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Our Governors

Mr. Graham Bibby - Chair of Governors

I am a retired Assistant Headteacher and am currently the Chair of Keele Parish Council.  I moved to Keele in 2004 from Macclesfield in Cheshire, as I had been appointed as Head of Sixth Form at Bishop Heber High School in Malpas.  I joined the Governing body of St John’s Primary School in 2019 following the untimely passing of Parish Councillor John Downing, who had served for many years as a governor.  I took over as Chair of Governors in 2021.

Dr. Fiorella Montero Diaz

I am Head of the Music Department and Senior Lecturer in ethnomusicology at Keele University. I enjoy being an academic. It is a privilege to study for a living and to contribute to shaping young musician’s minds. I undertook my postgraduate education at Goldsmiths – University of London (MA in Ethnomusicology, 2008) and Royal Holloway – University of London (PhD in Music, 2014). Before moving into higher education, I worked as a head of music at primary and secondary schools in Lima, Peru, and as a sound designer for films. 

I am a keen advocate for artistic subjects in schools and universities. Music is, among many other things, a tool for conflict transformation and as such it is important to give music the place it deserves in education and daily life. I hope to contribute to the Board of Governors all my experience in education, leadership, and my work in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

I am married to Marita, who is a conference interpreter and literary translator, and our little Adrian adores St. Johns.

Mrs. Rebecca Butler

I am a staff governor and year 2 class teacher at St John's.  I have been a teacher for 8 years and joined St John's in 2019. I am also the science and MFL subject lead. 

Dr. Llinos Williams

I am a mature student working at University Hospitals of North Midlands, I am retraining to become a Radiographer. For the preceding 10 years I worked in the community for the NHS. We have lived in Keele since 2011, first in University staff housing, then moving into the village in 2016. I became a parent governor in 2021, I have a son in year 4 and a daughter who moved up to Madeley High School in 2022. I am committed to improving the outcomes of the students while keeping the community, happy feel of the school. I will endeavour to be critical and challenging so the governing body is ensuring the best outcomes for our children.

Mr James Salmon

I am originally from Staffordshire Moorlands but moved to Madeley in 2004. I have a joinery background and have spent around 10 years working in the education sector as a site manager/supervisor in both local secondary and primary school settings. This involved aspects of security, health and safety and site maintenance. My current occupation is maintenance manager with the RSPCA at Stapeley Grange Wildlife centre in Nantwich, with large aspects of the role being focused on health and safety.

I have a daughter at St John’s Primary and I joined the Governing body as a parent governor in 2020. I am the link health and safety governor and feel that I bring first hand experience of working within a School and a clear understanding of health and safety procedures and practices.

Dr. Seema Madhavan

I am a scientist in heart and profession. I work in QIAGEN Manchester as an Associate Director developing Diagnostics for personlised medicine. People tell me, that is a long way to commute every day to Manchester. What motivates me is the fact that, what I do can and has directly made a difference to patients' lives and in turn their families.  so my commute continues!!!.  I grew up in India, travelled the globe for education and United Kingdom is home now.  

I came on board of the Governing body as a parent governor in 2020. We have daughter in Year 6; Shreya Nair. I am the link governor for Science and Children’s Rights.  

My commitment for being on the governing body is to help make our school a place where the children will grow not only academically, but also socially, as I believe Primary School is the foundation and launching pad for their senior school and life beyond. I strive to support and challenge so that the partnership between governing body and School management is enriching in order to attain the best outcome for our children. I strongly believe Children are like wet clay waiting to be moulded into beautiful human beings and, as contributors to their education, it is our responsibility to facilitate that.   

The Role of Governors

The role of the school governor is demanding but very rewarding and is a good way to give back to the local community. School governing bodies are responsible for working with the school to ensure that it delivers a good quality education. School Governors have legal duties, powers and responsibilities. Together with the headteacher, who is responsible for day-to-day management, they set our school's aims and policies.

Key roles of governors:

• To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction. 
• To hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff.
• To oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent.

They also carry out a number of other important duties, which include:

• Determining how the school's budget is spent.
• The appointing and dismissing of staff.
• Hearing appeals and grievances.
• Forming policy on the school's curriculum and collective worship.
• Setting standards for pupils' behaviour and discipline.
• Making sure school buildings are welcoming and safe.
• Setting and monitoring the school's aims and policies.

The Governing Body at St John’s CE Primary School is made up of representatives from the local authority, the staff, the parents, and the community. Parent and staff governors are elected from the relevant bodies arranged by the Head teacher. The Governors meet three times a year as a large group and then four subgroups meet each term.

Governors declare any pecuniary interests annually and at the beginning of each meeting.

Governor Attendance - Full Governor Meetings: