Dear Parent/Carers,

We are writing to inform you of a vacancy for the role of parent local governor on our Local Governing Body (LGB).

The role of the LGB
The school’s LGB is responsible for providing confident and strategic leadership, and creating robust accountability, oversight and assurance for the school’s educational and financial performance. The LGB is passionate about education and committed to continuous school improvement to ensure the best possible outcomes for our pupils.

The role of a parent local governor
As a parent local governor, you’ll work with the LGB to ensure it effectively carries out the duties referred to above. You’ll also play a vital role in ensuring that the LGB is connected with, and is aware of the views of, parents and the local community.

To be a parent local governor you should have:
• A strong commitment to the role and to improving outcomes for children.
• Good inter-personal skills, curiosity, and a willingness to learn and develop new skills.
• The specific skills required to ensure the governing board delivers effective governance.

Being a parent local governor can be demanding but very rewarding. All local governors serve a three-year term of office and under usual circumstances, can expect to spend between 10 and 20 days a year on governance duties. These include:

-attending meetings of the LGB, usually outside of school hours and contributing to LGB business;

-reading reports and papers and keeping up to date on the progress that the school is making; and

-visiting the school from time to time during the school day.

You will have to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and sign the local governors’ Code of Conduct. A copy of the Code of Conduct, Role Description and more information about the LGB can be found on LGB’s pages of the school’s website.

We have a supportive induction process which will enable a period of settling into the role.

How to apply

If you’re interested in applying for the role, please email the Headteacher sam.aiston@bow.318education.co.uk by Friday 10th October 2025.

You should also include a personal statement (approximate 250 words) to support your application. We encourage candidates to be succinct when setting out the skills, experience and attributes that they can bring to the LGB to support their application. Nominations of other parents will be accepted, but please seek their prior consent.

Applications/nominations can only be accepted from parents or carers who have children registered at the school on the day that nominations close. If we receive more applications/nominations than there are vacancies, an election will be carried out. We will inform you after the nomination deadline if we have to do this.

If you have any queries about this process or would like to find out more about the role, please contact the Chair of the LGB, Phil Wilson phil.wilson@318education.co.uk or the Headteacher Sam Aiston sam.aiston@bow.318education.co.uk

Yours sincerely,
Phil Wilson
Chair of the LGB Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to the School of Opportunity!

As a team here at Bowbrook Primary, we would very much like to welcome you to our school. We are thrilled you have chosen us as your child’s Primary school and are committed to developing happy, healthy and ambitious young learners in a friendly and nurturing environment.  To begin this process, here is an outline of the induction arrangements.

Firstly we would like to invite you to the Parent information evening.  This is on Wednesday 4^th June at 6pm.  Can we suggest parents/carers only, rather than children attend , as the information will be directed at you.   It will be a chance for you to find out more about the curriculum your children will be following, what your child needs and how you can best prepare them for their exciting next steps.  It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible.  Don’t worry if that’s not possible.  I will post the PowerPoint slide show on the website afterwards for you to look at.

After that we have a Stay and Play session at  on Wednesday 11^th June at 4:00-5pm.  A great informal opportunity for the children to meet and play and adults to begin to get to know each other.

From Wednesday 25^th and Friday 27th June, from 9am until 5pm, we are offering a home visit if you would like one.  An opportunity for you to talk one to one with me to discuss your child and school in a place that is familiar to you and them.  For this to be possible we ask that you suggest a preference day and an am or pm time slot.  We will do our best to allocate your preferred time if possible.  It will last approximately 20-30 minutes.  Please contact us if you would like a visit admin@bow.318education.co.uk.

Finally, there will be a morning visit for the children on Thursday June 26th. This will be from 10 am to 12:30pm.  A chance to spend time in the classroom and have a school lunch with us.

I hope this information helps you feel informed, I would encourage you to check our website and follow our school on social media. We have a lot of events happening throughout the summer and it would be great if you can come along to some of these. I am very much look forward to meeting you all soon.

Best wishes

Mrs Emma Davis

Headteacher:  Mr Sam Aiston

Bowbrook Primary School

Consultation to open a SEN Resourced Provision

PROPOSAL:

Bowbrook Primary School’s governing body is proposing to create a SEN resourced provision for EYFS/KS1 children from September 2024, in collaboration with the Local Authority. As part of this proposal, the DFE (Department for Education) and the local authority have requested us to consult with all parents and nearby schools to make sure that all stakeholders have their opportunity to express their thoughts on this proposal.

Background

As you may well be aware there is an increase in the demand for special school places and SEN resourced provision places nationally. At present, special schools and resourced provision places are oversubscribed nationally and locally. This means that some children who require a specialist school place either must wait for a place to become available or must travel some distance daily to be able to access the nearest available provision. Schools in Shropshire have been approached by the Local Authority to support them with an additional resourced provision in the locality. The Governors and The 3-18 Education Trust have therefore proposed Bowbrook Primary School to support the need for this additional provision in our area.

For us as a school, this is a fantastic opportunity to continue to build on the work we do to support all our pupils and would further increase the expertise of our staff in supporting a range of special educational needs.

The 3-18 Education Trust, Bowbrook Primary School, and the Local Authority propose to develop a 10-place special educational needs resourced provision within the existing footprint of the school building.

The main benefits of this proposal:

The SEN resourced provision will accommodate up to 21 primary-aged children over time with an EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan) with communication and interaction difficulties/MLD (moderate learning difficulties). Initially, the plan will be to start with 3 children and then grow in stages in-line with the school’s class growth.

The SEN resourced provision will accommodate existing space in the school building and there will be an internal addition to the school building to accommodate sensory facilities near the envisaged resourced provision classroom.

The SEN resourced provision would be separately funded, and both current and additional staff would be recruited to ensure that the provision of the resourced provision would not impact the quality of education currently provided at Bowbrook Primary School. Existing SEND staff are experienced and qualified to support the development of the new provision, and the school has appropriate space available.

Without the expansion, there would be insufficient suitable places for SLCN/MLD pupils in Shropshire, and their special needs may not be met locally.

Minimal capital funding will be required by the school to implement this proposal. It will not affect the capacity of the school and does not put pressure on existing classroom spaces.

The Process

The proposed indicative timetable is as follows:

3-week Consultation Period:   Monday 10^th June 2024 to Monday 1st July 2024. There is a 3-week consultation period, during which anyone with a view on the change can write to the governing body to inform them. Once the consultation period has closed governors will meet to consider all the responses before making a final decision on any changes. All responses must be received by 12pm on Friday 28th June 2024.

Governing Body meeting: The Governing Body will meet to consider the consultation responses and whether to implement this proposal on the week of Monday 1^st July 2024. We will respond to, answer any parent questions, and post answers to any questions raised on our school website. If it is agreed that the proposal will be implemented, then the proposed implementation will take effect as of 1^st September 2024.

Please respond to the Consultation by 1st July 2024:

In writing:

Mr Sam Aiston

Headteacher (on behalf of the Chair of Governors),

Bowbrook Primary School

Or by emailing: admin@bow.318education.co.uk with the subject line Consultation.

Dear Parents/Carers,

Parent Local Governor Election

We wrote to you on 14th March 2024 to invite nominations for the vacancy for a parent local Governor. I am delighted to say that there has been a response and there are two candidates for the vacancy. This means we must now hold an election and would like to ask you to vote for a candidate.

The candidates are:
-Abigail Haylett

-Kathy Hollinshead

Each candidate has submitted a supporting statement which you can read prior to voting. You may vote for one candidate. Each parent can only vote once, regardless of the number of pupils you have attending the school.

The supporting statements are attached and the link to submit your vote is below:

Voting Link

The election will be decided by a simple majority of votes cast. In the event of a tie, the Chair of the Local Governing Body (LGB) and Headteacher will request a Knowledge and Skills Assessment from the tied candidates and recommend appointment by the Trustees based the candidate skills.

You have until Tuesday 14 May at 10:00am to cast your votes. When the election has been completed, the successful candidate will have to complete certain compliance documentation including a DBS check. We will let you know the outcome as soon as we can, but the process can take up to 4 weeks.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to support this election.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Phil Wilson
Chair of LGB

Bowbrook Primary School Local Parent Governor Nominations May 2024
Personal Statements

Nomination 1
Abigail Haylett

I am passionate about great education for our children and feel the ethos of Bowbrook matches that of our own, as parents. The fine blend of academic study with explorative and sensory experience is key to a developing child and something I fully support. I am a registered paediatric nurse with post graduate level education, working in public health so have integrated interest to promote equitable, high-standard education for our growing community.

I have a lot of safeguarding experience due to my role and respect the restrictions regarding confidential information. I have a flexible working schedule which allows me time to dedicate to the role of parent local governor and support the share of workload. I understand the importance of good teamwork within this role to get the best outcomes for the children and staff at the school, along with having an eye for compliance and good evaluation.

As a person, I have a warm personality and am very approachable – a trait I feel is important for the school community to know they are represented well on the board. As a family, we have had a great experience at Bowbrook with our youngest starting in the nursery class, with a view to continue his primary education. I hope to support the school as a school governor to give all families the same positive experience we have had so far. We also have experience of another established school locally, so I feel that will also contribute well to the journey of Bowbrook.

Nomination 2
Kathy Hollinshead

I wish to apply for the role of Parent Governor. My son, Rupert, has recently joined the Reception class at Bowbrook and has received such a warm welcome enabling him to settle quickly into his new class. As we are new to the area, I am keen to get to know the school better and engage with the local community. 

I am passionate about working with children and improving their education and life-chances. I want to ensure all children have access to opportunities and am particularly keen to support children’s mental health. I currently work as a Teaching Assistant but have previously taught pupils in a range of settings, as a classroom teacher and an outdoor education officer. Therefore, I understand the pressures of the job and have a broad knowledge of education, the curriculum, SEN and safeguarding. I also have an understanding of the challenges schools face in terms of budgets and funding.

As a Parent Governor, I would like to learn more about the pressures faced by the school and provide support where needed. I am keen to help the school and the dedicated staff who work so hard to provide opportunities for the children.

I feel that my professional skills and my strong commitment to improving outcomes for all children would make me an excellent choice for the role of Parent Governor. I would be delighted to be given the opportunity to make a difference in the education of my child and the school as a whole.