News

Clerks Award 2009

Every two years, the National Governors Association, the England based school governors association, runs an award to find the outstanding clerk to a governing body. The purpose of this is to recognise and reward the contribution that clerks make to the effectiveness of governing bodies, and, in so doing, to encourage clerks to develop their role.

Governors Wales was fortunate to have been awarded funding from the Welsh Assembly Government enabling governing body clerks in Wales to participate in the 2009 Award. Governors Wales worked in collaboration with the National Governors Association. The Award was open to all governing body clerks, whether they were members of the LEA staff, school staff, or separately employed by the governing body, or diocesan authority.

There was much interest shown in the Wales Clerks award. Governors Wales received 38 nominations in all from across Wales. Shortlisting was done on the basis of a written submission from the Chair of Governors together with sample agenda and minutes. Four governing body clerks were shortlisted:

• Anwen Bumby, Ysgol Glan y Môr, Gwynedd
• Eurlun Christopher, Pengeulan Primary School, Rhondda Cynon Taff
• Heather Jenkins, Dyffryn Taf School, Carmarthenshire
• Alison J Lincoln, Parcyrhun Primary School, Carmarthenshire

The winner was then chosen following visits to the schools by two members of the Governors Wales’ Management Committee acting as judges for the award. This involved further scrutiny of paperwork produced by the clerk and interviews with the Clerk and Chair of governors.

The first Wales Award Ceremony for the winner and runners-up of the 2009 Clerks Award to governing bodies took place on Thursday 5th March 2009 at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells. Jane, Hutt, The Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills presented the award/s at the celebration event.

The winner of the Award was Heather Jenkins, who said of the Award “My thanks to all the staff at Governors Wales for the lovely afternoon I had at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells yesterday. I am thrilled to have won this amazing new award as the “Outstanding Clerk of the Governing Body 2009” having been nominated by the Chairman of the Governing Body, Mr Bob Elward, and the Headteacher, Mr Robert Newsome, OBE. I am delighted to have won this fantastic award and extremely proud of my achievement. I have worked at Dyffryn Taf School for twenty years, nine of those having been Clerk of the Governing Body. This award really makes me feel that all these years of hard work having really been worth while.

The winner from Wales will then go forward to the overall award ceremony in Birmingham on 21st March with the regional winners from England, where an overall winner will be chosen.

Mr Elward, Chair of Governors, who nominated Mrs Jenkins for the award said “For over eight years Heather has provided a first class, highly efficient clerical service to the governing body. She has considerably eased the demands of school governance with her diligent management of the wealth of associated data, documents, procedures and policies. We are very much looking forward to supporting her further progress at the NGA Awards Ceremony in Birmingham.