Sowerby Primary Academy

Growing Courageous Learners.

Joint Local Governing Body

As Keeley Ungerechts is now executive headteacher over both Sowerby Primary Academy, Saplings Nursery and Alanbrooke Academy the Board of Trustees have agreed (26.04.2022) to create one joint local governing body(JLGB) over the 2 Academies. This will enable the governors to support Keeley in her executive head role and to have a greater understanding to enable them to ensure that high expectations for all the children were being achieved.

The Joint Local Governing Body (‘JLGB’) of Sowerby Primary Academy and Alanbrooke Academy

Composition:

The Executive Head Teacher (‘EHT’)* or Head Teachers of the Academies that the board of Trustees have agreed should be paired under the Scheme of Delegation’s ‘Pairing LGBs’
1 elected staff governor from each Academy
2 elected parent governors from each Academy
2 co opted governors from each Academy

*If the EHT is no longer the EHT across the paired Academies the Trustees may at their discretion agree to either dissolve the JLGB (and each Academy will then have their own LGB) or they may be paired with another Academy dependent upon the appointment of the EHT.

Governors

The local governing body exists to help the Academy provide a high quality education for children in a supportive, caring environment. It does this by:

setting the Academy's values, vision and strategic direction
challenging and supporting the Academy by continually monitoring, reviewing and evaluating its performance
ensuring that the Academy is accountable to its children, the local community, those who fund and maintain it and the staff it employs

The three core functions of the local governing board are:

To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
To hold the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the Academy and its children.
To oversee the financial performance of the academy and make sure its money is well spent.

Governors are also responsible for overseeing the Academy's finances, checking that resources are being managed well and helping with the appointment of staff. We meet five times a year as a local Governing Body with every governor taking on specific link roles within the Academy. Minutes of our meetings are available from the office..

Types of Governors

There are several different types of Governor:

Parent Governor

Elected from parents at the Academy by parents at the Academy.
Staff Governor

Elected from staff at the Academy by staff at the academy
Co-opted Governors

Appointed by members of the Local Governing Body. They are intended to be representative of the local community and may add particular kinds of expertise.
Associate Member - Appointed by the governors to provide short term support in areas identified by the LGB. They have no voting rights and their term of office will be limited to 1 year.

Chair of Governors: To be confirmed

Keeley Ungerechts - Executive Head teacher

Keeley has been working as a teacher and LA Maths Advisor in North Yorkshire since 2000.

Keeley has had the pleasure of being a headteacher for 11 years. Sowerby is her third headship andshe have been lucky enough to have been here for 6 years. Sowerby Primary Academy is part of Elevate Multi-Academy Trust, since February 2018. Keeley is also lead the NQT Development programme for North star Teaching School Alliance and she is a Fellow for Early Career Framework Expansion with Red Kite TSA.

Carole Merifield - Staff governor (Sowerby)

Staff governor (Alanbrooke) - Vacancy

Parent Governor - Vacancy

Parent Governor - vacancy

Robert Williamson - Co Opted Governor

Robert was born in Liverpool in 1955, attended a state junior school, grammar school (all boys) which became a mixed comprehensive school in his final sixth form year!Robert had the dubious privilege of being head boy! A degree in Music Theology was followed by Theological College, 42 years as a vicar and chaplain to hospitals, Mountain Rescue and a paper-making factory. During this time Robert has served on 6 governing bodies including both primary and secondary schools. He is married with one grown up child and a granchild who attends Sowerby Primary Academy.Robert's interests include Music, Poetry, Climbing, and Travel.

Myles Strudwick - Co-opted Governor

Philip Bates (Alanbrooke) - Co-opted Governor

Co-opted Governor -Vacancy

Name	Term of Office	Link Role	Name of Business	Nature of Business	Nature of Interest
Keeley Ungerechts Head Teacher	N/A	N/A	Sowerby Primary Academy	Education	Head teacher
Carol Merifield Staff	To 27.09.2025	N/A	Sowerby Primary Academy	Education	SEND/Teacher
Staff - Vacancy
Parent - Vacancy
Parent - Vacancy
Parent - Vacancy
Parent - Vacancy
Philip Bates Co opted
Vacancy Co-opted
Myles Strudwick Co opted	To 22.03.2025	H&S and Curriculum	NYCC	education and support management systems and first aid and water-based training services provider.
Robert Williamson Co opted	To 28.09.2025	Safeguarding	Retired