Governors
Welcome to the governor section of our school website.
Local governing bodies within Southern Education Trust are called Local Governing Boards (LGB’s). They champion, oversee, and make recommendations to the Trust Board about the school experience for the pupil, their families, and the staff.
Members of the LGB are called governors, and Ferndown Middle School has a strong team of governors, comprised of parents, staff and members of the local community. Whilst the Headteacher and Senior Management Team are responsible for the day-to-day running of the school, governors are responsible for monitoring standards, data, and pupil progress as well as financial oversight of the school.
Members of the LGB come from all walks of life and meet at least once every half term. During these meetings, we look at a wide range of information to find out how well the school is performing. The Headteacher provides a detailed Headteacher’s report, but we also look at data and independent reports so that we can make our own decisions about how well the school is performing.
We attend training sessions and seminars to help us keep up to date with changes in schools and education and to help us do our job effectively. We also go into school to meet with the Headteacher, other members of staff and pupils to help us find out how the school is progressing towards its development plan and targets.
From time-to-time governor vacancies arise and if you are interested in becoming a governor, please do not hesitate to contact the school so we can arrange for a governor to have a chat with you. All new governors are fully supported, and a mentor is assigned to help the newcomer through the first year or so.
Governors receive no payment for attending meetings but there is a tremendous sense of satisfaction that each one is making a valuable contribution to the education of all the children who attend Ferndown Middle School.
There is a list of current governors below and we try to contribute to the school’s newsletter on a regular basis.
We hope your child/children is/are happy during their time at Ferndown middle School and that you will take every opportunity to ensure that you are fully involved in their education.
If you have a question for the governors, then you can email us via the Governance Officer, Christine Thresher at cthresher@fernmid.dorset.sch.uk or leave a message at the school office.
Mr Paul Clarke
Chair of Governors
Local Governing Board Members
Denny Bartlett – Community
Richard Bebbington – Staff
Paul Clarke – Community – Chair of the LGB
Rebecca Ellement – Parent
Phil Jones – Headteacher
Rebekah Mulrooney – Parent
Mike Parkes – Co-opted Community
Alex Reffell – Community
Shelly Rossiter – Community
Christine Thresher – Governance Officer
Minutes of governors’ meetings are available from the Governance Officer (cthresher@fernmid.dorset.sch.uk)
Correspondence to the Chair of Governors should be addressed c/o the Governance Officer
Documents
FMS Governors Who’s Who 2025-2026
FMS Governors Attendance at Meetings 2025-2026
