Governors
The purpose of a governing body is to help provide the best possible education for pupils. Governors meet regularly with the Head teacher and staff to decide the school’s aims and policies, and to oversee the efficient running of the school.
The governors work in partnership with the school and local authority.
Establishing the strategic direction, by:
- setting the vision, values, and objectives for the school
- agreeing the school improvement strategy with priorities and targets
- meeting statutory duties.
- appointing the headteacher
- monitoring progress towards targets
- performance managing the headteacher
- engaging with stakeholders
- contributing to school self-evaluation.
- setting the budget
- monitoring spending against the budget
- ensuring value for money is obtained
- ensuring risks to the organisation are managed.
Meet the Governors
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CHAIR OF GOVERNORS – Kev Davidson
My name is Kevin Davidson and am I currently acting as Chair of Governors at Cobbs Brow Primary School. I’m a former resident of the town, attended primary school in the town and have worked for many years in Skelmersdale as a Youth Worker, Senior Officer for LCC and for the last ten years, SHARES Lancashire, where I am employed as Chief Executive
Throughout my roles, and particularly in my current role, I have worked with children families and schools to enable them to reach their potential. I am extremely passionate about young people, their education and wider social development and the role that schools, families and other services have in making positive impacts on their life.
In my role as Chair I sit on all of our governor committees, lead meetings and regularly meet with the head teacher to provide support and also challenge in the continued endeavour to provide our children with fantastic learning and development experiences within this outstanding school.
I have a wide range of knowledge, skills and experience built up from 20 years working with children, young people and schools which I hope will be useful in supporting the school to reach its aspirational goals.
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VICE CHAIR OF GOVERNORS-Kelly Farley
My name is Kelly Farley, I have just been appointed Parent Governor at Cobbs Brow School and I am thoroughly looking forward to being part of the team and helping Cobbs Brow achieve and maintain high standards. I am married with two children who both attend Cobbs Brow, they are in Years 2 & 5. As a child I also attended Cobbs Brow.
I currently work for Knowsley MBC, working for Knowsley Sensory Impairment Service who are part of the SENSIS Team. I have been a specialist 1:1 teaching assistant for the past 17 years.
The service I work for provide support for pupils within mainstream settings, whom have a visual or hearing Impairment from birth to 19 years of age. I have mainly worked on the visually impaired side of the team and I have been a qualified Braillist for the past 11 years.As well as my full time job, I work part time providing rest bite care for a young adult who is MDVI (Multi disabled, visually impaired). I also volunteer at the local Girl Guiding Rainbows group and have done so for the past 2 years. My youngest child still attends and so do many other local girls. A lot of which attend Cobbs Brow themselves. My interests are cooking, baking & going to the gym.
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HEADTEACHER- Ian Eaton
My name is Ian Eaton and I am the Headteacher of Cobbs Brow Primary School. I have held several roles throughout my time at Cobbs Brow including class teacher, Key Stage 2 Leader, Deputy Head and Headteacher. I am passionate about children’s education and welfare and I am determined and motivated to raise standards within school.
I am married with one child and the experiences I have gleaned from being a father have helped support my educational beliefs and philosophy. I have lived locally for most of my adult life and I have many friends and relatives living in Skelmersdale. I have worked alongside the local community to raise funds for various charities and I am a coach for a local football team for adults with learning difficulties.
I am proud to be the Headteacher of Cobbs Brow Primary and I will continue to work closely with parents, staff, Governors and the local community to maintain the high standards and expectations within school, whilst moving it forward to make it even better.
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GOVERNOR & DEPUTY HEAD – Lisa Pugh
My name is Lisa Pugh. I have worked at Cobbs Brow Primary for the past eleven years and I am part of Cobbs Brow governing body. My role in school is as Deputy head, Year 5/6 teacher and Key Stage 2 Leader. Within the governing body, I take on the role as the Curriculum Governor which means that I lead the curriculum committee meetings as well as attending other committee and full governing body meetings.
Working within Cobbs Brow and being a governor at the school, allows me to be completely committed to support the provision of an outstanding education for the children and support parents, staff and governors within my role.
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GOVERNOR- Margaret Duffy
My name is Margaret Duffy. I have been a Governor at Cobbs Brow since November 2014. I have a background in education, having been a teacher since 1987. I worked in a Liverpool Primary School for twenty seven years and am currently working as a supply teacher. I regularly attend Governors meetings and committee meetings and I am committed to ensuring the best outcomes for pupils.
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GOVERNOR – Julian Gruzelier
My name is Julian Gruzelier, I am a co-opted governor, starting the role in Autumn 2023. I work for a global irrigation company, Netafim, whose UK office and warehouse is on West Pimbo Industrial Estate. I have worked with Netafim for over 25 years, my role today being Chief Technical Officer for the UK and Head of Business for the Nordic Region and so spend a reasonable amount of time travelling in the UK and abroad. I am married with two children, one who is currently in 6th form at Ormskirk School and the other is in the 3rd year of a degree at Edgehill University.
Through a Netafim colleague whose child attends the school, I was introduced to the team at Cobbs Brow and with Netafim have had the privilege to work with the staff and children on a number of occasions. Netafim purchased a polytunnel, and the Netafim team built it on the school grounds to extend the opportunities for children to grow their own vegetables, building on the vegetable and flower growing the school was already doing.
When offered the opportunity to become a governor I was pleased to accept, and hope that my experience in commerce will be a benefit to the school, its staff and most importantly the children. I believe the school is a great primary school with a teaching staff that have a real passion for making learning fun and giving children opportunities. I will do everything that I can to support the school staff, in providing the very best education and environment for all children to develop and grow during their time at Cobbs Brow.
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GOVERNOR – Stuart Johnson
My name is Stuart Johnson, I have recently been appointed as a Parent Governor at Cobbs Brow Primary School. This is a very new challenge which I am looking forward to. During the short period I have been a Governor I have been welcomed by my fellow Governors and the School and have enjoyed getting to know the roles and responsibilities of a Governor.
I am a local resident of the school with 2 children who currently attend who are 10 and 5 and I am due to get married later this year. Outside of being a Governor I am a serving Police Officer for Lancashire Police. I work daily in the West Lancashire area including Skelmersdale. I am a 999 response officer meaning I attend varying different types of jobs that require different skills to help problem solve. I believe that I can use skills I have learnt as a Police Officer to help support the Governors and school.
In my spare time I enjoy watching and partaking in sports so as a Governor I have expressed an interest into the school’s sports education program. I believe that it is important that all children have access to sporting activities.
I look forward to helping the Cobbs Brow maintain and build its reputation within the community and I would like to thank the School and Governors for the support .
Stu
- Governor - Carrie Blanchard