Welcome to our Governors' section. 

Please find below details of how our Governing body is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

Who we are:

Linda Feldman - Chair of Governors

I have worked in the NHS for a number of years, currently with NHS England who oversee the training and development of the health and care workforce.

I am educated to degree level and qualified in Change Management and Project and Programme delivery. I have led on establishing a self-assessment diagnostic tool to determine current levels of digital literacy within the workforce.

As a Government Digital Service Standard Lead Assessor, I support, promote, and encourage the development of consistent and user-friendly end-to-end government digital services, ensuring recognised standards are achieved.

I am keen to give back to the community and create an impact on the next generation and support them on their educational journey.

My hobbies include swimming having recently swum the distance of the English Channel, Amalfi Coast and Marathon round Athens.

Nadine Bleasby - Vice Chair of Governors 

I have spent the majority of my career working in the NHS working in various areas including managing student clinical placements for medical students in Leeds and York, working in the National Institute for Clinical Research Network Coordinating Centre in Leeds, before moving to become Chief Operating Officer for a regional clinical research network across the North East and North Cumbria, and most recently as Chief Operating Officer for a business support unit in primary care. I have previously held the role of school governor for a primary school in Harrogate where I live, and am looking forward to bringing some of that experience with me as well as learning more about Wigton Moor through working with the governing body and teaching staff. I'm a keen swimmer, walker and avid reader as well as enjoying travel, good food and wine in good company.

Bethany Webb

Teacher Governor

I am the staff governor at Wigton Moor Primary School, second year Early Career Teacher (ECT) and a Year 2 class teacher. Before becoming a teacher, I went to the University of Leeds and received a degree in Broadcast Journalism (BA). I then worked in the TV industry as a Researcher for three years, gaining experience working with children on Britain’s Got Talent and The Yorkshire Vet. In mid-2021 I decided to chase my dream of becoming a Primary School Teacher and re-trained through the RedKite Alliance SCITT to become a qualified teacher. Since then I have worked across Wigton Moor Primary School, first as a KS2 HLTA, then as a Year 4 teacher and now as a Year 2 teacher. I also volunteer weekly to teach children as part of the Community Learning After School Study Support (CLASSS) charity on a Thursday evening in Chapel Allerton. I truly enjoy working at our school and am excited to work with the rest of the Governors to continue to strive for excellence.

Chris Dyson - Chair of Resources

I am a very proud dad of two little girls at Wigton Moor and am delighted to be a parent governor.  I am a former maths teacher and maths graduate, qualified accountant and chartered quality professional.  My work has mainly been in internal audit and financial controls roles, and I have worked across wide variety of sectors from my time in practice, including education.  Following this my time has mainly been spent in construction and large retailers in senior leadership positions.  I hope I can add value to this great school by sharing some of my knowledge and expertise, bringing ideas and fresh thinking and a little bit of fun, whilst holding the Leadership to account.

Julie Taylor 

I have worked in the market research industry for 18 years and am currently employed as a Senior User Researcher at the Department for Work and Pensions.  My day-to-day involves speaking to the general public and DWP staff to understand needs and wants with regards to DWP online systems, analysis and interpretation of data, project management, line management of junior personnel and presenting findings.  Through working in research I have developed skills in leadership, problem solving and strategic planning which I look forward to bringing to my role as School Governor at Wigton Moor Primary School. I passionately believe that all children can achieve great things with the right conditions and with teachers that are able to focus on helping them grow. I am excited about the opportunity to assist the team in securing the best possible outcomes for pupils.

I live locally with my husband and two young children. Outside of work I enjoy family time, seeing live music and running. 

Andy Atkins

I have worked in education all my working life and I am dedicated to supporting teachers, children and schools to improve and develop their learning. I trained as a teacher and taught in Suffolk, and then I was a consultant and Lead Advisor for Essex County Council schools where I provided extensive support for schools and professional development and training for teachers. Since 2012, I have worked at a number of universities on their Initial Teacher Training programmes as a Senior Lecturer. I was previously a governor at a primary school in Northampton. I have recently moved to Leeds and am keen to work with the team at Wigton Moor Primary School to support the staff and children, and in my spare time explore the lovely countryside in Yorkshire.

Farheen Azfar

 I have a Doctor of Pharmacy qualification and have clinical pharmacy experience. In the past number of years, I have completed many qualifications specifically focused on safeguarding children. I have completed a parent inclusive program covering Strengthening Families and Communities specialising in Racial Equality and I have specialised in Children’s and Young People’s Mental Health. I have an Advanced Diploma in Child Psychology. I am also a qualified Paediatric First Aider. I am also qualified in Nutrition and Health. I have a BTEC qualification in Essential IT skills, I am also Certified Microsoft Technology Associate MTA. I have a BTEC qualification in Customer Services.

I have 2 lovely children at Wigton Moor Primary School. I have an interest in finding different opportunities to learn and gain experience, thus becoming a Governor at Wigton Moor Primary School has also been a great opportunity for me. I hope this journey of Governance will always be fantastic with the wonderful staff of Wigton Moor Primary School.

Laurence Sacks

I began my career as a criminal solicitor in private practice.  I was then invited to join the judiciary part time in the social entitlement chamber.  A further invitation came to become a Deputy County Court Judge before in 2003 being appointed a full time Immigration Judge.  During my past part time appointments in the judiciary I also work as a part time lecturer in the law department at Park Lane College.  After my retirement in 2015 I was invited by Bradford Council to talk to primary children both in schools and in the synagogue about the Jewish religion.  I am an avid bridge player and cricket spectator.  I am still involved in the education system as I have 6 grandchildren all in various stages of education and the youngest two still live with me.

Eugene Uwagie – Ero (CMgr) 

I’m excited to be part of Wigton Moor Primary School Governors Board, with a responsibility to inspire young pupils within and outside our local community. Through planning , provide an enabling environment for children to flourish. I’m pupil’s manager and currently working for HM Revenue & Customs.  I’m an alumina of Aberdeen business school (Robert Gordon) and an affiliate of the Chartered Management Institute(CMI). With over 20, years working experience across public and private sectors (Banking and Finance, HR Peoples Management, Operational delivery, Projects, and Programmes).

I live locally and have a desire to give back in every little way to the society, role modelling and making positive influence on “ young people’s lives. This has resulted in my volunteering work with numerous government and private organisations i.e., Inspiring the future,  DWP Jobcentre Plus, Askham Byram Colleague, Manchester Academy, Mosaic, Princes Trust and CMI. I’m new to the role of school governance however I’m surrounded with very experienced governors. And I’m confident and looking forward to bringing some of my transferable experience and knowledge. Whilst taking every opportunity to learn about Wigton Moor and governance through collaborative working with staff and governing board members. Ultimately, to deliver a strategy that ensures at Wigton Moor Primary “ Everyone Learns, and Everyone  Achieves! Because Everyone Matters.”      

Hannah Pinkham

I have been a secondary school teacher for many years, initially in London before moving to Leeds in 2021. I have a passion for research-based teaching and learning in addition to ensuring an exceptional education is available to all. I have particular expertise in curriculum development and implementation. Away from work I am a mum to 3 little boys who are supporting my developing knowledge of the magic of key stages 1 and 2. I enjoy slow films with subtitles, running in the rain and dragging my children on countryside walks.

Eman Morad

I studied Mechanical Engineering at university and later shifted my career into technology. I now work as a Senior

Cloud Engineer and have gained experience across logistics, DevOps, and cloud infrastructure. My career has equipped me with a strong mix of analytical thinking, strategic problem-solving, and leadership skills.

Outside of work, I’m deeply passionate about helping children discover the joy of technology. I lead coding sessions for young learners, support local tech events such as the Leeds Digital Festival, and take part in mentoring and panel discussions to encourage girls and women to explore careers in STEM. I believe that early exposure to tech can spark creativity and confidence in children, and I love being part of that journey.

Becoming a governor has been a meaningful way for me to give back to the community and support the school’s inclusive and high-achieving environment

Annual Governance Statement for the Governing Board of Wigton Moor Primary School September 2024-August 2025

1. The Board of Governors September 2024  - August 2025

The Board of Governors maintain a skills matrix which demonstrates the diverse skills held across the Board. This document informs any appointments to ensure the Board of Governors maintain the skills required to be effective. Our governors bring real strength to the strategic leadership of the schools through their skills and experience which include:

• Chartered accountancy
• Budget management
• Education, including school improvement and initial teacher training; academy and curriculum leadership
• Legal practice
• Chief operating officer having oversight of HR, finance and IT functions
• Leadership coaching
• Market research solutions including project management
• Project management
• IT / cloud engineering

2. Committees

Members of the governing body work through two main committees. Attendance at these meetings and at the full governing body meetings can be seen in section 5 of this statement.

Teaching, Learning and Pupil Support Committee

The Teaching, Learning and Pupil Support (TLPS) committee has delegated authority for monitoring and evaluating the quality of education, including ensuring a broad and balanced curriculum is being taught. The committee holds the headteacher and senior leaders to account for target setting, pupil assessment and outcomes, and the quality of teaching.

The committee also has delegated authority for holding the school to account for pupil behaviour, safeguarding, attendance, children’s spiritual moral social and cultural development, children, parent and staff voice, equality, diversity and inclusion, extra-curricular activities and cluster and other partnership work.

Resources committee

The Resources committee has delegated responsible for staffing including the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) being suitably qualified, staff performance management, finance including assurance that school achieves best value, particularly for service level agreements / other external contracts, property management, health and safety and risk management, including GDPR.

The committee is also responsible for overseeing the school's financial stewardship, including oversight and approval of the school's budget.  Committee members aim to assist the smooth running of the school's operations, effectively supporting Wigton Moor's strategic priorities.  

Committee membership

The current committee membership is:

Resources Committee:

Governors:  Mike Allen (Chair, resigned July 2025), Nadine Bleasby, Elaine Bown, Linda Feldman (resigned July 2025), Laurence Sacks, Eugene Uwagie-Ero, Chris Dyson

Associate Members:  Jon Goodall (School Business Manager), Pete Hadfield (Assistant Headteacher)

Teaching, Learning and Pupil Support Committee:

Governors:  Andy Atkins (Chair), Farheen Azfar, Elaine Bown, Linda Feldman, Bethany Webb, Julie Taylor

Associate Members:  Gillian Dudley (Deputy Headteacher)

Pay Committee / Performance Management Committee

Governors:  Julie Taylor (Chair), Nadine Bleasby, Mike Allen (resigned July 2025)

This academic year governors have also been allocated additional responsibilities according to their skills experience and interests, and the priorities of the school, as below:

3. Training undertaken by Governors September 2024 - August 2025

During the academic year Governors have attended training sessions run by the local authority, in person, on-line and e-learning modules. When considering the skills and training Governors require, particular attention is given to three core strategic functions of the Board of Governors:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

The following training has been undertaken:

• Child protection and safeguarding
• Governor induction training
• Health & Safety
• Online Safety and links to Child Protection
• Handling Complaints to the Governing Bodu
• School Finance for Governors
• (Governor) Special educational needs and disabilities
• Safer recruitment training in education Settings
• Governors also regularly undertake additional reading around their link subjects by way of informal learning and reading

 4. Impact of the Governing Board September 2024  - August 2025

The 2024-25 academic year started from a position of positivity and confidence following a flurry of successful visits and awards the previous year - OFSTED – Outstanding; Healthy Schools – Beacon status, to name but a couple. Notable success in 2024-25 came in the form of a Gold School Games mark and achieving the Red Kite Alliance RED Award in January 2025 which underlines school’s commitment to Respect, Equality and Diversity, and noted how initiatives such as the book audit, monitoring of hate incidents and ‘One World Week’ “reflects a strong collaborative partnership between staff, pupils, parents / carers and governors, fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, and shared responsibility for promoting these essential values.”

We continue to stand proud of this achievement as one of the defining elements of our school.

Buoyed by the previous year’s Outstanding rating by OFSTED, and awaiting the new OFSTED framework, school continued with its ambitious priorities in the School Improvement Plan which are discussed regularly at Full Governing Body (FGB) and relevant sub-committee meetings as well as being a standard part of governor monitoring visits. The priorities for the academic year were:

1. 1. Through self-improvement opportunities, identify techniques and strategies in teaching that improve the effectiveness of learning and engagement.
   2. Improve basic skills in writing: letter and number formation, spelling accuracy and grammar accuracy.
   3. Review opportunities for teaching about environment education and sustainability in the curriculum and wider curriculum.
   4. Develop a more structured ‘designed’ approach to staff wellbeing and mental health, increasing awareness of wellbeing needs of staff.
   5. Achieve the Respect, Equality, Diversity (RED) award.
   6. Continue to explore ways of improving the EYFS outdoor environment.

The FGB strive to support the school in a strategic role in ensuring that the fulfilment of these priorities. Examples include:

• Governor monitoring visits, which are structured around curriculum areas and school priorities, with report visits circulated to all Governors and uploaded to DB Primary as well as discussed at FGB / sub-committees, thereby increasing awareness and scrutiny at a wider level
  • Discussions with Subject Leaders automatically include detailing how teaching is managed for all pupils looking at different cohorts such as Pupil Premium, SEN pupils and those not making age related progress and where possible evidence is shown for plans to dimmish the gap.
• Observing and participating in staff wellbeing sessions and school’s Earth Day
• Reports shared with governors that demonstrate the ongoing comprehensive monitoring of teaching and learning, which shows that teaching remains very strong and that effective support ensures there is a continuation of this for teachers new to Wigton Moor and those new to teaching. Of particular note this year were the development opportunities provided to staff through the ‘trios’ approach (aligned with Priority 1 above) which were noted through informal feedback as well as discussions with staff during monitoring visits
• The continuation of subject leaders presenting to the Teaching and Learning and Pupil Support (TLPS) Committee about the ongoing evolution of their medium and long terms plans across the curriculum provides opportunities for Governors to explore and ask questions directly of Subject Leaders, providing additional assurances to those provided by SLT as well as supplementing Governors knowledge and familiarity with the curriculum and learning techniques.

As governors we conducted 23 visits across the year, some of the highlights from these included:

• Attending a Staff Wellbeing Training session delivered by an Educational Psychologist exploring:
  • Healthy and unhealthy stress
  • Resources and strategies for managing stress
  • Mental wellbeing and anti-fragility (the ability to get stronger in the face of stress)
  • The importance of wellbeing
  • How to sustain positive wellbeing in a stressful environment
• Meeting with the Equality Council who explained they had undertaken an audit of classroom and corridor displays, assessing these for representation of the school cohort (‘do these represent me?’); they were then supported in feeding this back to their teachers and asking for them to be refreshed accordingly
• Exploring and understanding the resources available to the ~51% of pupils registered as having English as an additional language (covering 30+ different languages)
• Learning about Chatterbugs - one of the interventions trialled this year to help pupils with speech and language issues
• Visiting the newly converted ‘spare’ classroom into a dedicated sensory room, where pupils are able to go and participate in a range of sensory activities following a sensory, play-based curriculum. This is predominantly, but not exclusively for SEN pupils
• Observing the adaptability and resilience of school in reconfiguring teaching space and resources following significant flooding
• Joining Y4 pupils on their climb of Pen-y-Ghent at the start of their residential

The National Test results in KS2 achieved in 2024-25 by Wigton Moor Primary School were excellent once again and once more pupils and staff across the school are to be congratulated on the outcomes. The results demonstrate that continued high levels of academic standards across the full range of test results are achieved against national and Leeds data. Governors scrutinise and monitor pupil attainment to ensure that the excellent results are maintained and holds the school to account for all pupils’ achievement. The TLPS committee has termly access to pupil outcomes, progress and predictions by year group, including predictions for specific cohorts and groups including SEND, Pupil Premium and EAL (English as an additional language). School monitoring reports give a good overview of how each cohort of pupils is doing, evaluations are discussed and the rationale for the range of assessment approaches and purposes has been discussed. Monitoring visits, presentations by Middle Leaders and discussion in meetings have all contributed to triangulation of evidence about Teaching and Learning. The committee explores all aspects of the distinctive characteristics of teaching and learning at Wigton Moor including what happens in the classroom and other wider initiatives.

Pupil Support is scrutinised and monitored by governors, with regular reports, visits and discussions. This includes the impact of Government Funding, Attendance and Behaviour and the Development and Wellbeing of staff and pupils. Safeguarding, a priority for all governors, is also regularly discussed in committee. Stakeholder engagement, of pupils, staff and parents, is reported on a rolling programme.

Safeguarding leadership remains robust and effective, guided by Deputy Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Gillian Dudley, alongside Caroline Lee, Deputy DSL for Learning and Mentoring. Their strategic oversight ensures that safeguarding principles are deeply embedded within curriculum planning and delivery, fostering a consistent, whole school culture of safety. This commitment has been clearly demonstrated through a series of safeguarding activities throughout the year, including online safety audits and focussed discussions with the School Council around pupil safety. A safeguarding audit conducted by the Local Authority was undertaken in March 2025 and findings reviewed by the Safeguarding Governor, DSL and Deputy DSL with no major findings or concerns to address.

As a governing body we have had a few changes with Mike Allen (co-opted governor and Chair of Resources Committee) stepping down at the end of the academic year and Julie Taylor also stepped down as Chair of Governors at the end of the academic year. However, we are delighted that Julie will remain as a co-opted governor and Mike will continue as an Associate Governor. We would like to put on record a thank you to each of them for their commitment and contributions and particularly their leadership in their respective Chair roles. We were also pleased to welcome Eman Morad and Hannah Pinkham on-board, both as co-opted governors.

As a governing body, we routinely review policies and procedures throughout the year to ensure that these are fit for purpose and meet not only our legal responsibilities but also our vision and aims for the school and our pupils. The children and staff remain at the forefront of our decisions as we endeavour to provide the best educational environment for them.

Throughout the year, the Resources committee, working in conjunction with the Senior Leadership team of the school, continued to steward finances, oversee Health & Safety procedures, ensure material premises maintenance was provided for and had oversight of human resources strategy.

Balancing the books is an ongoing challenge for many educational establishments currently, but we are pleased to report that prudent actions taken in- year resulted in a year-end carried forward reserves surplus significantly ahead of original forecasts.  These actions were undertaken with the ongoing provision of excellent education being at the core of our decision making.  

During the year significant repairs were carried out on a section of flat roofing which had caused flood damage, the cost of which was ultimately borne by our insurers.  Plans have also been laid for two new school-enhancing projects regarding air-conditioning for specific classrooms affected by extreme heat at certain times of the year along with a revamp of the Early Years outdoor area - the latter being a project which will be co-funded with our fantastic partners the Friends of Wigton Moor School (FOWMS).

We are pleased to report that our financial controls continue to be appraised as strong via our Schools' Financial Value Standard self-assessment.

We look forward to the coming academic year, maintaining our focus on delivering our three core responsibilities:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

5. Governor Attendance

Governor Meetings Attendance Records

The minutes of Governing Body meetings can be read by contacting the office.