The Teaching Team

In May 2022, Micklefield C of E Primary Academy joined the Collaborative Learning Trust and a new Local Governing Committee was formed. Please see the Collaborative Learning Trust Scheme of Delegation, which includes the Local Governing Committee's Terms of Reference.

• Governor	Governor Appointment	Role	Appointment start date	Term of office	Appointment end date
  Emma Cook	Headteacher	Headteacher	1 September 2022	4 years
  Chris Newby	Appointed	Chair, Safeguarding	1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026
  Ann Hughes	Appointed		1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026
  Lindsay Demir	Elected by parents	SEND	1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026
  Caroline Loring	Elected by school staff		1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026
  Bob Reeves	Foundation Governor	Vice Chair	1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026
  Barbara Rhodes	Appointed		1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026
  Father Wilton	Foundation Governor		1 September 2022	4 years	31 August 2026

For the full list of current and historic governors registered on GOV.UK, please click here.

If you wish to contact the Chair of Micklefield CE Primary Academy, Mr Chris Newby, please contact the school office, via the Contact Us page

• Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Hold the Headteacher and other leaders to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff –
• Oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent
• Governors are there to take a strategic overview rather than be involved in the day to-day running of the school.

Anyone over 18 who lives in the UK can be a school governor. All governors are required to follow the seven Nolan principles of public life:

• Selflessness
• Integrity
• Objectivity
• Accountability
• Openness
• Honesty
• Leadership

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7- principles-of-public-life--2

The Governing Body should have a combination of particular skills and experience such as education, strategic planning, building maintenance and management, financial expertise and personnel management.

Not every governor needs to have experience in schools or being a member of a board. Training is available and the governing body has a Chair and a Clerk who are both able to help new governors understand their role and support them in meetings.

Parent governors are elected by parents through a vote. Staff governors are elected by staff through a vote. Trust governors are appointed by the Collaborative Learning Trust. Foundation Governors are nominated by the PCC and appointed by York Diocese. Co-opted governors are appointed by the Governing Committee for their particular skills and experience. It is important that the committee as a whole can meet the level of skill, knowledge and personal traits required to underpin effective governance. When appointing co-opted governors, the governing body will look at the areas where they would benefit from additional knowledge and expertise to strengthen the board.

The competency framework is outlined here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/583733/ Competency_framework_for_governance_.pdf

At Micklefield CE Primary School governors attend a Local Governing Committee meeting approximately 4 times a year. All governors are expected to join at least one subcommittee – these cover different areas like the curriculum, personnel, pay, finance and buildings – which meet at least once a term. You’ll need to be able to work well in a team, as you’ll be making joint decisions on policy. A Full Governing Body meeting usually lasts around 3 hours and takes place after school hours. Committee meetings may be a little shorter, depending on the agenda. Governors are also allocated additional responsibilities linked to the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and will be required to spend time on this, keeping up to date on the requirements and meeting key staff to ensure that the school is on target. It is important that governors are able to attend all meetings, in order for the governing body to function properly.

Governors will need to prepare for the meeting beforehand by reading minutes of previous meetings, as well as any other papers distributed, checking the agenda and contacting the Clerk or Chair or Headteacher if they have any questions beforehand or do not understand any particular area. Governors may also need to feedback on any relevant meetings they have had, training they have attended, or issues that should be brought to the attention of the governing body. The governing body does not discuss the daily issues of the school or the detail of how the school leaders are managing them, but look at particular areas, such as attendance, and may ask the Headteacher to prioritise these if they are not already being addressed.

The Committee has a Chair who leads the governing committee. There is also a Vice Chair who will stand in for the Chair when needed. The governing body has a professional Clerk, who advises the governing body, as well as taking minutes, organising and keeping records of meetings and ensuring that relevant legal documents and other paperwork and information is up-to-date. The Chair and Clerk will support new governors, helping them to understand key terminology or specific areas, if required.

You do not need any particular qualifications or training to become a governor, but it is important that all governors understand the role and keep up to date with current requirements, including attending training.

There is a variety of training available on-line and from Leeds CC Governance Service for governors, including an introduction to being a school governor and particular areas that governors need to be up-to-date on, such as safeguarding.

Being a governor can be a very rewarding role. If you are interested in becoming a school governor, contact the Chair of Governors through the school. The Chair will be able to inform you of whether there is a vacancy for a co-opted governor and will be able to talk to you about whether your skills and experience match the vacancy. If there is a vacancy for a parent governor, all parents will be informed. Before you put yourself forward, talk to your employer. Many employers recognise the role of school governor as useful work experience and may offer paid leave for governor duties.

Our parents’ support group, the 'Friends of Micklefield' is run by Tanya Nicholls and Joanne Davis. The team are currently very busy re- establishing the group, working on ways we can raise funds and planning how they can introduce some activities for the children.

The Friends of Micklefield group have a history of raising and securing very significant funds previously which has been hugely beneficial to the school and the children, delivering some wonderful events and being able to buy some really fantastic resources which have been very well used.  With the support of all of us we are sure they can continue this fantastic work. 

To join our monthly raffle, please join our Facebook raffle group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1171527829939858

Amazing prizes to be won each month and all proceeds go directly into school funds!

Please keep checking here for ways you can help and for information about upcoming events.

Why do we have a School Council?

The School Council was established as a means to give our children a voice. We care about what our children think and want to take their opinions in to account when we are looking at making changes or developing aspects of our school.  We want our children to feel valued and involved in the decision making process as much as possible. The children are also great at coming up with ideas and suggestions the adults in school hadn’t even thought of!

The school council also take the lead on our fund raising activities and non-uniform days. They have raised money for a range of national charities eg Red Nose Day, Children in Need as well as local charities like the Selby Food Bank.

How do you become a member of the School Council?

Our School Council elections happen at the start of each school year. Children who would like to be on the council deliver an election speech to their class and then each class elects 2 children to represent them by voting in a secret ballot – living out our British Value of democracy.

The School Council is supported by Mrs Sanders and they hold a meeting every other week.

You can easily spot our School Councillors out and about around school with their badges on.

Everyone who spends time learning and growing at Micklefield CE Primary School, becomes a successful individual with the courage, compassion and creativity to make a difference in the future. We are respectful of God’s world, working together to create a loving and caring community. We live out our school’s Christian ethos through our daily interactions which model our Christian values.

Although we are committed to Christian beliefs and practice, we strive to inform about, and empathise with, all faiths in our world, particularly those represented in school. We promote tolerance, respect and democracy through our teaching of Christian values. All children throughout the school take part in daily Collective Worship, whether in class or as a whole school. Collective worship is an important part of our daily life and enables us to learn about and explore our key Christian values.

Links between Church and School are strong with the clergy leading regular collective worship in school and members of the congregation and clergy serving on the Governing Body. As a school we also regularly visit church for services including Christmas, Easter and school leavers at the end of the summer term, as well as other major events in the Christian calendar.

The teaching of Religious Education is compulsory, and important to us as a church school. We follow the Leeds Agreed Syllabus. The clergy participate in and support curricular activities in school which are exploring areas of RE and church life, for example baptism. We also use the church building as a resource both in children’s direct learning and in their spiritual, cultural and social development.

We are proud to be an integral part of the St Mary’s Church Community.

We also have close links with the Diocese of York.

Church schools have Christian beliefs and values at their heart. This means that every child and adult associated with the school is not just important because they are members of the school but because they are seen as unique individuals within God’s creation.

In Church schools the spiritual aspects of life will be recognised, and nurtured alongside the academic and emotional needs of all.

As a pupil, parent, visitor or member of staff you should find that your church school is as good as any other good school but you should feel that the way the school works is different and distinctive. That distinctive difference will be rooted in Christian values that affect the way everyone is respected.

Church schools are encouraged to:

• ensure that the school is led by a headteacher who is committed, with the help of staff, to establish and maintain the Christian character of the school in its day to day activities and in the curriculum
• engage meaningfully in a real act of Christian worship every day
• offer a school life that incorporates the values of the Christian faith
• ensure that religious education is taught and that the character and quality of religious education are a particular concern of the headteacher and the governing body
• observe the major Christian festivals and in schools which other faiths are present ensure that those faiths are able and encouraged to mark their major festivals with integrity

Easter

This year the last week of term was Holy Week so this was an ideal time for everyone to learn about the last week of Jesus’ life and his resurrection on Easter Day. There were lots of activities in school and the 4 daily Assemblies focussed on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day. On Tuesday 5, Y5 pupils created an outdoor Easter Garden at church. They used stones to build the tomb and the hill where 3 empty crosses stood. They placed small flowering plants around them and laid gravel paths. It looks lovely! They enjoyed eating their ‘thank you’ eggs!

St Mary’s has been part of the Micklefield Easter Trail so there have been lots of visitors to look at the story of Holy Week shown by figures and objects in the windows.

Finally a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has donated tins etc towards the work of Selby Food Bank. You started doing so before Christmas and every month the amount gets bigger. What a wonderful example you are giving to the children about sharing with others and showing the importance of caring for everyone.

Christmas 2020 was quite different for all of us as we couldn't have our usual service in St Mary’s due to Covid, but during the last week of school every class had an individual Christingle Collective worship. Each child bought their Christingle home and we hope you enjoyed lighting these again at home (safely!). The Christingle candle collecting boxes raised a wonderful £97.82 for the Children’s Society.  Thank you for all of your donations.

Our Christmas windows were enjoyed by many.  Our windows told the Christmas story, from Mary learning she was to give birth to Jesus, to the visit of the Wise Men. Somewhere amongst the figures were 19 sheep – did you see them all?

All Class 1 were given sticker calendars with a small book telling the Christmas Story. We hope they enjoyed them!

This community project at the heart of our school brought local people together in a touching memorial to the lives lost in a historic tragedy. Our Community Memorial Garden commemorates the lives lost in the Peckfield Pit disaster.

On 30th April 1896, the flame of a collier’s candle came in to contact with a pocket of Black Damp gas, causing an explosion that swept through that district of the mine, resulting in the deaths of 63 men and boys and 19 pit ponies.

“Though this tragedy brought the community to its knees, it also created a resilience and determination in the survivors, which in turn created a strong unbreakable bond and community spirit that is still with us today. Coal mining has always been a large part of our heritage and we do all that we can to preserve this with love and pride. 2021 was the 125th anniversary of the pit disaster and, though Covid 19 limited what we could do, everyone did their best to honour the day and our little group of volunteers, who strive to keep our heritage alive, created a monument to the disaster. Our village school took a lot of interest in the remembrance events and we have joined with them to create the Peckfield Pit Disaster Memorial Garden at school. I also have to give a big thank you to my great little team of volunteers who work with me to keep our community heritage, history and traditions alive.” said Dennis Best, local resident, who has worked as part of the group to create the garden.

“As the local primary school at the heart of our Community, we have always been part of this heritage, but this project has given us a real opportunity to join with our community to create something really special. The children will get a great deal of value out of the opportunity to reflect on our history. We are on a very exciting and positive journey as a school, moving forward in to a future as part of the Collaborative Learning Trust, and to be part of such a lovely community project seems particularly fitting.” said Emma Cook, Interim Headteacher.

The Peckfield Pit Disaster Memorial Garden was officially opened by the Ward Councillors for Kippax and Methley, Councillor Mary Harland, Councillor James Lewis and Councillor Mirelle Midgley on Saturday 19th March 2022. The Garden was made possible by generous donations from Lumby Nursery’s, the LCC ward Councillors, Persimmons Home Builders, Brecks Scaffolding and Graham Wood’s Top Soil with help from the local community and school parents.

Micklefield is a village of two halves. One road - the Great North Road or "the old A1" - links the two with a distinctive S bend surrounded by fields giving a fair indication of when moving from one half to the other.

The southern part is known as "new Micklefield". It contains the railway station, landfill site, industrial park and allotments. Housing consists mainly of late 19th century/early 20th century terraced cottages built for miners, some larger pre-war semi-detached houses, and the Garden Village housing estate. In recent years, new flats have been built next to Pit Lane. The old fire station is used as a community centre. Nearby is a sandwich bar, and a small independent shop.  There is now also significant new building around this area, expanding the village considerably.