Welcome to the Kemsing Primary School Governor’s page.

Our Governing Body is a diverse group of volunteers, made up of parents, staff and members of the local community, who have a common interest in education and have made a commitment to the staff and pupils to provide strategic leadership and accountability. Each Governor has an area of responsibility and reports back to the full Governing Body at least once per term.

Our Governing Body has 3 core functions, as set out by the Department for Education:

· Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.

· Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.

· Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure it is money well spent.

Our Governing Body carries out these responsibilities by reviewing and monitoring core policies, overseeing school improvement and ensuring a broad and enriching curriculum is taught. Through regular meetings and visits to the school we have strategic oversight of curriculum, finance, safeguarding, SEND and Health & Safety. Whilst day-to-day management of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher, the Governors provide challenge, support and constructive advice.

On this page, you can meet all of the Governors of The Darent Federation, and learn a little bit of their background and their interest in governance.

Kemsing is a happy school, filled with smiling, confident children, with a love of learning. As part of our monitoring visits, we are privileged to witness this in action and we are all proud to serve on the Governing Body of such a nurturing, welcoming school.

Meet the Governors

Here is a list of Governors and their roles within the Hybrid Model of Governance. Attendance at Governing Body meetings in 2022/23 is noted in brackets below each governor and shows how many meetings they attended against how many they were required to attend.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE GOVERNORS

Tara Anderson

I am a full time mum to 3 children, who all attend(ed) Kemsing Primary School. Before children, I worked in both politics and investment banking whilst, more recently, I have been kept busy working on our self-build project. I became a governor in June 2015 as I’d been an active member of the PTA for 6 years and wanted to make a contribution to and support the school in a different way. I have a keen interest in education and how it is evolving and wanted to help ensure the school continues to provide our children with an excellent education, whilst caring for their wellbeing and also nurturing their individuality.

Tom Hardwick - The Headteacher

As  Executive Headteacher of Kemsing Primary School, I take great pride in working alongside our Governing Body, staff team and parent body to ensure that our school provides the very best education for each and every one of our pupils.

Previously in my career I have been a staff governor at three separate schools and have been involved in school governance for 10 years. 

Tina Howe

I became part of Kemsing School's Governing Body in October 2021, after finding that I wanted to be able to have more of an involvement in the local community and recognising Kemsing School as being a large part of this.    I am a qualified social worker and have worked with children and families in a range of roles over the last 20 years. I am still practicing as a social worker with a role in a fostering agency, which I started in 2021 after 10 years of working in assessment and child protection teams.  I am currently the lead governor for safeguarding and English and I hope to be able to apply some of my current skills and  knowledge to the governor role as well as learning from the School community as a whole. 

Douglas Gemmell

I have lived in the village my entire life and am a former pupil at Kemsing Primary School. I joined the Governing Body as a parent Governor in October 2021 because I wanted to give something back in supporting the school. I believe Kemsing is an amazing school, which provides our children with a great start to their educations, and I wanted to help the school continue to improve and develop.

Susan Robbins

I joined the Governing Body in 2020 and am currently the governor lead for Early Years and English. I have over thirty years of experience in Information Technology working in Consultancy, Finance (Insurance) and Manufacturing sectors. After retiring in 2019, I have returned to my love of learning by studying for an Open University English Literature degree. During my professional career, I have had roles in strategy and also in using data for process improvement and I hope these skills can help at Kemsing Primary School.

Stephanie Stephens

The Chair of Governors can be contacted via the Clerk to the Governing Body via the school office or at gclerk@kemsing.kent.sch.uk