St Bernadette Catholic Primary School has a strong Governing Body whose role is to support the school in making sure that pupils receive the highest quality of education and help plan for future developments and improvements.

Put very simply, the Governors work as a team to develop strategies for developing and maintaining high standards of education at St Bernadette. They work closely with the Headteacher, Mrs Lee, who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school.

Instrument of Governance - The governing body shall consist of:

• 7 foundation governors
• 2 parent governors
• 1 headteacher
• 1 staff governor
• 1 local authority governor

There are four committees:

• Admissions and Staffing
• Finance and Resources
• Curriculum and Standards
• Support, Safety and Wellbeing

Mr Mervyn Amesbury – Chair of Governors

Foundation Governor - Date of appointment: December 2019

Current term of office: November 2023-November 2027 Appointed by the Bishop of Clifton Diocese. Designated Mathematics Governor. He serves on the Admissions and Staffing Committee, Curriculum and Standards Committee and the Finance and Resources Committee. There are no relevant business/pecuniary interests or staff/governor relationships.

Mr Richard Triggs 

Foundation Governor - Date of appointment: May 2020

Current term of office: June 2024-June 2028. Appointed by the Bishop of Clifton Diocese. Designated Governor for Safeguarding & English. He serves on the Admissions and Staffing Committee, Curriculum and Standards Committee and the Finance and Resources Committee. He also serves as Governor on the Local Governance Committee at Two Rivers Primary School - part of the Futura Learning Partnership in Keynsham.

Mrs Sarah Gregory

Staff Governor - Date of appointment: July 2022

Current term of office: July 2022 – July 2026. Appointed through the Staff election process. She serves on the Curriculum and Standards Committee. Designated EYFS governor. There are no relevant business/pecuniary interests or staff/governor relationships.

Mrs Claire Hambly

Parent Governor. Date of Appointment January 2020. Appointed through the parent election process. She serves on the Support Safety and Wellbeing Committee and is a SEND Governor. Current term of office January 2024 – January 2028. There are no relevant business/pecuniary interests or staff/governor relationships.

Mrs Nicola Dawson

Local Authority Governor. Date of Appointment February 2022.  She serves on the Finance and Resources  Committee. Designated Wellbeing governor. Current term of office February 2022 – January 2025. 

There are no relevant business/pecuniary interests or staff/governor relationships.

Mrs Barbara Lee

Headteacher. She serves on all Committees. There are no relevant business/pecuniary interests or staff/governor relationships.

James O’Shaughnessy

Foundation Governor - Date of appointment: November 2024

Current term of office: November 2024-November 2028 Appointed by the Bishop of Clifton Diocese.

There are no relevant business/pecuniary interests or staff/governor relationships TBC 

Jason Franks

Business manager. Associate member with voting rights, serves on the Finance and Resources Committee 

Mrs Vicky Palmer 

Deputy head, SENCO. Associate member with voting rights, serves on the Support Safety and Wellbeing Committee.

Father Matt Anscombe

Associate member, He attends the Full governing board meeting, he has no voting rights.

Mrs Lydia Collins

Clerk -Governance professional 

For any Governance information please email - Clerk.StBernadetteP@bristol-schools.uk