All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. A key role is to act as a ‘critical friend’: to support, to challenge, to ask questions and ultimately, to represent the school community.

The Governing Body works in close partnership with the headteacher, staff and the Academy Trust. Whilst the headteacher is responsible for the day to day running of the school, the governors are involved with teaching and learning.

Governors’ meetings are held once a term where governors monitor and evaluate the standards of teaching and learning and the impact that the school makes on children’s achievement and attainment.  The Governing Body monitors how the school ensures that we achieve our national and locally set targets and the targets that we set ourselves.

Carly West-Burnham (Chair of Governors) - Trust Appointed - Carly's desire to be involved with the school stems from the belief that all stakeholders have a role to play in ensuring that all children get the best education and opportunities whilst at school to enable them to grow, develop and reach their potential.  Carly has two daughters and lives and works locally.

Peter Cuss - Trust Appointed Governor - Peter currently works at Springwood High School at a Head of Year and Teacher of Music. During his nine years of working in a secondary school environment, Peter has been a part of the primary to secondary transition process and has experience of leading a year group from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4.  

Neil Mindham - Executive Headteacher - Neil has many years of experience working in senior leadership roles in a variety of primary settings, including an executive position over three schools within the West Norfolk Academies Trust.  Neil has been Headteacher of Gaywood Primary since October 2017 and has trust responsibility for quality assurance for primary and secondary schools.

John Sinclair - Parent Governor - John is an experienced Avionics/Electrical maintenance supervisor.  His experience includes 3 years of in-depth electrical component fault diagnosis and maintenance of aircraft replaceable units and the establishment of a dedicated Quality & Continuous Improvement Team. John's two daughters are both pupils at Gaywood Primary School.

Lara Wardill - Staff Governor - Lara has extensive experience working in primary school settings supporting the mental health of children.  She is a qualified Designated Safeguarding Lead and attendance officer as well as pastoral lead.  Lara holds the position of Mental Health Lead and is a leading force in supporting the social, emotional and mental health of our school community.

Craig Jansen – Trust Appointed Governor - Craig has been a headteacher / senior leader in schools for nearly 25 year.   He is currently headteacher of Marshland High School, a West Norfolk Academies school.  He is a qualified designated safeguarding lead.   He has been involved in supporting a range of schools and in leading staff training over his career as a school leader.

Nick Wills - Trust Appointed Governor - Nick has been part of West Norfolk Academies Trust since it was formed and has responsibility for the Trust secondary school curriculum, as well as being part of the Trust executive committee.  Since arriving at Springwood High School in 1997 he has been head of mathematics, a computer science teacher and part of the senior leadership team.  He is currently associate headteacher of Springwood High School.

Nicki Gay - Clerk

The Clerk to the Governors is Miss Nicki Gay

If you wish to contact the Governing Body, please address any correspondence to her or the Chair of Governors via the following:

FAO Miss N Gay
Clerk to the Governors
Gaywood Primary School
32 Field Lane
Gaywood
King’s Lynn
Norfolk PE30 4AY

Telephone: 01553 774147
Email: n.gay@wnat.co.uk

Please click on the links below to view the up to date Governor Documentation:

• Governor Overview of Membership 2023-2024
• Governor Overview of Membership 2022-2023
• Governor Overview of Membership 2021-2022
• Governor Overview of Membership 2020-2021
• Governor Overview of Membership 2019-2020  
  Including Responsibilities, Relevant Interests and Attendance

Responsibility for all the academies that make up West Norfolk Academies Trust and for providing education in those academies is entrusted to the Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees have overall accountability for all the schools within the trust and manage all finances (including audits), premises and personnel areas, via subcommittees. Work is also delegated to our local governing body, whose assistance is greatly valued and supported by the Trustees.

For further information on our Board of Trustees, visit the West Norfolk Academies Trust website, Governance Page. 

Information on becoming a Governor at this school, or any other school within West Norfolk Academies Trust can be found in the  Become a Governor at WNAT leaflet. 

To register your interest in this School, or any of the other schools within the trust, please fill in the 'Become a Governor' form here.