At Hartington Church of England Primary School, our Governing Body works in partnership with the headteacher, staff, and other stakeholders to provide an environment where our pupils can thrive.

We have a range of experienced Governors, including parents, staff and educational professionals, members of the local community with diverse backgrounds and skills, and representatives of the Church. We work within the school’s distinctive Christian ethos, supporting the core values of Friendship, Compassion, Service, Generosity, Trust and Respect. Governors spend time in the school, working with staff and pupils. We meet termly (6 meetings annually) and have a number of committees that meet to strategically support the school in finance, safeguarding, curriculum and leadership.

Governors are expected to play a key role in school life. Our role is to support the school, but more importantly, to help the school continually improve. The role of the Governors is strategic – making key decisions that help to take the school forward. Day-to-day decisions rest firmly with the Headteacher and the teaching staff.

The Department for Education defines three core strategic functions of Governors: –

· Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos, and strategic direction.

· Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.

· Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

This means that we have to know the school really well, so that we can agree on the priorities for action. Although we are always supportive, we also have to be able to challenge things when we think they should be done differently or better. At the heart of all we do are the children. All Governors are committed to securing the very best education for the children who attend Hartington C of E Primary School.

We are very proud, and feel very fortunate to have such a nurturing, caring, and wonderful school in our community at Hartington, and we are passionate about ensuring it’s success both now and in the future, so it will continue to be at the heart of our village and in the heart of our families, old, new, and yet to come.

We are honoured to support the school in our role. If you would like to find out more about the governing body, then please feel free to contact me at alison.ivins@hartington.derbyshire.sch.uk

Alison Ivins – Chair of Governors  

The main function of governors is to see that the school is being effectively managed and you are invited to contact them on any matter concerning the life of the school.

The governors meet at least once each term.

Meeting dates for 2025/2026: 26th October 2025, 4th December 2025, 5th February 2026, 19th March 2026, 21st May 2026, 9th July 2026

Name	Governor Type	Start Date	End Date	Committee	Voting Rights	Declaration of  Interest
Miss Alison Ivins	Chair of Governors	23-March 2023	23-March 2027	Finance, HR Safeguarding & Curriculum	Full Governors & Committees	None
Mrs Carol Clayton	Co-opted	24-Oct 2024	24-Oct 2028	Curriculum, Safeguarding	Full Governors & Committees	None
Mr Lee Wilson-Hart	Parent	16-Oct 2025	16-Oct 2029		Full Governors & Committees
Mrs Tracy Blackwell	Headteacher	01-Sep -2013	On going	Curriculum, Assessment, H&S, Safeguarding and HR, Finance & Premises	Full Governors & Committees	None
Mrs Morag McNulty	Clerk to Governors	06-Mar -2024	On going			Director ITJD
Mrs Sue Bruce	Co-opted	24-Oct 2024	24-Oct 2028	Health & Safety	Full Governors & Committees	None
Mr Tim Polkinghorne	Co-Opted, Vice-Chair	22 Nov 2023	22-Nov 2027	Finance	Full Governors & Committees	None
Mrs Dorothy Hawton	Foundation	24 Oct 2024	24 Oct 2028	Policy Review	Full Governors & Committees	Trustee of Thomas Bateman Trust
Ms Gillian Dennis	Co-opted	24 Oct 2024	24 Oct  2028	Curriculum	Full Governors & Committees	None
Mrs Mary Drayton	Staff	4-May 2022	4 May 2026	Safeguarding, Staff, HR	Full Governors & Committees	Trustee of Ashbourne Playaway Related to Auditor
Mr Nick Rowe	Local Authority Gov	2-Mar 2023	2-Mar 2027	LA, Finance	Full Governors & Committees	None

Minutes

Governor Categories

Parent Governor – Elected by parents of children on roll at school

Staff Governor – Elected by staff at the school

Local Authority Governor – Nominated by the Local Authority but appointed by the Governing Body

Associate Governor – Appointed by the Governing Body

Foundation Governor – Appointed by virtue of the office they hold e.g. the Church

Co-opted – Appointed by the Governing Body

Full Governing Body meetings – Attendance record

	Voting Rights	10-7-25	16-10-25	04-12-25	05-02-26	19-03-26	21-05-26	09-07-26
Mrs Tracy Blackwell	Full Governors & Committees	Yes	Yes	Yes
Miss Alison Ivins	Full Governors & Committees,   Chair	Yes	Yes	No
Mr Tim Polkinghorne	Full Governors & Committees, Vice Chair	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mrs Dorothy Hawton	Full Governors & Committees Ex-Officio	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ms Gillian Dennis	Co-opted Governor	Yes	No	No
Mr Lee Wilson Hart	Parent Governor	N/A	Yes	Yes
Ms Mary Teeboon	Co-opted Governor	No	Yes	Yes
Mr Nick Rowe	Local Authority Governor	Yes	Yes	No
Mrs Carol Clayton	Co-opted Governor	No	Yes	No
Mrs Sue Bruce	Co-opted Governor	No	Yes	No
Mrs Morag McNulty	Temp. Clerk to Governors	Yes	Yes	Yes

Please click to see –

Governor Meeting Attendance Record Sept 2024 – Aug 2025

Any correspondence may be addressed to the Governors care of Hartington C of E Primary School or an email sent to governors@hartington.derbyshire.sch.uk

 If you wish to speak with a Governor please contact the school on 01298 84254.

Miss Alison Ivins – Chair & Parent Governor Favourite subject at school: English I have been connected to Hartington CofE Primary School as a parent since 2012, when my eldest children first started. From that moment I knew the school was really something special, and I have watched it grow and thrive as the truly marvellous and nurturing environment that it is. The team at Hartington are some of the most dedicated and compassionate people I have met in Education and they make sure that all the children there have access to a high quality education, within a beautifully caring environment. The children interact with the community and church regularly with stimulating projects, and the school remains a very important asset to the village. I simply can’t think of a better school and environment for all my children to undertake their Primary years. So when offered the opportunity to join the governing body I was delighted to be able to give something back and help support the staff and students at our wonderful school. I have myself worked in education since 2005. I have supported in Primary education and then went on to teach English in Secondary before becoming an English Lecturer. Since 2017 I have held Senior Management positions within the Further and Higher Education and Skills sector. I endeavour to support the school with my skills and knowledge, and I have a broad range of experience with educational management, curriculum, systems, policies and finance. But my real passion lies with literacy and numeracy, and ensuring that all students have access to the support they need to be successful in this area. In my current role I work with 16+ learners that have failed to achieve their gateway English and maths qualifications at school, often because they have not had a positive educational experience, and have not necessarily had access to an encouraging and excellent school such as Hartington in their formative educational years. So I work at the other end of the education spectrum to enable school leavers and adults to succeed in English and maths so that they can progress in either further/higher education or employment, and improve their future prospects and opportunities.

Tracy Blackwell – Head Teacher  Favourite subjects at school: PE, Art and Literacy. As well as having the privilege of being Head Teacher here at Hartington C of E Primary and enjoying the honour of working alongside the youngsters here on a daily basis; teaching and nurturing them; watching them grow and develop, I am also incredibly pleased to work alongside the dedicated governor team to ensure the right decisions are made for the good of both pupils and staff alike. It is really lovely to be in a position to lead the school and work so closely with passionate members of our local community including partners, staff and residents. This school has always had a strong Christian ethos, which is reflected in the vision of being at the heart of the community and working in partnership to provide the best quality holistic education for every child.

Mr Tim Polkinghorne – Vice Chair Governor I decided to join Hartington School as a co opted governor to offer support for the school staff and fellow governors. The mountain of policies, systems and procedures that exist for much larger schools also has to be addressed in this village school. The staff remain passionate about individual pupil progress and it feels good to offer time and support to such dedicated committed members of teaching staff and governors in a village school Thank you for all your efforts – much appreciated by many parents.

Mrs Dorothy Hawton – Ex Officio Having recently retired from teaching, I decided that I would like to continue my interest in education by listening to the children read in Hartington School. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and the way they support and encourage each other in their learning.  I very much hope that I can make a further contribution to this thriving community in my role as a governor. Speaking as a member of St Giles’ congregation, we would like to strengthen the links with the school and find creative ways to work with the children. I have enjoyed the services where the children have demonstrated their great talent and realise that there will be mutual benefits from such a partnership. Finally, as we live in such a beautiful part of the country, I look forward to helping with any activities which encourage the children to appreciate and care for their environment. This is so important for the development of thoughtful, responsible young people we need for the future.

Ms Gillian Dennis – Co-Opted Governor I have been teaching for over twenty years, initially in primary, but then in secondary education.  During this time, I have also taught English GCSE to adults as an Adult Education Tutor for Derbyshire County Council, finally concentrating on just this aspect of teaching.  This has been very rewarding as I have supported adults of all ages back into learning and encouraged them to overcome their barriers to learning, often from bad experiences at school as a child.  This has made me very aware of the real necessity of a positive, caring atmosphere for children at school and the importance of links with the church.  Although I only moved to Hartington a few years ago, I am pleased to now be able to have the opportunity to support the school as a governor.  I am interested in the environment and concerned at the cost of negative human impact on our world.  I spend much of my time outdoors with my dogs.

Ms Mary Teeboon – Staff Governor and Co-opted Governor Favourite subjects at school – history and child development I have been working here at Hartington C of E Primary School since September 2009, initially as a SENTA and then more recently as EYFS co-ordinator, having completed further training to become a HLTA in the summer of 2020. I am now pleased to have joined the governing body where I am able to offer my continually developing knowledge of safeguarding and the curriculum. I also have experience of being a governor at another primary school and am a deputy manager for an additional needs play scheme, which I have been a part of for 20 years. I feel the schools Christian vision of ‘Caring and Sharing as part of God’s family’ is demonstrated daily by the whole school community and the school is a warm and caring environment that works hard to develop links between families, the local community and the church. I feel honoured to be a part of the school team and to know that my experience and input are appreciated.

Mr Nick Rowe – Local Authority Governor Having lived in rural villages for most of my adult life, I appreciate how fortunate Hartington and its surrounding areas are to have an excellent Primary School forming part of the local community. With a background of forty years working for large global companies, where I held senior positions, I hope that some of the skills and knowledge I have acquired can be productively employed in retaining and developing such a valuable asset. Access to high quality state education provided me with many opportunities and in a similar manner I hope that I can contribute to ensuring that Hartington Primary School establishes a firm foundation for all of its pupils in their formative years.

Mrs Carol Clayton – Co-opted Governor

Mrs Sue Bruce – Co-opted Governor

Vacancy – Parent Governor Clerk to Governors – Mrs Morag McNulty