shared vision. The governance structure is designed to reflect the overall responsibility of the Board of Trustees, the (operational) leadership of the CEO supported by the School Improvement Team for education and the Operational Team; for the day to day running of the academies by the Executive Head Teachers (EHT) and Head teachers coupled with the value of local experience and understanding of the LGBs in assessing the performance of our academy and their interaction with the local community.

Elevate has established 3 key layers of governance: 

• Members
• Trustees
• Local Governors 

Although Elevate’s Trustees are accountable for all of their academies, it highly values the work undertaken by local governors in supporting, and challenging, our academies and senior leadership teams to deliver high quality and inclusive education.

Elevate LGBs have a pivotal role in the overall framework of the Trust by having:

• An in-depth knowledge and understanding of their academies;
• Sustaining uniqueness of their academy whilst aligning with Elevate’s educational vision;
• Forging and maintaining links with their community;
• Providing the vital governance link between themselves and Trustees to enable the Trustees to carry out their responsibilities as leaders of the Trust.

The different responsibilities overseen by Trustees and Local Governors are set out in the Scheme of Delegation, which is reviewed on an annual basis.

Link to Scheme of Delegation

Link to Articles of Association

 Meet the Governors:

Marie Louise Thirlaway: Head Teacher:

Marie Louise was brought up in North Yorkshire and went to St Joseph's Primary school in Wetherby followed by The Bar Grammar School in York. After leaving school, she worked as a nanny for a year before going to Trinity and All Saints College of Leeds University to study for a joint Honours degree in French and Primary Education. During her degree, she spent a term studying at the University of Angers during her first year and a year in France working as an English Language Assistant. After graduating, Marie Louise moved to Northumberland where she taught  Years 5-8 in a Middle School in Alnwick for 3 years and then Nursery to Year 4 at Whittingham First School for 4 years. She and her husband moved back to North Yorkshire when their children were young and Marie Louise worked at All Saints Primary School in Thirsk teaching Reception and Year 1 before becoming Deputy Head and Y3/4 teacher at Leeming RAF Primary School. She became Head teacher at Marton cum Grafton in September 2003 and absolutely loves working here with such fantastic children, dedicated staff and governors and supportive parents.

Rev Sarah Feaster: Foundation Governor, Ex Officio:

Since July 2017 Sarah has been the vicar of the local group of churches (Marton cum Grafton, Whixley, Green Hammerton, Great Ouseburn, and Little Ouseburn). She believes it’s a great privilege to be a governor at Marton Cum Grafton. Before training for the ministry she was a design engineer working for David Brown’s in Huddersfield and then a business consultant for a credit-scoring company in Bradford. When her children were young she was a foundation governor at their primary school in Leeds. Rev Sarah also helped, in a voluntary capacity, to set up a charity which teaches English to refugees in Harehills of which she is still a trustee. 

Adam Croft: Chair and Foundation Governor:

Adam was elected as a parent governor in May 2018 and has since become a foundation governor. With 1 child just starting their academic journey at Marton Cum Grafton in 2017, and another who joined in 2020, Adam was keen to bring his business expertise to the governing body, and take an active role in helping to develop the future direction of the  academy. He lives in the nearby village of Minskip and is joint owner & director of an import-export business specialising in trade with Ukraine. Outside of family and work, motorsport is his passion and Adam has competed in a number of national motor racing Championships for the last 10 years.

Andy Shanks: Foundation Governor

Andy lived in the village all his childhood and attended the school from 1970 to 1976. He still maintains links with the village as his mother lives just a few yards from the school gates. He joined as an Associate Governor in 2021 with his main motivation being to put something back into the school where he enjoyed such happy childhood times. Outside of school he lives in Harrogate and works as Business Systems Manager for one of the leading safety, survey, communications & test & measurement equipment companies in the UK. Prior to this he has mainly worked in Finance roles and is a qualified accountant. He brings strong business, finance, IT and project planning experience to the role. He is also a qualified Mental Health First Aider and is passionate about mental well-being both in and out of the workplace. Outside of work/school he is a huge music fan who also enjoys photography, walking and good beer! He is Link Governor for Health and Safety.

Di Wharmby: foundation Governor

Di and her husband moved to the area from the North West in 2020 to be nearer to their daughter and have a grand-daughter at the academy.  Di trained as a Maths teacher and worked for 40 years in secondary education in the South East, Midlands and North West. Her last 20 years were spent at a C of E comprehensive school in the North West where she held posts as Head of Maths, Director of Training School and Assistant Head. As Director of Training School she was involved in teacher training and recruitment and, having obtaining a Master’s Degree in Education and Leadership, worked in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University to deliver Master’s Degrees to teachers from local schools.  Since retiring in 2011 she has been a governor at a C of E primary school in Hebden Bridge and a governor at a Hospital Trust in Calderdale. Her aim as a teacher was to develop an environment in which every child matters and to enable every child to reach his/her potential. She hopes to use her skills and experience to support and assist in the work and developments of Marton Cum Grafton for both staff and pupils.

Helen Gleeson : Foundation Governor:

Helen was appointed as a Foundation Governor in December 2023. She is new to Marton cum Grafton and Yorkshire having moved to the village from Guildford in Surrey the previous year and was keen to get as involved in the local community as she could. She has had a varied working life including marketing and sales roles mainly in the financial sector and is also a qualified a primary school teacher. She is hoping that this mix of experience will bring useful insight into her role as governor. She has 3 grown up children and in her spare time loves all sports, is a keen tennis player and swimmer, and loves spending time in her very overgrown garden!

Vacancy: Foundation Governor:

Luke Tabiner: Parent Governor

 Luke moved to the village of Marton cum Grafton in 2021 and has 1 child who attends the academy and another who will be joining in a couple of years. Luke has been a teacher for 15 years and has taught in different areas of Leeds. He is currently a deputy head of a diverse inner city primary school with experience of leading Early Years and other key priorities in school such as Safeguarding, Attendance and Behaviour. He is passionate about education and the impact a school and its local community can have on pupils. Luke loves his job and appreciates the opportunities and challenges that come with working in a school and will use this knowledge and experience to support the academy as a parent governor. 

Nicola Brownbridge: Parent Governor

Nicola has lived in the village since 2014 and is proud to be part of the special community that exists within Marton Cum Grafton. She has 2 children at the school.  She is a town planner by profession, with a 15yr career involving environmental protection, development and the consenting of large-scale energy infrastructure projects. Nicola manages a large team of property professionals, with key skills in project management, strategy, leading multi-disciplinary meetings, and stakeholder engagement. Education has been an incredibly important part of Nicola’s life and career and she is keen to impart this positive experience.  Nicola is open, honest, hard-working, and positive and hopes that such qualities will provide a strong foundation as a parent governor.    

 Steve Walkington; Staff Governor

Kate Stephenson: Associate Member: 

Kate Stephenson and her husband have lived in the village since 2018. Kate is a qualified accountant (ACCA) and tax adviser (ATT) working solely in practice. However a few years ago Kate decided to take a step back and focus on her 2 children who both attend Marton Cum Grafton Primary School and our businesses. Kate also works on a self employed basis at a nearby vineyard doing the bookkeeping and accounts. In her spare time Kate enjoys spending time with family and friends, exercising and travelling.

Resignation:

Georgina Bean Foundation governor resigned on 23rd July 2020

Kathryn Lumb Staff governor resigned 15th July 2021 

David Garland Foundation governor resigned in May 2022

Johnny Hammond Foundation resigned 30th June 2022

Jane Yeadon staff resigned 30th June 2022 

Brian Symth Foundation governor resigned 15th November 2022

Karen Streets Foundation governor resigned 31st July 2023

Jessica Mudd Foundation governor resigned 30th April 2024

Governor Attendance: 

Governor Attendance 2022-2023

Governor Attendance 2021-2022

Governor Attendance 2020-2021