Governance

Glebelands School is governed by a Local Governing Body, which is a committee of the board of trustees of Learning Partners Academy Trust, who have overall responsibility for governance of the school.  

The Local Governing Body is comprised of Community Governors,  Parent Governors, Staff Governors (including the Headteacher who is ex-officio) and Co-opted Governors. 

Governors are a committed group of volunteers whose aims are to ensure the highest standards of achievement for all students by:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school;
• Holding school leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its students, and the effective and efficient performance of staff; and
• Overseeing the school's financial performance of the organisation and make sure its money is well spent.

The specific responsibilities of the governing body are detailed within the trust's scheme of delegation and Local Governing Body terms of reference. 

Governors meet regularly through the term to discuss all main aspects of the school and visit the school regularly to understand, support and monitor school life. We follow government guidance, are supported by the trust and adhere to a code of conduct in all that we do. For further information please contact: 

• Chair of Governors: Nigel Sanctuary, who can be contacted via email on: nsanctuary@glebelands.surrey.sch.uk or by writing to Mr N Sanctuary c/o Glebelands School, Parsonage Road, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 7AN 

• Clerk: Kate Woodhouse, who can be contacted via email on: info@glebelands.surrey.sch.uk (mark for the attention of the Clerk to the Governing Body), or by writing to Clerk to the Governing Body c/o Glebelands School, Parsonage Road, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 7AN 

Membership 

Our Local Governing Body is based on a stakeholder model, with representatives of parents, staff, and the local community. Members are recruited for a three-to-four-year term on a skillset basis and/or through parental election. 

A governor’s term of office is four years.  The Local Governing Body appoints all governors, except staff and parent governors, where elections are held. Appointments are made according to the skills needed by the governing body. For Parent and Staff Governor positions if there are the same number of candidates as vacancies (or fewer) then the Governors are appointed without an election taking place.

Members of the Governing Body 2024-25

For full details of Governing Body membership including their Term of Office, please see the document below.

Name	Governor Category	Term of Office Start date	Term of Office End date	Governor Role
Nigel Sanctuary	Co-opted	27/09/2023	26/09/2027	Chair of Governors Chair of Pay Committee Chair of Staff Dismissal Committee Link Governor for Music and PE Member of Education and Progress Committee Member of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee
Peg Hulse	Co-opted	27/09/2023	26/09/2027	Vice Chair of Governors Member of Financial Monitoring Group Member of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Member of Education and Progress Committee Member of Pay Review Committee Link Governor for Drama, RE, English and Years 10 and 11
Jan Rice	Co-opted	15/09/21	14/09/25	Chair of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Chair of Financial Monitoring and Evaluation Group Member of Pay Review Committee Link Governor for Maths, History and Year 9
Ian Helm	Co-opted	06/11/23	05/11/27	Chair of Education and Progress Committee Member of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Link Governor for IT & Science
Russell Mitchell	Headteacher	01/01/2010	Ex Officio	Member of Education and Progress Committee Member of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Member of Financial Monitoring Group
James Dale-Adcock	Co-opted	02/03/22	01/03/26	Member of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Headteacher Performance Management Member of Premises Group Link Governor for Geography
Doug Quinn	Parent	01/02/22	31/01/26	Member of Education and Progress Committee Safeguarding/Children in Care Governor Link Governor for Art, Year 7
Jonathan Stanley	Parent	01/02/22	31/01/26	Vice Chair of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Link Governor for Learning for Life & MfL
Krystle Flack	Co-opted	01/09/22	31/08/26	Member of Education and Progress Committee SEND/Disadvantaged and LAC Governor Link Governor for Year 8
Scott Southgate	Co-opted	01/09/22	31/08/26	Member of Finance, Premises and Policy Committee Link Governor for DT & GDPR
Claire Finch	Co-opted	16/9/2024	15/9/2028	Link Governor for History
Rachael Ward	Co-opted	16/9/2024	15/9/2028	Link Governors for PE
Arran Holcombe	Staff Governor	01/02/2024	31/1/2028	Member of the Education and Progress Committee.

School Visits 

As governors we conduct school visits to observe how they operate, how the curriculum is delivered and to learn about the organisation and its ethos. We consider that strong strategic leaders have a good understanding of its school(s) and the organisation that they support, and that they actively contribute to improving the learning and outcomes for all children. 

Our visits serve a number of purposes including: 

• Improving knowledge of the school, its staff, needs, priorities, strengths and areas for development 

• Observing children’s behaviour and their engagement in the school’s activities 

• Acquiring knowledge to enable governors to act as critical friends 

• Monitoring and evaluating plans, budgets, and achievement 

• Observing the condition of the school’s buildings, facilities, its grounds and its security arrangements 

• Monitoring and assessing how the school’s and trust’s priorities are being delivered 

• Helping the local governing body and the trust to fulfil their various statutory duties 

Code of Conduct 

As governors we follow the trust’s code of conduct, of which a few highlights are below: 

• We will encourage open governance and will act appropriately 

• We will actively support and challenge the school and executive leaders 

• We will accept and respect the difference between strategic and operational leadership, ensuring that we work collectively for the benefit of the organization 

• We will consider carefully how our decisions may affect the school and local community, as well as other schools 

• We have a duty to act fairly and without prejudice, and in so far as we have responsibility for staff, we will fulfil all that is expected of a good employer 

• We accept collective responsibility for all decisions made. This means that we will not speak against majority decisions outside meetings 

• We agree to adhere to any rules, policies and procedures agreed within the trust or as required by the law 

• We will always be mindful of our responsibility to maintain and develop the ethos and reputation of the trust and its schools 

Registers of Interest 

We manage personal relationships with related parties to avoid both real and perceived conflicts of interest, promoting integrity and openness in accordance with the seven principles of public life. 

We publish this information on our trust and school websites. Please find below our most recent register of interests for the local governing body.

Becoming a Governor 

Becoming a governor is an incredibly rewarding experience. You will be joining a movement of over 250,000 people nationwide and team of over 100 Learning Partners’ governors, all skilled individuals who give their time freely to support children and young people in their community. 

Please consult our trust website page on becoming a governor and contact our Chair of Governors for more information.