The Cardinal Newman Catholic Educational Trust

Local Governing Committee

Governors play a key role in leading, supporting and improving schools.

What school governors do

Governors sit on the school’s Local Governing Committee and work with the Principal. They’re responsible for the strategic goals, while the Principal implements them and manages the school from day to day. The Governors:

set the overall vision and direction of the school
oversee the budget
help recruit staff
monitor the performance of the school, for example in examinations and key stage tests
advise on school policies and procedures

You can find out more about Governors’ responsibilities in the DfE Academy Trust Governance Guidance.

Governor’s duties include:

taking part in regular Local Governing Committee meetings, usually six times a year

spend some time on training, governor visits and getting to know the school
occasionally sit on appointments panels or panels that handle staff or pupil discipline issues or complaints against the school

The Local Governing Committee has a Local Admissions Sub-Committee of which all Governors are members. More information about this committee’s remit can be found in its terms of reference LINK COMING SOON.

Could you serve as a Foundation Governor? Click here to download an information leaflet with more details on what's involved.

Please find below a link for The Cardinal Newman Catholic Educational Trust website:

https://www.newmancatholictrust.com/ and to find more information about the Board of Directors who oversee the running of our Trust, click here. You can also see how the governance fits into an overall MAT structure.

Our School Governors

Our Chair of Governors is Robert Stewart, who is also a Director of the Cardinal Newman Catholic Educational Trust.

For more information on our Governors, including their roles and declarations of interest, please review the documents below:

Local Governing Committee Membership 2024-2025

Governor Attendance 2023-2024

Clerk to the Governors: Entrust

To contact the governors please send an email to school@stbernardsprimary.co.uk, or write to Governors, St Bernard’s Catholic Primary School, Station Road, Shirehampton, Bristol BS11 9TU.