Our Governing Body
Governance at Woodfield
As part of Empower Multi-academy Trust, Woodfield Infant School has a very effective governance structure. The board of Trustees is responsible for the three core functions of governance of the school:
• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
Woodfield Local Governing Body Skills Audit
Governance Structures and Lines of Accountability
The board of trustees appoint the chief executive (CEO), to whom it delegates responsibility for delivery of its vision and strategy, and will hold the CEO to account for the conduct and performance of the trust, including the performance of the academies within the trust, and for its financial management.
In turn, the CEO line manages other senior executives and the academies’ headteachers, setting their targets and performance managing them.
The board constitutes committees for finance and standards; these look in detail at resources and progress and attainment across the trust. At least three trustees must sit on each of these board committees.
The board delegates some of its school level monitoring and scrutinising functions to Local Governing Bodies (LGBs), and uses these committees to promote stakeholder engagement and as a point of consultation and representation. Trustees do not need to sit on LGBs, and so lines of communication to the board of trustees are clearly established, with chairs of LGBs meeting on a termly basis with the CEO and trustees.
Our Local Governing Body Team
The Local Governing Body of Woodfield Infant School represents interested parties such as parents, staff, the wider community and the Empower MAT Board of Trustees. We meet regularly, usually twice each term. The governors are volunteers with various careers and life experiences who bring with them different ideas and perspectives. Although every governor is different they all have one common aim at heart, to provide a high quality education for the children of the school.
The governing body consists of 7 governors who are either appointed or elected. The governing body consists of nine volunteers, each serving for a four year term:
Board appointed (2 - appointed by the Empower Trust Board of Trustees)
Co-opted governors (3 - nominated by the LGB as members who have the necessary skills and expertise to will add to their work)
Parent governors (2 - elected by parents at the school)
In addition, the Headteacher works alongside the LGB to enable them to carry out their role and attend all meetings.
The Governing Body believes that all children deserve the best start to their educational life and we are constantly working with the headteacher to find new ways to improve the education the school provides.
If you would like to find out more about the work of the local governing body, or are interested in becoming a member of the LGB, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Robin Walker
Chair of Local Governing Body
Empower Trust
For more information about the governance of Empower Mulit-academy Trust, including information about the structure and remit of members and the board of trustees, please click here:
Name | Category | Term of office | |
Robin Walker
| Chair of Governors, MAT Board Appointed | October 2021 - October 2025 | I am a retired secondary school teacher, having spent the majority of my career as the Head of Technology, and ultimately Assistant Head Teacher, at Church Stretton School. My family live in Copthorne and my daughter attended both Woodfield and St. George's. I feel strongly about supporting local education and became a governor at Woodfield in 2021 and chair of governors in 2022. Woodfield is such an important contibutor to the local community and I am delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in further improvements and developments at the school. |
Maddie Griffin
| Co-opted. | January 2020 - January 2024 | I am a current head teacher at a large primary school in Telford. Experience: I was a Deputy Head teacher in York for before moving to Shrewsbury to become a Headteacher. As part of my role, I serve as a governor and so have experience of leading a school team and as part of different teams. My training and educational background will hopefully be useful in my role as a co-opted governor and vice-chair. Becoming a governor at Woodfield is my way of giving back to the school community. My child currently attends St George’s. Why I wanted to be a Governor: I went into teaching to better the lives of children and that remained the most important thing to me throughout my career. That will be what drives me as a governor here. I am also passionate about the welfare of the staff as I believe they are crucial to the effective running of the school and so will hope to be able to use my influence for that too. I am excited to be part of a school that I can see has high expectations for the children in its care. After working with some extremely committed governors in my role as a Headteacher, I am hoping to be just as useful to Woodfield by not only supporting the school in any way I can but also to challenge the leadership on behalf of the children and staff here.
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Lauren Morgan
| Vice Chair of Governors 2023/2024. Parent Governor | October 2021 - October 2025 | I am Director of my own business, and also work for the NHS in a safety and governance role. I have previously been a lecturer at the University of Oxford. I have 3 children across the Woodfield and St Georges schools. I am passionate at ensuring the best education opportunities are afforded to all children who attend Woodfield, and will continue to advocate for them in my role as a governor. |
| Paul Donoghue | Parent Governor | November 2021 - November 2025 | I am currently the Head of PE, at Belvidere school in Shrewsbury. I have previously worked at Meole Brace school as a PE teacher and Ounsdale Secondary, in Wolverhampton, as Head of Year. My daughter currently attends Woodfield and my son is due to start in September. I feel very privileged, in my role as parent governor, to be a part of the team helping to secure the education and love of learning that Woodfield promotes every day. |
Karen Matthews
| MAT Board Appointed
| October 2022 to October 2026 | I am currently Headteacher and Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) at The Wilfred Owen School, also part of the Empower Multi-Academy Trust. I have worked at The Wilfred Owen school since September 2009 and have held the role of SENCO since 2013. Within this time, I have actively been involved in the growth and development of the school. I have lived in Copthorne since 2002, so not only understand the school through collaborative working within Empower Trust, but also the importance of the school within the local community. |
Rebecca Preece
| Acting Headteacher | Term continues throughout time as Headteacher | My name is Beck Preece. I am the Acting Headteacher and SENCo at Woodfield Infant School. I have been part of the Woodfield Team since 1997, starting here as a newly qualified teacher. I became SENCO in September 2017 and Head of School in April 2021. I became Acting Headteacher in September 2023. As Acting Headteacher, and as SENCo, I am passionate about securing the best possible opportunities for all children in school and in developing each individual child's interests. knowledge and skills in order to prepare them for the next stage of their journey . As part of the Executive Leadership Team across Woodfield and St. George's Junior School, I help to extend and deepen the links between both schools, in order to provide a linear learning experience across both settings. I contribute to developing teachers of the future through the Chester University's Initial Teaching Training programme where I facilitate the delivery of science across the primary phase. |
