Governors

Our Governing body follow the 3 core functions set out in the Governance Handbook 2020:

1. To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
2. Hold the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the Academy and its children;
3. Oversee the financial performance of the Academy and making sure its money is well spent.

Together, the Governors are responsible for:

• Setting aims and targets for the Academy and checking the Academy’s progress towards attaining these.
• Monitoring how well the Academy’s policies and plans are working.
• Accounting for the performance of the Academy and the Local Governing Body (LGB).
• Working with the Head teacher to make sure that teaching at the Academy is effective and good quality and the children are making the best possible progress.
• Taking general responsibility for the Academy and its budget.
• Challenging and supporting the senior management team and taking opportunities to show interest in and appreciation of staff and children.
• Promoting the interests of the Academy and its children in the wider community.

Elevate Governance:

As a multi-academy trust, Elevate is a charitable company limited by guarantee. This means that Elevate is a single legal entity, but it has several Academies within its family. Currently, Elevate has 14 Primary Academies. These are mainly situated across North Yorkshire with 1 Academy in West Yorkshire.

Elevate and their Academies work in collaboration with a single shared vision. The governance structure is designed to reflect the overall responsibility of the Board of Trustees, the (operational) leadership of the CEO supported by the School Improvement Team for education and the Operational Team; for the day to day running of the Academies by the Executive Head Teachers (EHT) and Head teachers coupled with the value of local experience and understanding of the LGBs in assessing the performance of our Academy and their interaction with the local community.

Elevate has established 3 key layers of governance: 

• Members
• Trustees
• Local Governors 

Although Elevate’s Trustees are accountable for all of the Academies within the Trust, it highly values the work undertaken by local governors in supporting, and challenging, our Academies and senior leadership teams to deliver high quality and inclusive education.

Elevate LGBs have a pivotal role in the overall framework of the Trust by having:

• An in-depth knowledge and understanding of their Academies;
• Sustaining uniqueness of their Academy whilst aligning with Elevate’s educational vision;
• Forging and maintaining links with their community;
• Providing the vital governance link between themselves and Trustees to enable the Trustees to carry out their responsibilities as leaders of the Trust.

The different responsibilities overseen by Trustees and Local Governors are set out in the Scheme of Delegation, which is reviewed on an annual basis.

Link to Scheme of Delegation

Link to Articles of Association

The LGB comprises of:

The Head Teacher

Staff governor - elected by the staff at the Academy 

2 Parent governors - elected by parents at the Academy

4 Co-opted governors - Invited by the LGB for their skill set from the local community

Associate member - Appointed by the governors to provide short term support in areas identified by the LGB. They have no voting rights and their term of office will be limited to 1 year. 

Chair of Governors: D.wilson@aspinparkacademy.org; 

                                   Aspin Park Academy, Wetherby Road, Knaresborough HG5 8LQ

 Your Governors:

Emma Meadus: Head teacher

 Emma joined Aspin Park on 1st September 2023

Helen Windsor: Staff

Helen is Knaresborough born and bred but, after studying at St Martin`s College, she taught in St Helen`s and then in York. Helen`s move to York brought her closer to her roots and also gave her the opportunity to lead on Music, Drama and Maths across the FS, KS1 and KS2 phases.

Helen came to work at Aspin Park in 1990 and during the years prior to taking on the role of FS/KS1 Lead, she has had varied experiences teaching across Foundation, KS1 and KS2. She began her time here leading on RE, and subsequently lead History, Art and then Maths. On two occasions she stepped in as Music Subject Lead. She was appointed to the FS/KS1 Lead post in 2004 returning to teach Year 1. At this point she was given the opportunity to study for a Masters in EYFS and Managing Change. Currently, Helen is fulfilling the role of Deputy Head. She is working alongside Lizzie Selway as Reading Lead and she is teaching a year 5 group in the mornings. She is part of the TRG run by Kelly Ashley and is currently attending a Leadership Course.

Outside of school, Helen is an active member and Elder at Knaresborough United Reformed church where she sings and plays guitar with a small worship band. She is involved with children`s work, including a monthly Kids Club and a summer Holiday Club. She is also a qualified Lay Preacher traveling around churches in the Leeds and Harrogate area leading worship.

Helen`s home family includes 6 house rabbits and 2 cockatiels. She enjoys playing guitar and piano, loves reading and she is currently dabbling in water colour painting. She has a love of DIY, especially flat packs. Indeed, she just loves to be busy!

Dan Wilson: Chair and Co opted Governor

Dan has a background in education, having previously worked as a teacher and local authority curriculum consultant in London, Coventry and Newcastle. Having left the profession in 2014 he is currently the Director of Development at Yorkshire Sport Foundation, working with communities and organisations to enable more people to be more active. He has established close links with the Department for Education by helping shape their implementation of the PE and Sport Premium grant for primary schools and co-designing the Creating Active Schools Framework.

Dan has two children at Aspin and has been a governor for three years. He is now the chair of governors and in this role is driven to support the Academy to achieve is vision of every child reaching their full potential.

Gordon Hay: Co Opted Governor

Annie Steward:  Parent Governor

 Annie is from London and moved to Knaresborough with her family in 2016. She has a child at Aspin and is really excited to undertake the challenge of her first parent governor role with the Academy. She is keen to learn more about how the Academy works and support it to achieve its vision.

Katy Hitchings: Parent Governor

Katy has a long interest in Aspin Park Academy. She attended the school when she was younger which inspired her to go on to do a teaching degree. Katy did her final teaching placement at Aspin before qualifying as a primary school teacher. She currently owns her own Ofsted outstanding nursery in Knaresborough as well as a holiday club that is open to all the local schools including Aspin. Katy has a great knowledge of the EYFS and how young children develop and the importance of the different areas for them to achieve their true potential. Being a trained teacher Katy has an understanding of how schools work and she is looking forward to refining her skills and learning all about Aspin’s procedures. Katy has 2 children who love attending Aspin and being part of the local community. She  is  looking forward to working alongside the other governors and all the outstanding teachers at Aspin.

Aspin Park Governors 2023-2024

Governors Attendance at LGB Meetings:

Governor Attendance 2022-2023

Governor Attendance 2021-2022

Governor Attendance 2020-2021

Governor Attendance 2019-2020

Governor Attendance 2018-2019

Governor Attendance 2017-2018