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Governors

Our Governors

The Board of Governors work tirelessly throughout the year to support the school.

The Full Governing Body meets five times a year. There is also a range of sub-committees which meet twice per term to oversee the progress made with the school development plan, the implementation of our various policies and to help determine the strategic direction of Furze Platt Senior School.

Welcome message from our Chair of Governors 
 

Welcome Year 7 / new parents and students

Firstly to all new FPSS parents, whichever year group, thank you for choosing Furze Platt and entrusting us with your son or daughter’s education.

We never forget you have a choice or take it for granted, every student matters and by joining the school they and you have become part of a great community. A community which is committed to helping them; learn, develop, grow, try new things and leave the school well equipped to seize life’s opportunities and make the most of their potential.

For Year 7 students and parents the change from a Junior/Primary school environment to a Senior school one is huge. Moving from a smaller school where you know everyone to a much larger campus and knowing probably only a handful of people from the previous school is daunting for the whole family. Parents in particular please do take the opportunity to get involved when you can.

PTFA

Our fantastic team of parent volunteers on the PTFA (click here for details) always need more help and support and do an excellent job of raising much needed funds and would love to hear from you.  

If you are interested at any stage in becoming a governor do get in touch with me through the school (click here for details) and we can talk further about the role and what is involved.

New staff

A warm welcome to you all from Governors, we hope you really enjoy your time here and make a real difference to our students and your careers.

 

Hugh Steed, Chair of Governors

 

FPSS Governors Annual Statement to Parents 

Governors’ Statement to Parents 2022-23 Academic Year

This academic year marked my first as Chair of the Governing Body and I want to thank Gavin Tisshaw again for his considerable contribution first as Governor and subsequently as Chair for many years. 

Our focus as a governing body was to continue supporting the school’s emergence from the shadow of COVID19 and to adopt an even more strategic approach.

It was very positive to see another year of regular KS4 and KS5 examinations take place and we note that for KS5, this was their first public examination experience. It was a pleasure to attend the Year 11 Graduation ceremony and to see students enjoy the Prom and other landmark end of stage celebrations. We wish all who are moving on from Furze Platt every success. 

Our Strategic Plan continues to influence the longer term direction of Furze Platt and the agreed priorities and targets are firmly embedded in the latest School Development Plan.

To ensure focus on these priorities the Governance and Staffing committees were incorporated into the Full Governing Body meaning the three core committees; Resources, Quality Of Education (formerly Teaching and Learning) and Pupils & Parents can concentrate on helping the school work towards the strategic objectives. These committees meet regularly throughout the year.

We welcomed new members to our team of governors, adding valuable new skills and experience. However, it is vital that we continue to strengthen the Governing Body through ongoing training, recruiting new members and effective succession planning.  

Quality of Education (formerly Teaching and Learning)

Last year governors on our committee refocused on supporting the school in achieving its longer-term improvement goals, including the monitoring of successful ongoing school improvement plans for a small number of subjects. We also have an increased emphasis on first-hand experience through governor visits into school.

Our school continues to work very hard to ensure that students continue to catch up as far as possible with any learning they lost during the pandemic. Post Covid, 2023 was the first summer that students sat fully examiner assessed GCSE and A level exams. Our committee's focus on monitoring the school’s post-Covid academic performance, including the performance of vulnerable groups such as disadvantaged students and students with SEND, continues.

We are delighted to see the educational benefits that the introduction of Laptops for Learning brought to students in Year 7 and 10 in 2022-23 and look forward to the benefits of the scheme being extended to the remaining KS3 and KS4 students in school this year.

Going forward, we see an increased emphasis on supporting the school in all academic aspects of education, including curriculum, hence our committee’s change of name to ‘Quality of Education’. Our committee has many aspects of education to cover, and we would welcome additional governors to help us with our work.

Resources  

The Resources Committee had a full agenda including ongoing budget monitoring and policy reviews, as well as agreeing bids for funding to update the school infrastructure. This includes the recent investment in solar energy panels in partnership with MaidEnergy, which is reflective of the School’s commitment to work towards Carbon Neutral and allows Furze Platt to invest in education rather than paying higher energy bills.

The School’s IT strategy has been an integral part of the work of the Resources Committee, including continuing with the Laptops for Learning initiative which was launched in September 2022.

The Committee incorporates the School’s Audit Committee that agrees a programme of work annually to deliver internal scrutiny.

 

Pupils & Parents

This year saw the introduction of the new House system. The Committee has evaluated its success, including reviewing how well the new structure has been embedded.

Monitoring behaviour within school has remained a major focus, with the Committee continuing to seek information on low level disruption, as well as tracking isolations and exclusions. The complexity of student needs continues to increase, and the Committee has reviewed the interventions put in place by the Pastoral Team. Supporting student wellbeing, particularly amongst our more vulnerable students and those with mental health issues, has become an increasingly prominent area of concern this year, due in part to the decreasing availability of local authority provision.

Hearing directly from Furze Platt students is an essential principle of this committee and we have sought their views on various topics, including the introduction of the Laptops for Learning scheme. Governing Body scrutiny of safeguarding procedures, in terms of student safety, staff training and recruitment, is an ongoing requirement and has been a focus of governor visits and meetings.

Behaviour and student wellbeing will remain key areas for Pupils & Parents to review next year.

Hugh Steed

Chair of Governors

       

Furze Platt Senior School Governing Body 

The Governing Body works in a committee structure. Governors are members of the Full Governing Body (FGB) and belong to one or more committee/s, depending on their skills, experience and interests.

Committees 

Quality of Education (QoE)

Pupils & Parents (P&P)

Resources

 

Governing Body as of January 2024

Name

Position

Appointing Body

Date of appointment

End date/

Leaving date

Committee

Mr Hugh Steed

Member / Chair of Governors

Members / FGB

14/07/2022

13/07/2026

Resources

Mrs Katie Donnison

Vice Chair of Governors

FGB

21/09/2021

20/09/2025

Resources

QoE

 P&P

Mr Hugh Boulter

Independent Member

Members

14/12/2020

13/12/2024

 n/a

Mrs Susan Le Page

Independent Member

Members

14/12/2020

13/12/2024

n/a

Mr Gavin Tisshaw

Independent Member

Members

14/12/2022

13/12/2026

n/a

Dr Andrew Morrison

Governor / Headteacher

FGB

01/09/2018

n/a

All

Mrs Nabeela Akhtar

Governor

FGB

02/12/2021

01/12/2025

Pupils & Parents

Mr Michael Clayton

Governor

FGB

21/09/2021

20/09/2025

Resources

Mrs Jacqui Edwards

Governor

FGB

28/09/2023

27/09/2027

Chair QoE

P&P

Ms Josie Fray

Parent Governor

Parents

01/12/2022

30/11/2026

P&P

Mrs Diane Flood

Governor

FGB

23/09/2021

22/09/2025

Chair P&P

QoE

Mrs Jo Smith Parent Governor Parents 23/01/2024 22/01/2028  
Mrs Kate Winrow Davies Parent Governor Parents 23/01/24 22/01/28  

Mr Shane Woodhatch

Governor 

FGB

23/09/2021

22/09/2025

Chair Resources

Mr Noel Wood

Parent Governor

Parents

01/12/2022

 30/11/2026

QoE

 

Historical Governors

Name                                                 Leaving date

Mr Gavin Tisshaw                           25 September 2022

Mrs Yvette Shervell                         14 November 2022

Mrs Janet Fitzgibbon                      29 November 2022

Mr Roger Semper-Smith                2 December 2022

Ms Sharan Webb                             16 March 2023

Mr Jack Douglas                              21 April 2023

Mrs Laraine Holdsworth                18 September 2023

 

Pecuniary interests:  No Governors declared pecuniary interests. 

No governors declared a governorship at another school

Declarations of interest: Please click here to see our Declarations of interest

How to contact our Chair of Governors

To contact our Chair of Governors please either email: hugh.steed@furzeplatt.net or by post marked for the attention of Hugh Steed, Chair of Governors, c/o Furze Platt Senior School, Furze Platt Road, Maidenhead SL6 7NQ.