St Albans School staff member Governor at Heathlands School

S serves on the Governing Body of Heathlands School (for deaf children). The school has 118 pupils from 3 to 16 years. The school offers day attendance and weekly boarding and is a single site school. Heathlands School is one of the few schools in the UK to teach children using British Sign Language (BSL) and some of the pupils travel hundreds of miles to attend the school each week.

Aims

S uses her knowledge of working within education establishments combined with her experience of Governorship at another school, to help the Governing Body ensure the school is well run and is providing pupils with the best possible education.

Background

With a corporate background working for many large FMCG organisations prior to moving into education, Susan was approached to become a member of the Governing Body as the school were looking for a Governor with this background. The school has aspirations to provide 16+ education and S is a strong supporter of this.

S is currently studying for her Level 2 Sign Language qualification to allow her to communicate more efficiently with pupils; staff and parents.

Resources

St Albans School grants Leave of Absence as required to allow S to undertake her role.

Pupil Involvement

St Albans School has a Sixth Form pupil volunteering at Heathlands on Friday afternoons as part of the Partnership program. Recently a group of Lower Sixth pupils have been learning BSL as a result of our involvement with the school.

Frequency

S attends three Full Governing Body meetings and three Resources Committee Meetings each year. In addition she is called upon to sit on Review Panels as required by the School.