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 it's 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 28th March 2019 - 27th March 2023

Member of Resources Committee, D&P Committee, Pay Committee

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.

Paul Mullins - Co-opted Governor

Term of Office 19th January 2023 - 18th January 2026

Chair of D&P Committee 

Responsible for SEN

Governance of other Educational Establishments - None

Relationships between schools staff and members of governing body - None

Business Interests - None declared

Financial Interests - None declared

Paul has a daughter who currently attends Westdale Infant School.

Suzy Burton-Sanders     Parent Governor 

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

Member of D&P Committee

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 attend Westdale Infants.  Suzy has extensive experience of working in schools as a primary school teacher.

Jackie Moss - Co-opted Governor

Chair of Resources and a member of D&P Committee - Safeguarding Governor 

Business Interests - Jackie is a consultant within education who supports Headteachers. Her husband also owns a local joinery business. 

As a retired Executive Headteacher I have extensive experience of working in schools. I have always lived within 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, D&P Committee

Governance of other Educational Establishments - None

Relationships between schools staff and members of governing body - None

Business Interests - None declared

Financial Interests - None declared

Naomi Walker - Parent Governor 

Elected November 2022

Naomi has a son who attends Westdale Infants. Naomi’s professional career has centered 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.

Christy Simons - Parent Governor 

Elected November 2022

Christy is a 3rd year mature student studying a degree in BA Primary Education at Nottingham Trent University. Alongside her academic studies, she is a part time retail customer service manager and part time exam invigilator. As a parent, whose daughter is currently in the foundation class at Westdale Infants, she has both a passion for and invested interest in supporting the school to improve educational experiences and outcomes for all children. As a trainee teacher, she has a passion for education and in particular finding ways to subject content within the National Curriculum fun and engaging; ultimately empowering all children to make progress within their learning.

Kim Lawson - Parent Governor 

Elected November 2022

Kim is a parent of two primary-aged children, one of whom is at Westdale Infants, and she has a good insight into the school experiences of children of this age and the issues that are important to parents. Kim is currently the manager of a large disability support service at a local university. In this capacity, she has experience of Human Resources and recruitment processes, Health and Safety practices, budgets, project proposals and experience of complex appeals and complaints. Kim’s passion is to create equitable access to learning, and she has worked hard to help shape inclusive practices and a welcoming environment for all in the institution that she works in. Kim is a trained teacher for post-16-year-olds and an experienced dyslexia and neurodiversity specialist, teaching and supporting students who have faced struggles in their learning.

Reverend Mike Forsyth - Co-opted Governor 

Rev’d Mike is the vicar of St James Porchester, the parish church for our local community.  Since moving to the area with his family 16 months ago, Mike has been in the school for assembly and we have visited the church our Harvest and Christmas celebrations.  Mike is keen to support the school through building up community links, one of which led to the school choir performing at the Mapperley Christmas lights switch on!  Mike enjoys making conversation and especially helping to make the place where we live the very best place to be.  Prior to being a vicar Mike trained as a chef and then joined the RAF spending most of his time working as a Logistics Officer.

Vanessa Williamson - Co-opted Governor 

Our Governing Body Structure

Resources Committee: Responsible for finance and staffing issues

Chair: Jackie Moss

Emma Estell & Rebecca Lewis (Headteachers)

Erica Ridley (Staff Governor)

John Smith

Paul Mullins

Suzy Burton-Sanders

Development and Planning Committee: Responsible for strategy and curriculum

Chair: Paul Mullins

Emma Estell & Rebecca Lewis (Headteachers)

Erica Ridley (Staff Governor)

John Smith

Jackie Moss 

Suzy Burton-Sanders

Discipline Committee:  All Governors

Pay Committee:  Approving pay awards

John Smith, Jackie Moss

Attendance for Academic Year 2022/2023

Full Governors Meetings

Suzy Burton-Sanders 

Jackie Moss 

Paul Mullins 

John Smith 

Andrew Tanser 

Development & Planning Committee 

October 2022 - Attendees 

Emma Estell (HT), Rebecca Lewis (HT), Laura Hoult (Minutes), Jackie Moss, John Smith, Paul Mullins, Andrew Tanser, Vanessa Williamson (Observer), Reverend Mike Forsyth (Observer)

Apologies - Suzy Burton-Sanders, Narelle Black (Staff Gov at time)

February 2023 - Attendees 

Emma Estell (HT), Rebecca Lewis (HT), Laura Hoult (Minutes), Jackie Moss, John Smith, Paul Mullins, Andrew Tanser, Vanessa Williamson, Naomi Walker

Apologies - Reverend Mike Forsyth, Christy Simons, Kim Lawson, Erica Ridley (new staff governor) 

Resources Committee 

November 2022 - Attendees 

Emma Estell (HT), Rebecca Lewis (HT), Laura Hoult (Minutes), Jackie Moss, John Smith, Paul Mullins, Andrew Tanser, Wendy Russell, Erica Ridley, Suzy Burton-Sanders

Apologies - None received 

March 2023 - Attendees 

Emma Estell (HT), Rebecca Lewis (HT), Laura Hoult (Minutes), Jackie Moss, John Smith, Andrew Tanser, Erica Ridley, Vanessa Williamson, Naomi Walker, Kim Lawson

Apologies - Reverend Mike Forsyth, Christy Simons, Wendy Russell, Suzy Burton-Sanders, Paul Mullins

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.