Governors
The Lanes Governing Body
Welcome to The Lanes Primary School.
The governors of the school are volunteers and our main role is to work with the school ensuring that your children receive the best possible education in a supportive and safe setting. To this end we have three core strategic functions which are:
- Making sure that everyone is clear about the school’s vision for your children and how the school plans to realise the vision.
- Working with the Head Teacher to ensure that your children do the best they can and that all the staff are supported and trained, to work with them to the best of their ability.
- Making sure the funding is well spent, by seeking value for money and targeting resources to areas that will best help your children achieve their full potential.
The membership consists of a diverse and enthusiastic team of people from the school and local community including teachers, parents, governors elected for a specific skill (co-opted) and local authority governors (elected by the body that is responsible for maintaining the school).
Together with the pupils and staff, we set the aims and objectives for the school, develop policies and targets to achieve those objectives and monitor and evaluate progress of the school towards these objectives.
The governing body structure consists of the following;
The “Full Governing Body” (FGB)
The “Finance, Premises and Personnel committee” (FP&P)
The “Pupils, Standards and Strategy committee” (PS&S)
The Full Governing Body meet termly. These meetings carry out formal business, receive reports from committees, ratify decisions made in them and discuss the management of the school.
The Finance, Premises and Personnel committee meets at least once per term, and is responsible for staffing and personnel issues including overseeing the appointment of new staff. It monitors the delivery of the school budget and allocation of funds. It is responsible for ensuring the premises are in a good state of repair and the grounds well maintained. It also has responsibility for regularly carrying out safety checks to make sure that the school is complying with Health and Safety legislation.
The Pupils, Standards and Strategy committee meets at least once per term, and is responsible for monitoring the delivery of the National Curriculum and learning within the school. It reviews school policies and makes sure that the requirements of children with disabilities/special needs are met. It is also responsible for overseeing standards, and the overall strategy associated with curriculum development within the school.
Some governors have specific roles such as headteacher appraisal, child protection governor, health and safety etc. These are listed in the Governor details document below.
Occasionally special committees need to be created to deal with certain issues e.g. a pupil discipline committee or Employee Grievance committee. These would be made of appropriate representatives from within the School Governing body as and when required.
The list of governors is given below, along with a document providing specific details we are required to declare. As the school and governing body is new, it is not possible to provide attendance to meetings for the last academic year.
Should you have any issues or questions please contact the governors on governors@thelanes.notts.sch.uk or via the school offices.
Andy Barker
Chair of Governors
Our School Governors
Andrew Barker Co-Opted Chair of Governors
|  | I started as a Parent Governor, many years ago, as my two children started and worked their way through Meadow Lane and College House Schools. My career was in telecommunications (Ericsson), but I have now retired. I am a co-opted governor, which like all governing body positions runs for 4 years before coming up for re-election. Appraisal Governor. Link Governor Responsibility: Appraisal, GDPR & Behaviour/Safeguarding. |
Sheila Birchall
|  | I have been a Governor at Meadow Lane and then at the Lanes for over thirty years, since my own children attended. I am very proud of the school and happy to be able to contribute to its achievements. I am on both the Committees and the Pay Committee and also undertake the Head Teacher Appraisal with the Chair. We both ensure that this is a rigorous, independently reviewed process and expect good evidence of the schools performance to support our judgements. I am the link governor for the Teaching Assistants and for Pupil Premium and also the Health & Safety Governor for the Meadow Lane site. Appraisal Governor. Link Governor Responsibility: Teaching Assistants & Pupil Premium |
Joanne Revill Head Teacher |  | My name is Mrs Revill and I am the Head teacher of The Lanes Primary School. I am from Derby, married with two grown up daughters and a season ticket holder at Derby County. I love walking, travelling and I try to keep fit and active. I have been in teaching since I left university a very long time ago and I can honestly say that there has never been a doubt that this was the right career choice. Every day is different and I love the diverse nature of my role. I was the Head teacher of Meadow Lane Infant school from September 2008. I was then the Head teacher of Meadow Lane and College House and then saw the schools through the amalgamation in 2017 when we become The Lanes Primary School. I am so proud of all that we have achieved at school and I am hugely fortunate to work with such great children, families, staff and governors. The school is moving forwards all the time and we strive to be a part of the local community and support all our families. |
Thomas Herbert Co-opted Governor |  | I am a barrister based in Nottingham, specialising in civil litigation including medical negligence, health & safety, inquests, employment and education law. I attended College House Junior School (as it then was) as a child, moving on to Chilwell School. I then read Chemistry at the University of York before returning to Nottingham to study law. As a student, I regularly volunteered at College House. This included helping on residential visits, teaching advanced mathematics to year 6 pupils and producing a number of videos for parents about the transition between Meadow Lane and College House. I have thus seen the school develop and improve over a number of years and now, as a governor, I take a more active role in ensuring that this continues. In what exists of my spare time, my interests include current affairs, food, spending time with family and friends and hiking. Link Governor Responsibility: Quality Assurance. |
Leah Wignell Co-opted Governor |  | Since 2012 I have been a teacher at The Lanes and a governor here since 2017. I began teaching in Oxford prior to moving to Nottingham many years ago and my varied roles have involved working as an advisory teacher as well as teaching children across the nursery to Key Stage 2 age range. I have 2 children, both of whom are pupils are at The Lanes. My interests involve travel, walking, cycling, running, music and real ale. |
Jamie Twycross Co-opted Governor |  | I am a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, where I have worked in various roles since 2004. Prior to this, I have worked as a research engineer in industry, and as a English language teacher and teacher trainer for eight years, four of which were spent living and working in Central America. Academically, I have a background in Computer Science, Adaptive Systems and Mathematical Physics. I currently also sit on the Board of Trustees of a local preschool. I have two young daughters, the eldest of whom attends The Lanes. Link Governor: Assessment |
Arzoo Naghiyev Parent Governor |  | I am a mum of two young children who attend The Lanes Primary. I work in Human Factors in Rail Systems Integration. My job involves understanding people and their interactions within systems, and to support their physical and cognitive capabilities through engineering design. I have worked on major engineering projects in the rail, nuclear and defence industries. I completed my degrees in Psychology and Human Factors at the University of Nottingham, where I also completed my PhD and worked as a Research Fellow. I have teaching experience and a PGCE in Secondary Science, as well as a keen interest in SEND and neurodiversity. I enjoy being part of the school community and hope my wide range of skills and experience will provide valuable support to the school community. Link Governor: SEND |
Cheryl Heath Co-opted Governor |  | I have been a school governor since 2001. Prior to joining The Lanes as a co-opted governor I was a parent governor at a local senior school that my two sons attended. There I was involved with the amalgamation and subsequent change to a multi school academy. In 2016 I was looking for a new challenge and learnt of the amalgamation of Meadow Lane and College House, two schools that I myself attended as a pupil and was fortunate enough to be accepted as a local authority governor. I have undertaken many governor roles over the years, but for the majority of these I have been a link governor for Special Educational Needs (SEN).There is no one size fits all education for SEN children, they are all unique and I am passionate that our SEN pupils are enabled to achieve their best outcomes both academically and socially as they move through our school. I have found it a privilege to be a governor at this most welcoming school where challenge and new ideas are embraced. Link Governor Responsibility: SEND & Pupil Wellbeing |
Anna Hodkin Associate Governor Deputy Head Teacher |  | I am the Deputy Head Teacher and have responsibility for Teaching & learning and Assessment. I am an Associate Governor. |
Rob Guyler Co-opted Vice Chair of Governors |  |
Link Governor Responsibility: Child Protection & Safeguarding. |
Rebecca Wise Parent Governor |  | I am a registered occupational psychologist working in the field of disability and employment. My role involves applying psychology to enhance the employment opportunities of people with disabilities and health conditions, helping them to get a job and keep it. I also design and deliver training on disabilities, coaching and communication techniques. My specialisms are autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia and mental health. My son is currently a pupil at The Lanes, and i have a teenage daughter who also attended the school. Link Governor: RSHE. |
Michaela Brown Associate Governor Deputy Head Teacher |  | I am the Deputy Head Teacher and SENCo in school. I work hard with the staff to ensure that children with SEND in school receive a high quality education and appropriate support. I am an associate governor. |
Helen Faccio Parent Governor |  | I have two young sons, one of whom attends The Lanes, while the other is still a toddler. I attended Meadow Lane, College House and Chilwell schools before studying English at the University of Birmingham. I completed a postgraduate qualification in newspaper journalism and worked as a journalist in local press in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for 10 years. I then worked for a Member of Parliament, where I was responsible for their communications, media relations, speechwriting and research on subjects relevant to constituency work and Parliamentary debates. I am now a public relations consultant for a London-based PR agency. I am also the chair of Stapleford Netball Club and play netball competitively for one of the club’s adult teams. Link Governor: English. |
Helen Carré Staff Governor |  | Since 2008 I have been a TA at what was College House Junior School and is now The Lanes. I started my career in education as a Primary School teacher. I am married with 5 grown up children: 3 boys and 2 girls. When my children were young I was actively involved in school as a parent volunteer, helping in all areas of the curriculum. I was also a member of the Parents Fundraising Groups at Junior and Senior School. I became a TA in the Learning Support Department at Chilwell School for 5 years before returning to Primary Education. I love my job as a TA: seeing children develop and thrive is so rewarding. I am involved in Nurture work at the school, something I particularly enjoy. My hobbies include cooking, listening to music, reading, running, walking and spending time with my family and friends. |
Danielle Sirl Parent Governor |  | My professional background is in scientific research, specifically human genetics. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh and my PhD at the University of Leeds and then have worked as a research scientist in the field of human genetics. My work brought me to the University of Nottingham in 2008 and I was working there until I became a full time mum in 2015. I have two daughters who attend The Lanes and I value being part of the school community and the local community. When I moved to Nottingham I joined Beeston Hockey Club and was a captain for 3 years of the development team with an important role as a mentor/guide for the junior players there. I am an active participant at the local Beeston Parkrun, and have over 100 runs to my name. In 2012 I had the honour of being chosen by the University of Nottingham to represent the university in the Olympic Torch relay whilst on its journey through Nottingham. Link Governor: Pupil Voice |
Rachael Duthie Co-opted Governor |  | I am the Training and Development Manager for Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham (coordinating academic support and guidance in areas such as Intellectual Property Commercialisation (i.e. licensing technologies/spins out companies), business engagement, influencing government policies, public engagement). I started the position of Co-opted Governor at the Lanes Primary School in November 2019, having previously attended Meadow Lane Infant School and College House Junior School (a long time ago!). I am the Link Governor for the Early Years Framework Stage (EYFS) – the learning and development of children under 5 years. I am also the link Governor for Mental Health and Wellbeing - supporting the school to embed its mental health and wellbeing provision across the entire school. Link Governor Responsibility: Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Mental Health and Wellbeing. |