Rothwell Primary School Governing Board
(Academic year 2025-26)
Chair Pauline Walker
Vice Chair Jo Bentley
The constitution of the governing board is:
- Headteacher – Leila Rothenberg
- 1 x Local Authority (LA) governor, recommended by the LA and approved by the governing board- Pauline Walker
- 2 parent governors, formally elected through a ballot of parents unless the election is uncontested – David Miller and Stephanie Amirak
- 6 co-opted governors, nominated and appointed by the governing board-Patricia Rose, Jo Bentley, Laura Beane, Paul Rothwell, Kim Hindle and Victoria Hobson.
- 1 staff governor, formally elected by staff employed at school – Jarrett Brough
- 1 associate governor – Rebecca Baxter
The governing board operates with the following committees:
Resources committee (including Pay Review) – responsible for staffing including the appointment and role of the SENCO, equality and diversity, finance, property management.
Committee chair: Patricia Rose
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Paul Rothwell, Jo Bentley, and the Headteacher
Teaching and Learning committee – responsible for teaching and learning matters including target setting, standards and achievement, SEN (including reporting annually on the success of the SEN policy), Pupil Premium, monitoring teaching and learning and curriculum provision and ensuring that the governing Boardis represented at school improvement discussions.
Committee chair: Laura Beane
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Jo Bentley, Paul Rothwell, Kim Hindle and the Headteacher
Pupil Support Committee – responsible for behaviour, attendance, children’s spiritual moral social and cultural development, links to healthy schools. Also includes children (school council), parent and staff voice, extra-curricular activities, cluster and other partnerships.
Committee chair: David Miller
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Victoria Hobson, Stephanie Amirak, Rebecca Baxter and the Headteacher.
Pay Committee – responsible for discussing and agreeing high level pay budgets.
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Jo Bentley and Patricia Rose.
Pay Appeals Committee – responsible for hearing pay appeals.
Committee members: David Miller, Laura Beane and Victoria Hobson.
Headteacher Performance Review Committee – responsible for performance review.
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Paul Rothwell and Laura Beane.
Appeals Committee – responsible for hearing appeals and ensuring a fair and proper process has been followed.
Committe members: Paul Rothwell, Jo Bentley and Laura Beane
Rothwell Primary School Governing Body
Statutory Information
(2025-26 academic year)
Chair Pauline Walker
Vice Chair Jo Bentley
The constitution of the governing body is:
- Headteacher – Leila Rothenberg
- 1 x Local Authority (LA) governor, recommended by the LA and approved by the governing body – Pauline Walker
- 1 parent governor, formally elected through a ballot of parents unless the election is uncontested – David Miller and Stephanie Amirak
- 6 co-opted governors, nominated and appointed by the governing body – Patricia Rose, Jo Bentley, Laura Beane, Paul Rothwell, Kim Hindle and Victoria Hobson
- 1 staff governor, formally elected by staff employed at school – Jarrett Brough
- 1 associate governor – Rebecca Baxter
The governing body operates with the following committees:
Resources committee (including Pay Review) – responsible for staffing including the appointment and role of the SENCO, equality and diversity, finance, property management.
Committee chair: Patricia Rose
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Paul Rothwell, Jo Bentley and the Headteacher
Teaching and Learning committee – responsible for teaching and learning matters including target setting, standards and achievement, SEN (including reporting annually on the success of the SEN policy), Pupil Premium, monitoring teaching and learning and curriculum provision and ensuring that the governing body is represented at school improvement discussions.
Committee chair: Laura Beane
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Jo Bentley, Paul Rothwell, Kim Hindle and the Headteacher
Pupil Support committee – responsible for behaviour, attendance, children’s spiritual moral social and cultural development, links to healthy schools. Also includes children (school council), parent and staff voice, extra-curricular activities, cluster and other partnerships.
Committee chair: David Miller
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Victoria Hobson, Stephanie Amirak, Rebecca Baxter and the Headteacher.
Pay committee – responsible for discussing and agreeing high level pay budgets. Committee members: Pauline Walker, Laura Beane and Paul Rothwell.
Pay appeals Committee – responsible for hearing pay appeals.
Committee members: David Miller, Jo Bentley and Patricia Rose.
Headteacher Performance Review committee – responsible for performance review.
Committee members: Pauline Walker, Paul Rothwell and Laura Beane.
Appeals committee – responsible for hearing appeals and ensuring a fair and proper process has been followed.
Committee members: Paul Rothwell, Jo Bentley and Laura Beane
Governor Responsibilities
- Pupil Premium, PE Sports Premium – Paul Rothwell
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) – Kim Hindle and Rebecca Baxter
- Safeguarding, Children Looked After and Child Protection – Victoria Hobson
- Relationships and Sex Education – Stephanie Amirak
- Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) – Kim Hindle and Stephanie Amirak
- Health and Safety – Patricia Rose
- Equalities and Inclusion – Pauline Walker
- Training – Pauline Walker
- EYFS – Jo Bentley
- Early Reading and Phonics – Jo Bentley
- Literacy – Pauline Walker
- Maths – Laura Beane
- Attendance – David Miller
- Complaints – Pauline Walker
- Wellbeing – Jarrett Brough
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) – Pupil Support committee
Subject Leaders:
Subject leaders present their curriculum plans and development strategies for the academic year to at least one governor each year. While governor allocation to specific subjects may be adjusted annually based on availability and expertise, the board strives to maintain consistency where possible to the below:
- Reading – Jo Bentley
- Writing – Pauline Walker
- Maths – Laura Beane
- History – David Miller
- Geography – David Miller
- ICT – Paul Rothwell
- Science – Stephanie Amirak
- PE – Paul Rothwell
- RE/British Values – Kim Hindle
- PHSE – Kim Hindle
The following is an attendance record for individual governors at meetings of the full governing body (online via zoom; Governor Strategy meeting in person)
| Full Governing Body Meetings | |||||||||||
| Full Gov Body 23/04/25 | Full Gov Body 11/06/25 | Gov Body Strategy Meeting 15/07/25 | |||||||||
| Mrs Pauline Walker | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Dr Jo Bentley | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Ms Patricia Rose | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Mr Jarrett Brough | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Ms Laura Beane | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Mr Paul Rothwell | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Mrs Leila Rothenberg | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Mr David Miller | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Ms Kim Hindle | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Ms Victoria Hobson | Y | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Ms Stephanie Amirak | Started June 2025 | Y | Y | ||||||||
| Ms Rebecca Baxter | Started September 2025 | ||||||||||
Y – in attendance
N – not in attendance and no apologies received/accepted
A – apologies received and accepted
X – not in post/not a member
| Position | Start | End | Any other educational establishment governed | Relationship with the school staff including spouses, partners and relatives | |
| Mrs Pauline Walker | Chair of governors, LA governor, Resources and Teaching and Learning committees | From Nov 2014 | None | None | None |
| Dr Jo Bentley | Vice-chair of governors, Co-opted governor, Resources and Teaching and Learning committee | From Nov 2014 | None | None | None |
| Ms Patricia Rose | Co-opted governor Resources Committee Health and Safety | From Nov 2014 | PFI Contract Manager Leeds City Council | None | None |
| Ms Laura Beane | Co-opted governor Teaching and Learning Committee | From May 2016 | None | None | None |
| Mr Paul Rothwell | Co-opted governor – Resources committee and Teaching and Learning committee. Pupil Premium governor | From July 2018 | None | None | None |
| Mr David Miller | Parent Governor Pupil Support Committee | From Jan 2022 | None | None | None |
| Ms Kim Hindle | Co-opted governor Teaching and Learning committee | From May 2022 | None | None | None |
| Ms Victoria Hobson | Co-opted governor Pupil Support committee | From Sept 2024 | None | None | None |
| Ms Jarrett Brough | Staff Governor | From Sept 2024 | None | None | Staff Member |
| Ms Stephanie Amirak | Parent Governor Pupil Support Committee | From June 2025 | None | None | None |
| Ms Rebecca Baxter | Associate Governor Pupil Support committee | From Sept 2025 | |||
Governor Behaviour Principles Statement (Feb 2024)
Rothwell Primary School
Governor Annual Statement
The effectiveness and impact of the governing board 2024/25
The governing board has completed a review of governance in July 2025. We have welcomed three new governors to the governing board this year, broadening our collective range of skills, and they have readily undertaken training to take on individual areas of responsibility. Governors take an active role in the leadership of the school and are represented at school events, visits and residentials.
The areas where the governing board has had impact include:
- Ensuring effective use of the school’s resources including financial, personnel and premises.
- Supporting the needs of children in our school and improving provision.
- Monitoring progress and attainment along with the effectiveness of the curriculum to support all pupils learning and development.
How have we achieved this impact?
- The Resources Committee continue to oversee the ever changing and challenging budget, especially with the major changes to SEND funding. Regular meetings take place with the business manager to monitor the budget on a monthly basis, the committee ask searching questions and find resourceful ways to meet the needs of the children with the budget available.
Governors worked with the business manager to recover Covid furlough funding from the local authority which had been outstanding for several years.
- Members of the Pupil Support Committee have provided support to the Headteacher around SEND funding. Governors wrote to local councillors and the MP during Term 1 to highlight the increasing urgency of this issue to ensure the continued safety of all children within school. The Pupil Support Chair also invited local MP, Simon Lightwood, to visit to the school in Term 2 where SEND issues were discussed with him in greater detail. Specific SEND funding has now been agreed for the school.
The Pupil Support Chair has also worked with local LCC councillors to produce a proposal for improved road safety measures around the school site. This proposal is now out for local consultation and we plan for this road safety scheme to work in conjunction with the additional resources raised by the PTA committee which will improve visibility and safety at crossing points to and from school from September 2025.
- The Teaching and Learning Committee monitored the School Development Plan priorities for 2024/25 which were to develop pedagogy, raise standards in handwriting and spelling, and promote ambitious targets for all children. Measures of pupil’s progress and attainment are scrutinised by governors with particular focus on vulnerable groups, Pupil Premium and SEND. This enabled governors to challenge where attainment gaps are identified and ensure these were being addressed.
Governors met with Subject Leaders to discuss curriculum provision and consistency across year groups. Teachers fed back on the useful impact of this challenge to continue improving the curriculum.
The Teaching and Learning Chair has worked with governors and school to develop the annual Robert Seymour Prize for Year 6 in honour of our long standing and much-respected governor Mr Robert Seymour. The prize recognises an individual pupil’s contribution to the wider school community over their time at school.
The governing board has also completed equalities monitoring and reviewed strategies to ensure that families with the greatest financial needs are able to access after-school clubs and school trips
