Governing Body

Every school has a governing body whose members work as a team. Governors are responsible to parents, funders and the community for making sure the school provides a good quality education. Governors also promote high standards of educational achievement. They do this together with the Headteacher, who is responsible for day-to-day management of the school. Governing bodies may also include representatives from the church, charitable trust or business interests. The term of office is four years for our Governors at the school.

Governing bodies may include :

• Parent Governors who are elected by other parents/carers at the school
• A Staff Governor who is elected by school staff
• A Local Authority Governor who is nominated by the Local Authority but is appointed by the Governing Body
• Co-opted Governors who are appointed by the Governing Body
• Foundation/Trust Governors who are appointed by the Lewes Co-operative Learning Partnership (LCLP)
• Associate Members who are appointed to a committe of the governing body for their specific skills and expertise
• The Headteacher is a member of the Governing Body by virtue of their office.

The purpose of our Governing Body is to help the school provide the best possible education for its students. To be achieved by strongly focussing on:

• Setting the vision and strategic direction of the school
• Holding the Headteacher to account for its educational performance
• Ensuring financial resources are well spent.

At Priory most of the formal governor business is conducted at the full governing body meetings - held six times per academic year. Supporting the full governing body we have three committees, Teaching and Learning who meet three times per academic year, Inclusion Committee who meet three times per academic year and Strategic Organisation (finance) who meet three times per academic year.

Priory’s Governing body consists of the following types of Governors these are appointed in the following ways:

• Parent Governors who are elected by other parents/carers at the school
• A Staff Governor who is elected by school staff
• A Local Authority Governor who is nominated by the Local Authority but is appointed by the Governing Body
• Co-opted Governors who are appointed by the Governing Body
• Foundation/Trust Governors who are appointed by the Lewes Co-operative Learning Partnership (LCLP)
• An Associate Member who is appointed by the governing body to serve on one or more committees. Associate members can attend full governors meetings but do not vote and may be excluded from any part of a meeting where the business being considered concerns a member of school staff or an individual student.
• The Headteacher is a member of the Governing Body by virtue of their office. 

If you have an enquiry for the Governors please email the Clerk in the first instance; she will then forward your query as appropriate. Alternatively please post your enquiry marked for the Chair of Governors, c/o Clerk to the Governors, Priory School, Mountfield Road, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2XN.

Priory School will always advertise if they have a vacancy on their governing body.

The current Chair is Noah Curthoys. The current Vice Chair is Ben Motley. 

All governors have had a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check,

Governors that resigned over the past 12 months:

Hannah Clay (parent governor) Term 25/4/2022-9/7/2025

Rebecca Pearson (co-opted governor) Term 6/9/2022-9/7/2025

Current membership:

Parent Governor vacancy X3 and a Co-opted vacancy x1. 

Appointments are made as follows: Co-opted Governors and Associate Members are appointed by the Full Governing Board, Parent Governors are appointed by parents/carers and Staff Governors are appointed by school staff, Local Authority Governors are appointed by ES County Council and Foundation Governors are appointed by LCLP.

*LCLP – Lewes Co-operative Learning Partnership         

Governing Body Attendance Records at Full Governing Board and Committee Meetings for 2024-2025

Governing Body Attendance Records at Meetings

Finance & Resources CommitteeTeaching and Learning CommitteeInclusion Committee MeetingThe information on our Governors below includes which committees they are members of and also who our Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs are:

Committee Membership 2025-2026