Joint Local Governing Body

As Keeley Ungerechts is now executive headteacher over both Sowerby Primary Academy, Saplings Nursery and Alanbrooke Academy the Board of Trustees  agreed (26.04.2022) to create one joint local governing body(JLGB) over the 2 Academies. This will enable the governors to support Keeley in her executive head role and to have a greater understanding  to enable them to ensure that high expectations for all the children were achieved.

The Joint Local Governing Body (‘JLGB’) of Sowerby Primary Academy and Alanbrooke Academy

Composition:

• The Executive Head Teacher (‘EHT’)* or Head Teachers of the Academies that the board of Trustees have agreed should be paired under the Scheme of Delegation’s ‘Pairing LGBs’
• 1 elected staff governor from each Academy
• 2 elected parent governors from each Academy
• 2 co opted governors from each Academy

 *If the EHT is no longer the EHT across the paired Academies the Trustees may at their discretion agree to either dissolve the JLGB (and each Academy will then have their own LGB) or they may be paired with another Academy dependent upon the appointment of the EHT.

Governors

 The local governing body exists to help the Academy provide a high quality education for children in a supportive, caring environment. It does this by:

• setting the Academy's values, vision and strategic direction
• challenging and supporting the Academy by continually monitoring, reviewing and evaluating its performance
• ensuring that the Academy is accountable to its children, the local community, those who fund and maintain it and the staff it employs

The three core functions of the local governing board are:

• To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
• To hold the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the Academy and its children.
• To oversee the financial performance of the academy and make sure its money is well spent.

Governors are also responsible for overseeing the Academy's finances, checking that resources are being managed well and helping with the appointment of staff. We meet five times a year as a local Governing Body with every governor taking on specific link roles within the Academy. Minutes of our meetings are available from the office..

Types of Governors 

There are several different types of Governor:

• Parent Governor

  Elected from parents at the Academy by parents at the Academy.

• Staff Governor

  Elected from staff at the Academy by staff at the Academy

• Co-opted Governors

  Appointed by members of the Local Governing Body. They are intended to be representative of the local community and may add particular kinds of expertise.

• Associate Member - Appointed by the governors to provide short term support in areas identified by the LGB. They have no voting rights and their term of office will be limited to 1 year. 

Elevate Governance:

As a multi-academy trust, Elevate is a charitable company limited by guarantee. This means that Elevate is a single legal entity, but it has several Academies within its family. Currently, Elevate has 14 Primary Academies. These are mainly situated across North Yorkshire with 1 Academy in West Yorkshire.

Elevate and their Academies work in collaboration with a single shared vision. The governance structure is designed to reflect the overall responsibility of the Board of Trustees, the (operational) leadership of the CEO supported by the School Improvement Team for education and the Operational Team; for the day to day running of the Academies by the Executive Head Teachers (EHT) and Head teachers coupled with the value of local experience and understanding of the LGBs in assessing the performance of our Academy and their interaction with the local community.

Elevate has established 3 key layers of governance: 

• Members
• Trustees
• Local Governors 

Although Elevate’s Trustees are accountable for all of the Academies within the Trust, it highly values the work undertaken by local governors in supporting, and challenging, our Academies and senior leadership teams to deliver high quality and inclusive education.

Elevate LGBs have a pivotal role in the overall framework of the Trust by having:

• An in-depth knowledge and understanding of their Academies;
• Sustaining uniqueness of their Academy whilst aligning with Elevate’s educational vision;
• Forging and maintaining links with their community;
• Providing the vital governance link between themselves and Trustees to enable the Trustees to carry out their responsibilities as leaders of the Trust.

The different responsibilities overseen by Trustees and Local Governors are set out in the Scheme of Delegation, which is reviewed on an annual basis.

Link to Scheme of Delegation

Link to Articles of Association

Chair of Governors: Myles Strudwick

Contact: m.strudwick@sowerbyacademy.org

or Sowerby Primary Academy, Topcliffe Road, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 1RX

Governors

Keeley Ungerechts - Executive Head teacher

Keeley has been working as a teacher and LA Maths Advisor in North Yorkshire since 2000.

Keeley has had the pleasure of being a headteacher for 11 years.  Sowerby is her third headship and she has been lucky enough to have been head for 6 years.  Sowerby Primary Academy joined Elevate Multi-Academy Trust in February 2018 and Alanbrooke joined in March 2022.  Keeley is also lead the NQT Development programme for North star Teaching School Alliance and she is a Fellow for Early Career Framework Expansion with Red Kite TSA.  

Staff governor: Jane Tart 

I have been a staff member at Sowerby Primary Academy since January 2024 teaching in the Key Stage 1 team. I began my career in education in 1994 and worked as a teacher until 2008 joining North Yorkshire Local Education Authority as an Early Years Adviser monitoring and supporting Early Years and Key Stage 1 practice in schools, private and voluntary day nurseries and pre-schools. I left this role in January 2020 training to be an EY Ofsted Inspector but returned to the classroom following Covid in January 2021. I have three grown up children and spend my spare time playing hockey, cricket and on long walks with my husband and dog.

Staff governor: Katy Long

Parent governor: David Carlton

As a dad of two children who attend Alanbrooke Acadamy, I am proud to be acting as a parent governor. I have served in the military for 12 years and am currently based at Topcliffe and I am looking forward to creating a link between the Regiment and the local schools. 

Coming from a military family and attending various schools around the world, I understand how important it is to provide support for children whose parents may be deployed.

Previous to joining the military I worked in the outdoor industry providing outdoor education to a wide variety of child and young adult groups and I am passionate about creating opportunity for children in the area to receive excellent education. 

Parent governor: George Evans

Parent governor: Paul Lyon

Parent governor: Mere Kolaia

Co-opted governor: Myles Strudwick

Co Opted governor: Robert Williamson

Robert  was born in Liverpool in 1955, attended a state junior school, grammar school (all boys) which became a mixed comprehensive school in his final sixth form year!
Robert  had the dubious privilege of being head boy! A degree in Music Theology was followed by Theological College, 42 years as a vicar and chaplain to hospitals, Mountain Rescue and a paper-making factory. During this time Robert has served on 6 governing bodies including both primary and secondary schools. He is married with one grown up child and a granchild who attends Sowerby Primary Academy.
Robert's interests include Music, Poetry, Climbing, and Travel.

Co-opted governor: Janet Bates  

Co-opted governor -Vacancy

Resignations: Ro Craven Co opted governor resigned on 21st October 2020 

                          Karen Holdsworth parent governor term of office ended 18th July 2020 

                         Alison Mount resigned as staff governor 31st August 2021

                         Rachel Halkyard resigned as parent governor on 3rd March 2022

                         Ewan Mcintosh resigned as co opted governor on 31st January 2022

                         Neil Foster resigned as parent governor on 11th May 2022

                         Ameila Williams resigned as staff governor on 21st July 2023 as she had left the Academy

Clerk to the Governors: Dianne Mousley

Alanbrooke & Sowerby LGB Attendance