Meet our wonderful governing body. 

Our governors play an integral role in the leadership of our school. 

They are responsible for:

• developing a vision and strategy for the school
• overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
• holding the school leaders to account to ensure that every pupil has the best possible education
• engaging with pupils, staff, parents and the school community to understand their views of the school 

In practice, this means looking at information and evidence in order to have conversations and asking questions about the school. 

Our Governors are part of either our Resources Committee or Development and Planning Committee, or both. ​Governors attend one or two committee meetings, plus a full governing body meeting per term.  

John Smith (Chair of Governors) 

Term of Office 27th March 2023 - 27th March 2027

Member of Resources Committee, D&P Committee, Pay Committee, HT Appraisal, Health & Safety Governor

Governance of other Educational Establishments - None

Relationships between schools staff and members of governing body - None

Business Interests - None declared

Financial Interests - None declared

John has extensive experience of working in schools as a previous Headteacher.

Suzy Burton-Sanders (Co-opted Governor) 

Term of Office 31st January 2020 to 30th January 2024

Member of D&P Committee

SEND Link Governor

Governance of other Educational Establishments - None

Relationships between schools staff and members of governing body - None

Business Interests - None declared

Financial Interests - None declared

Suzy has two daughters who attended Westdale Infants.  Suzy has extensive experience of working in schools as a primary school teacher.

Jackie Moss (Co-opted Governor)

Term of Office – 15th June 2025 to 14th June 2029
Chair of Resources and a member of the D&P Committee

Safeguarding Governor, HT Appraisal, GDPR Governor

Business Interests – None declared

As a retired Executive Headteacher, I have extensive experience of working in schools. I have always lived in this locality, which gives me a good understanding of the local community. I am passionate about education, particularly for young children, and I am a great believer in keeping healthy, which I endeavour to do by running, swimming, walking the dog, playing football (badly) and generally being outside when I can. I also aim to eat healthily, although I also enjoy both baking and eating cake. Jackie is also a governor at Forest Fields Primary School in Nottingham City. 

Andrew Tanser (Co-opted Governor)

Term of Office - 25th March 2022 - 24th March 2026

Vice Chair of Governors.

Member of Resources Committee

Training Co-ordinator 

Governance of other Educational Establishments – None

Relationships between school staff and members of governing body – None

Business Interests – None declared

Financial Interests – None declared

Naomi Walker (Parent Governor) 

Term of Office – 5th November 2022 to 4th December 2026

Member of D&P Committee

Climate Control Support Governor

OPAL Governor

Business Interests – none declared

Financial interests – none declared

Naomi has a son who attends Westdale Infants. Naomi’s professional career has centred around regulation and governance, and she has a postgraduate professional qualification in risk management. Currently, Naomi leads the development and delivery of strategic change in her industry, central to which is liaising with and lobbying central government and our industry regulator. Naomi is adept at interpreting legal information, regulatory and policy requirements, and has a broad understanding of data protection legislation.

Kerry Reeves (Parent Governor)

Term of Office - 18th Oct 2023 to 17th Oct 2027

Pay Committee, QA Appraisor

Governance of other Educational Establishments - None

Relationships between schools staff and members of governing body - None

Business Interests - None declared

Financial Interests - None declared

Suzy Sawford - Deputy Headteacher (Associate Governor) 

Start of Term: 13th June 2024

Mr Craig Coulson (Co-opted Governor)

Term of Office - 20th November 2025 to 19th November 2029

Governance of other Educational Establishments - None

Relationships between schools staff and members of governing body - None

Business Interests - None declared

Financial Interests - None declared

My name is Craig Coulson and my main field of interest is in teaching and supporting international students to improve their English language and study skills so they can study and thrive in English-speaking environments. I first became involved in education in 2004 working in Japan as a language tutor where I worked for five years. Since then I have studied and worked in Higher Education for Kaplan (Nottingham and Brighton), Brunel University (Middlesex) and Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan).

I currently work at the University of Nottingham within the School of Education for CELE (Centre for English Language Education) as an assistant professor where I have been since September 2019. My role is split across teaching, course coordination and also as a Student Liaison Officer, where I support students pastorally and signpost them to relevant departments (such as Admissions, Visa and Immigration, Accomodation etc.) depending on their needs. This also requires me to have a good understanding of safeguarding, and have an enhanced DBS certificate.

On a personal level, I am happily married, based locally in Woodthorpe with two young children (son and daughter) and despite most of my time being spent raising them, I also like to DJ (at home) and love anything to do with music.

As someone who also once attended Westdale Infants and Junior schools as a child, having a son who will be starting at the Infant School in September, and having a sound knowledge of education (albeit Higher Education), I would love the opportunity to support your school as a Governor.

Mrs Samantha Danyluk (Co-opted Governor)

Term of Office – 20th November 2025 to 19th November 2029

Governance of other Educational Establishments – None

Relationships between school staff and members of the governing body – None

Business Interests – None declared

Financial Interests – None declared

Mr Andrea Chiarelli (Parent Governor) 

Term of Office - 4th November 2025 to 3rd November 2029

Governance of other Educational Establishments – None

Relationships between school staff and members of the governing body – None

Business Interests – None declared

Financial Interests – None declared

Our Governing Body Structure

Joint Committee: Responsible for finance and staffing issues, strategy and curriculum

Rebecca Lewis (Headteacher)

John Smith

Kerry Reeves

Andrew Tanser

Rebecca Lewis (Headteacher)

Erica Ridley (Staff Governor)

Jackie Moss 

Kerry Reeves

Naomi Walker 

Suzy Burton-Sanders

Discipline Committee:  All Governors

Pay Committee:  Approving pay awards

John Smith, Jackie Moss, Kerry Reeves

Attendance for Academic Year 2024/2025

D&P 10th October 

Present: Naomi Walker, Erica Ridley, John Smith, Jackie Moss, Suzy Burton-Sanders, Suzy Sawford, Rebecca Lewis (HT), Laura Hoult (Minutes)

Absent: Reverend Mike Forsyth, Kerry Reeves, Christy Simons 

Resources 14th November 

Present: Naomi Walker, Erica Ridley, John Smith, Jackie Moss, Suzy Burton-Sanders,  Rebecca Lewis (HT), Laura Hoult (Minutes), Andrew Tanser, Kerry Reeves, Reverend Mike Forsyth

Absent: Suzy Sawford, Christy Simons 

Full Governors 21st November 

The Role of a Governor

Westdale Infant School Governing Body is made up of parents/carers, a teacher representative and members of the local community. 

Those governors have the legal duties, powers and responsibility to ensure that Westdale is organised efficiently and effectively and doing the very best for all children.

The full Governing Body meets once a term to monitor the progress of the school, with smaller committees meeting to monitor and discuss issues connected with finance, strategic development, personnel and pupils.

Parents can find out more about governors by looking on the school website and various governing body reports are available in the entrance foyer. 

As part of their efforts to keep in touch with the school, Westdale governors hold coffee mornings throughout the year, as an informal way of meeting and listening to parents/carers. Look out for dates in the newsletter and come along for a chat.

Any issues relating to school should of course be taken to the Headteacher in the first instance, but if you needed to contact governors more formally; letters should be addressed via the school office.

How to become a School Governor

For more information on becoming a school governor please see click on the following link https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/school-governors/become-a-school-governor

If we have a Parent Governor vacancy we issue the vacancy out through school and send letters home to our parents/carers so please look out for these. 

Governing Board Diversity Data

As a small governing body, the decision has been taken to opt out of publishing diversity data to ensure the board members' anonymity.