Byron Primary School

Local Governing Body

What is it?

All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school.

Byron Primary School converted to become an academy in January 2016 and is part of The Westbrook Trust.

Who are your governors?

 Our governing body consists of:

• The head teacher
• 3 parent governors
• 3 co-opted governors
  
• 1 elected staff governors

The governance structure of The Westbrook Trust can be viewed here.

The standard term of office for a governor is four years. The chair and vice-chair are elected annually at the first meeting of the academic year.

The chair of governors is Miss Lilian Gould.  Messages for her can be left at the school office or emailed via  byronoffice@thewestbrooktrust.org

Local Governing Body - Byron Primary

*Table below updated 23/05/2019

Biographies of the Local Governing body at Byron

Miss Lillian Gould - Chair of Governing Body
Co-opted Governor

“Lillian is a lifetime resident of Gillingham, being educated in the area before going to Rochester Grammar School for Girls. On leaving school she joined KCC and had a variety of posts within the Education Department until retiring in 2003. These roles gave her regular contact with schools, parents and professionals in education, health and social services. She holds a Diploma in Municipal Administration. Whilst working Lillian was based in various parts of the county, but upon retirement felt that she wanted to return to her roots, becoming a school governor some 10 years ago, and also volunteering for other community organisations in Medway.”

Mr Jon Carthy - Head Teacher

"Jon started his career as a TEFL teacher in a Hungarian Primary School, teaching Business English and working as a residential course Director for The British Council. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1999 and continued his career teaching and leading in primary schools as well as directing summer language school programmes in Kent. Jon has a particular interest in school recovery and has a strong track record working with schools in challenging circumstances as part of the leadership team of a highly successful primary school and Sure Start Centre in Medway. He continues to be a member of this team in addition to leading Byron Primary School.  He has also been a school improvement consultant for Medway Council and a school governor since 2005 (various schools)."

Mr James Smith
Co-opted Governor

"Jim worked for the Church of England for almost 37 years, at the central offices in London. His work included financial roles, but he ended in the team that deals with policy for HR for parish clergy. He has been a governor of Byron School since 1990. He became a governor just when the Government introduced the national curriculum, and began to allow schools to have some responsibility for their management, and has seen all the developments since. High points of his time as governor have been the school’s centenary celebrations in 1996, and the success in obtaining money from Government to build the new block of classrooms in 2002/2003."

Mr Richard Gibbons - Vice-Chair of Governing Body
Parent Governor

"Richard has been a parent governor for Byron since 2009 and has lived in Medway since  1988 when he moved to Chatham from Tunbridge Wells.  Richard has four children, the youngest two of whom have been lucky enough to be educated at Byron, with the youngest still in attendance.  Richard has worked in the banking industry for the last 20 years, based in Medway, London, Edinburgh & Belfast, before starting in his current role looking after the Intermediary Market across Kent and Essex, which he has been doing for the last 6 years."

Mr Timothy Parsons                                                                                                                                                                                     Parent Governor 

"Tim is married to Caroline and has two children, one of whom attends Byron Road. Tim is Chaplain to South East Coast Ambulance service as well as running a computer support business to local businesses and home users. Tim is an active member of Gillingham Baptist Church and recently has become an author publishing a children's book called "Paramedic Chris" which is aimed at the age group of between 0 and 8 years old. In his spare time Tim enjoys playing with his train set, reading, playing his guitar, Second World War films, classic cars, family time, football and cooking. One of Tim's strengths is to help develop other peoples confidence and in particular supporting people going through mental health."

Mr Ben Gaughran                                                                                                                                                                                          Parent Governor

"Ben works as a secondary school Head of Music and Member of the Senior Leadership Team in a London school. He thoroughly enjoys working with young people and places significant value on the importance of a good education. He is the Bishop and presiding minister of the Gillingham 1st Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based on Twydall Lane. Along with his wife, Kerry, Ben is the Principal of Little Voices West Kent providing drama and singing lessons of distinction to young people throughout West Kent, particularly in Medway. Ben and Kerry have 3 children, one who goes to Byron Primary School and another who will be joining in September 2018. In his free time, Ben likes to conduct choirs, play the piano, sing, and play golf. Most of all, he loves to spend time with his family. Ben is very excited to work with the Governing Body at Byron Primary School." 

Mr Graham Gorvett

Co-Opted Governor

“Born and brought up in South Wales, Graham came to the Medway Towns in 1983, when he joined the Kent County Council, Careers Service. Graham was initially based at the Divisional Council Offices at Kingsley House, Balmoral Road, Gillingham. Graham worked for the Careers Service in Kent and Medway for 21 years, progressing from Trainee Careers Adviser to the Senior Management Team. In 2003, Graham joined the staff at Mid-Kent College, where he was responsible for students with additional learning support needs. During 2005, Graham took on a new role at the University of Kent, where he was initially, Student Services Manager at the Medway Campus before becoming Head of Student Support and Wellbeing, for all campuses of the University. Graham took early retirement from the University in 2015. Following early retirement, Graham has worked for two charities, in the Medway area; ‘Kids’ and ‘Carers First.’ He is currently a volunteer at Carers First and Spadework; a garden centre / plant nursery, which provides life skills training and work experience for people with learning disabilities.
Graham is also a part-time student, attending horticulture courses at Hadlow College. He has just taken over an allotment at the Hempstead Road / Chapel Lane site.
Graham has been involved with education and educational support for most of his working life and is keen to be involved with the Byron Primary School community.
Graham has a personal connection with Byron Primary - his son-in-law was a pupil between 1991 and 1998.”

Miss Becky Masters
Staff Governor

“Becky has been a teacher since September 2009. She worked as a supply teacher for two years and was able to teach across the Primary School from Reception to Year 6. However Becky’s passion is for the Early Years of Education. As the second oldest of one of five siblings she has grown up with young children around her which may be the reason for this. Becky has enjoyed taking on extra roles in her career at Byron Primary School.”

Documents

• Supplemental Funding Agreement
• Master Funding Agreement
• Articles of Association
• Trust Annual Report 2016
• Declaration of Business Interests