Governors
Local Governing Committee (LGC)
Hello and Welcome to St Mary Star of the Sea's Local Governing Committee (LGC) Section.
The main functions of a Governing Committee are to ensure clarity of the school’s vision and purpose, to hold the Headteacher and staff to account and to oversee the school’s financial performance. In our case, we also ensure that the school retains its distinctiveness as a Catholic school, based on Gospel values.
Our Constitution specifies that there shall be six Governors, representing our Diocese/Bishop (Foundation Governors) and the parent body. The role of a Governor is voluntary, but it is a privilege to work as a team to serve the best interests of our school.
A Message from our LGC
As a Governing Body we are focused on ensuring that St Mary Star of the Sea Primary School provides a holistic education for all its pupils in a loving environment that enables each pupil to flourish.
Our role is to hold the Headteacher to account for the quality of education provided to the pupils; to ensure that the attainment and progress of pupils are strong, and to ensure that the budget is used effectively and efficiently to enable the school to be well-maintained and well-resourced.
The Governing Body is also concerned with the spiritual and moral development of the pupils and it is committed to ensuring that its Catholic ethos pervades all areas of school life.
What We Do
- We meet with the Headteacher each term to discuss, review and evaluate: the School Development Plan, pupil data (academic and attendance), policies, safeguarding arrangements, finance, health and safety, the school curriculum, the Catholic Life and Mission of the school, including RE and Collective Worship. There is always a presentation with time for discussion with a Subject Lead.
- We attend three Open Mornings a year to monitor the quality of teaching and learning; to consider pupils’ attitudes to learning; to evaluate inclusion practices and to carry out pupil/staff voice.
- The morning is organised so that we can observe how different subjects are taught so that all pupils can access the learning; we attend assemblies/acts of worship; sometimes we meet with groups of children such as the School Council and Spiritual Council, and we also get to talk to pupils during their break where we can also get a feel for how they interact with each other.
- At different points in the year we each arrange a meeting with our link Subject Lead to discuss its improvement plan.The Safeguarding Link Governor and Health and Safety Link Governor visit termly and those of us with links to SEN, PP, Catholic Life and Finance visit each semester.
- A small group of Governors carry out pupil, staff and parental voice interviews at different points in the school year.
- Work permitting, we attend events such as Masses in the local Church, Sports Day, Parents Evenings, class assemblies and some Governors even support school trips.
- We have to keep up with education legislation such as safeguarding and child protection, cybersecurity, inclusion practices etc.
Much of the training takes place online via Governshub, the Bosco website or the Diocesan website. This allows us to be compliant and to gain an understanding of the kinds of questions we should be asking the Headteacher.
We are a friendly group of Governors who want to ensure that we are serving our parents/carers as well as staff and pupils. Do feel that you can approach us with questions/ideas.
The Chair of Governors can be contacted via email at dcronin@st-mary-star.e-sussex.sch.uk.
Register of Interests of the LCG 2025-2026
Governor Name
Doreen Cronin (Foundation Governor) (Chair)
Sylvia Cousins (Associate Member)
Gwen Pierson (Foundation Governor)
Tochukwu Mbamalu (Foundation Governor) (Co-Vice Chair)
Sally-Anne Hart (Foundation Governor)
Mary Burkill (Foundation Governor) (Co- Vice Chair)
Rob Tye (Foundation Governor)
Clare O'Rourke (Head)
Sophie Olefolo (Parent Governor)
Rory Barker (Parent Governor)
Ann Craddock (Clerk)
Declarations Declared
Govenor at Ninfield Primary School
Member of Ethos & Standards Committee (Bosco)
CSI Inspector (Arundel & Brighton Diocese)
Nill
Parent of school
Parent of the school
President of Catholics in the Conservative Party
Nil
(Pending)
Head Teacher of St Mary Star of the Sea
Parent of the school
Parent of the school
Clerk to Governors at the following schools; St Mary Magdalene, St Richard's, St Joseph's, St Peter and St Paul, Crowhurst.
Governor at Pebsham Primary.
FGB Attendance 2024-2025
Key - P = Present A = Apologies X = Absent
| Name | 26.9.24 | 6.2.25 | 24.3.25 | 4.6.25 Budget | 9.7.25 | TOTAL |
|
Sylvia Cousins Chair |
P | P | P | P | P | 5/5 |
|
Dympna Fox-Reed Vice Chair |
P | P | P | P | P | 5/5 |
|
Claire O'Rourke Head |
P | P | P | P | P | 5/5 |
|
Tony Campbell Foundation Gov |
A | (Term ended) | - | - | - | 0/1 |
|
Anne Barry Foundation Gov |
P | (Term ended) | - | - | - | 1/1 |
|
Tochukwu Mbamalu (Foundation) |
P | P |
A |
P | P | 4/5 |
|
Doreen Cronin (Foundation) |
Observer | P | P | p | p | 4/4 |
|
Gwen Pierson Foundation Gov |
P | P | A | p | p | 4/5 |
|
Nyree Thomson Staff Gov |
P | P | P | (Term Ended) | - | 3/3 |
|
Jordan Sims Parent Gov |
P | P | P | P | A | 4/4 |
|
Stephen Kimber Parent Gov |
P |
(Term ended) |
- | - | - | 1/1 |
|
Mary Burkill (Foundation)
|
Observer | P | P | p | p | 4/4 |
|
Sophie Oleforo (Parent) |
- | P | P | p | p | 4/4 |
LCG Minutes 2025-2026
FGB/LGC Minutes 2024-2025
FGB Minutes 2023-2024
FGB Minutes 2022-2023
