Our Governors

Our 2024/25 Annual Report

LGB Annual Report

LGB Terms of Reference

A summary of the role of the Local Governing Body is outlined below, however, full Terms of Reference can be found in the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation.

• Seek to understand and question how the school is led and managed, acting as a critical friend.
• Monitor and challenge how the school is fulfilling the Trust’s ethos, vision, and strategy.
• Determine and review of the educational targets of the schools, including but without limitation, determination of the School’s Development Plan
• Monitor and challenge educational standards, reporting on concerns from the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to the Trustees of the Educational Standards Committee.
• Assist in overseeing the Health and Safety of all students, staff and visitors; and ensure safeguarding for all students.
• Act as the panel when reviewing the school Headteacher/Head of School’s decisions on exclusions, and other committees as required e.g. salaries, complaints and pupil and staff disciplinary/dismissal committees.
• To ensure the School is complying with Trust policies in respect of safeguarding, health and safety and GDPR risk management.
• Represent the school’s stakeholders and be their consultative body.
• Forge links with the community and provide a vehicle for Trust board engagement with the school, its parents and local community, to help ensure that the Academy Trustees stay connected.
• Act as an ambassador for the school.
• Bring any issues and risks to the attention of the Trust Board.
• Provide constructive feedback to the Board where a policy may not be effective in the local context, and suggest alternative approaches.
• Help ensure the Trust works as one entity, in the interests of all its schools equally.
• Deal with any other matters which the Board of Trustees may refer from time to time.
• Report to the Board of Trustees annually on members contribution and the impact of the LGB.
• Ensure value for money is being achieved from school budgets. (This does not include formal financial accountability which is delegated to the Director of Finance).
• Provide a consultative forum for the school for the implementation of new policies and procedures.
• For church schools, to monitor and support the Christian distinctiveness and church ethos of the school.
• Assist in the effective and efficient performance management of teaching staff, making recommendations to the Trust board on pay progression.
• Monitor and evaluate the quality and impact of governance.

Every school within the Marches Academy Trust has a Local Governing Body.

All current and prospective Governors should have read the Marches Academy Trust Governor’s Handbook, the Governor Code of Conduct and Scheme of Delegation*.

*These documents contain further information on the duties and responsibilities of our Governors.

Governors’ Handbook

Governor Code of Conduct

Scheme of Delegation and Governance Structures

The Local Governing Body is composed of the following Governors:

Parent Governors – two per Local Governing Body

Parent Governor elections are carried out when the term for the current Parent Governor (s) expires / if a Parent Governor resigns / when a school joins the Marches Academy Trust.

More information on the role of Parent Governor can be found in the Governance Handbook.

When the number of nominations for Parent Governors exceeds the number of vacancies, a ballot will take place.

Parent Governor Ballot Process

Staff Governors – one per Local Governing Body

Staff Governor elections are carried out when the term for the current Staff Governor expires / if a Staff Governor resigns / when a school joins the Marches Academy Trust.

Staff Governors are just the same as any other Governor, although it is important to note that they are representative of staff, not staff representatives.

If you would be interested in joining the Local Governing Body, or have any questions regarding any of the above, please contact Bee Lopez Bloor, Clerk to the Trust’s Boards in the first instance: [email protected]

A downloadable version of the Declaration of Business can be viewed here.

Declaration of Business and Pecuniary Interests 2025/26
The Grove School
Governor Details				Declarations of Interest
Name	Position	Date of appointment	By whom	Name of organisation	Nature of interest	Date of declaration	Date interest ceased	LGB Meeting Attendance – 2024/25
	This will be Chair, Community Governor, Parent Governor		This will be: Trustees for Community Governors, Parents for Parent Governors or Staff for Staff Governor					Please complete how many LGB meetings they attended out of 6 last year
Robert Hewer	Chair	11.02.19	Trustees	Hadley Learning Community	Chair of Governors	01.12.25		6/6
				Joseph Lecke School	Chair of Governors
Richard Kolbe	Vice Chair	11.02.19	Trustees	Nil	N/A	16.09.25		6/6
David Cadwell	Vice Chair	11.02.19	Trustees	Gravity Mining Ltd	Employee	10.09.25		6/6
Adrian Pembleton	Governor	13.05.19	Trustees	Birmingham City Council	Headteacher	15.09.25		6/6
Leanne Massey	Parent Governor	11.11.24	Parents	The Compleat Food Group	HR Director	16.09.25		5/6
				Whitchurch Amateur Dramatics	PR and Chaperone	16.09.25
				Running Club/10k Organiser	Race Organiser	16.09.25
Sarah Luscombe	Parent Governor	22.09.25	Parents	NIL	None	02.10.25		0/6
David Maxted	Staff Governor	05.03.24	School staff	Marches Academy Trust	Teacher	09.10.25		3/6
Joanne Malone	Clerk to Governors	27.11.23	Trustees	The Grove School	PA to Headteacher	08.09.25		6/6
Mitchell Allsopp	Headteacher	01.01.24	Trustees	Nil	None	08.09.25		6/6
Resigned in the last 12 months
Jenny Nixon	Governor	16.01.24	Trustees	Addmore Federation	Asked to sit on complaints panel	16.09.25		5/6

Grove School | Chair of Local Governing Board

Please mark correspondence:

Rob Hewer – Chair of the Local Governing Board

Grove School
Newcastle Road
Market Drayton
Shropshire
TF9 1HF

Email: [email protected]

If you would like to read the Local Governing Body’s meeting minutes please contact Bee Lopez Bloor, Clerk to the Trust’s Boards in the first instance: [email protected]