Amesbury School Digest

It is amazing how quickly three years passes. It is that time again - Board of Trustee elections. The idea of creating Boards of Trustees to govern schools was introduced in 1989 by then Prime Minister, David Lange. The role of the Board of Trustees as governors of the school is a high level one. It is not to dabble with the day-to-day management of the school, but to ensure that the vision for education is being implemented and realised in reality on a day-by-day basis. The role of the Board is to determine the policy that says how the school and those within it will act and to ensure that action meets the requirements of legislation while also implementing the vision of the school.

To date the Amesbury School Board of Trustees has been consistently high functioning. We are each very aware of our particular roles and the boundaries these impose upon us - re governance and management. However, we work much more as a team - committed to every child experiencing what it means to be fully human and continually fulfilling their potential. We occasionally cross the boundaries of governance and management, always carefully and with each other's permission,  so that as a team we can access all the skills and capabilities contained within the Board to make a difference for our children.

I am certainly aware that as a principal, my responsibilities span across a range of areas that are not my areas of expertise - e.g. property, technical aspects of ICT, legal matters. It has been so amazing to have always had people on the board who can contribute in a range of areas that fill gaps in my capability and who have contributed so willingly. This way of working has certainly enabled us to do so much in the relatively short life of the school.

On that note, I would like to thank all the Trustees who have served on the Board for the last three years, and encourage you, our parent community, to think about whether you would like to serve our school in this way.

You can nominate another person to stand as a candidate, or you can nominate yourself.  Nominations close at 12:00 noon on Friday 20th May.