Governing Body

Governors work closely with our leadership team, school staff and representatives from the local authority (LA).

Name	Category	Term of Office Ends	Appointed by	Committee	Business Interests	Governor/Staff Relationship	Links
Claire Bonas	Co-opted	26.02.28	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing	Department for Education	Daughter employed at CHJS	SDP2
Jill Cooper	Head Teacher	N/A	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing First/Pay Review		None	All
Emma Crawford-Moore (Chair)	Parent	14.01.28	Parents	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing		None	SDP6
Charlotte Foakes	Co-opted	26.02.28	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring	The Auckland Project	None	SDP1
Alvin Kipling	Co-opted	08.01.27	Parents	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing Appeals HT Performance Review		None	SDP4
Rachel Lambert	Associate (Deputy Head Teacher)	21.06.27	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing		None	All
Laura McMaster	Parent	13.12.27	Parents	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring		None	SDP3
Bernard Mugwendere (Vice Chair)	Co-opted	09.07.27	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing First/Pay Review HT Performance Management	Accountancy	None	SDP4
Emma Reed	Co-opted	17.05.26	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Appeals	SLT Walworth Primary School	None	SEND Wellbeing
Rebecca Ward	Staff	28.01.25	Staff	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring	Staff Governor	None	All

Previous Governors

Name	Category	Term of Office Ended	Appointed by	Committee	Business Interests	Governor/Staff Relationship	Links
Kelly Rutherford	Parent	08.05.25	Parents	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring HT Performance Management Appeals		None	SDP3
Lee Mullaney	Co-opted	28.01.25	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring		None	SPD1
Janice Stobbs	Local Authority	02.09.24	FGB	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Finance, Premises and Staffing HT Performance Management	Retired LA Head Teacher	None	Safeguarding CLA
Malcolm Cresswell	Co-opted	05.03.24	FGB	Finance, Premises and Staffing First/Pay Review HT Performance Management		None	Premiums
Clair McGregor	Co-opted	16.11.23	FGB	Finance, Premises and Staffing First/Pay Review	The Angel Trust	None

Governing Body Committee Structure

Chair of the Full Governing Body: Emma Crawford-Moore

Vice Chair of the Full Governing Body: Bernard Mugwendere

Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Committee: All governors

Finance, Premises and Staffing Committee: Bernard Mugwendere (Chair), Claire Bonas, Jill Cooper, Emma Crawford-Moore, Alvin Kipling, Rachel Lambert (voting rights)

First/Pay Review Committee: Jill Cooper, Bernard Mugwendere, Alvin Kipling

Head Teacher’s Performance Review Committee: Bernard Mugwendere, Alvin Kipling, Emma Crawford-Moore

Appeals: Emma Reed, Claire Bonas, Charlotte Foakes

Statutory Guidance for Governing Bodies

Cockton Hill Junior School adhere to the statutory guidance from the Department for Education. This means that governing bodies must have regard to it when carrying out duties relating to the constitution of governing bodies in maintained schools. The following document will provide you with further information.

Governor Monitoring Visits Policy 2025-2026

Governor Code of Conduct 2025-2026

Governor Allowances Policy 2025-2026

Terms of Reference

How To Become A School Governor

If you require further information on the roles and responsibilities of School Governors or you are interested in becoming one, visit the Durham County Council website School Governor section.

Governor Attendance

Schools are now required to display a record of governor attendance at meetings for each school academic year.

Record of Attendance 2025-2026

Date	Meeting Type	Attended	Apologies received and accepted

Record of Attendance 2024-2025

Date	Meeting Type	Attended	Apologies received and accepted
11.09.24	Special Meeting - Election of Chair	Claire Bonas Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore Alvin Kipling Rachel Lambert Kelly Rutherford Rebecca Ward Richard Painter (Clerk)	Charlotte Foakes Laura McMaster Bernard Mugwendere Emma Reed
08.10.24	First Pay Review	Jill Cooper Alvin Kipling Bernard Mugwendere Richard Painter (Clerk) Kelly Rutherford (Chair)
05.11.24	Finance, Premises and Staffing Committee	Claire Bonas Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore Rachel Lambert Bernard Mugwendere (Chair) Richard Painter (Clerk)	Alvin Kipling
05.11.24	Full Governing Body	Claire Bonas Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore (Chair) Rachel Lambert Laura McMaster Bernard Mugwendere Richard Painter (Clerk) Emma Reed Kelly Rutherford Rebecca Ward	Charlotte Foakes Alvin Kipling
11.12.24	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Committee	Claire Bonas Jill Cooper Charlotte Foakes Rachel Lambert Laura McMaster Lee Mullaney Emma Reed Kelly Rutherford Rebecca Ward Cathy Lee - School Leadership Advisor led on training	Emma Crawford-Moore Alvin Kipling Bernard Mugwendere
15.01.25	Governor Training Session - Monitoring and Training	Claire Bonas Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore Charlotte Foakes Rachel Lambert Laura McMaster Kelly Rutherford Rebecca Ward	Alvin Kipling Bernard Mugwendere Lee Mullaney Emma Reed
18.02.25	Finance, Premises and Staffing Committee	Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore Rachel Lambert Bernard Mugwendere (Chair) Richard Painter (Clerk)	Claire Bonas Alvin Kipling
18.02.25	Full Governing Body	Claire Bonas Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore (Chair) Charlotte Foakes Rachel Lambert Laura McMaster Richard Painter (Clerk) Emma Reed Rebecca Ward	Alvin Kipling Bernard Mugwendere Kelly Rutherford
09.04.25	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Committee	Claire Bonas (Chair) Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore Charlotte Foakes Rachel Lambert Laura McMaster Emma Reed Rebecca Ward	Alvin Kipling Bernard Mugwendere
10.06.25	Full Governing Body	Claire Bonas (Chair) Jill Cooper Emma Crawford-Moore Charlotte Foakes Alvin Kipling Bernard Mugwendere Laura McMaster Emma Reed Rebecca Ward
09.07.25	Curriculum, Standards and Monitoring Committee	Jill Cooper Charlotte Foakes Laura McMaster Mollie Bonas Emma Reed Rebecca Ward	Claire Bonas (Chair) Emma Crawford-Moore Alvin Kipling Rachel Lambert Bernard Mugwendere