Meet the Governors

Welcome to our Governors’ section.

Here you will find lots of information about our Governing Body and their roles in school. 

The Role of the Governing Board.
The governing board provides strategic leadership and accountability for the school and its community.

Governors have three main functions:

• Oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent
• Hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
• Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction is maintained

Governors work with the headteacher to set aims and objectives for the year alongside development of policies and procedures to enable achievement. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge or 'critical friend' with which to support the headteacher.

Governors are expected to:

• Make decisions about how money is spent and budgets are managed 
• Support the performance management of the staff and senior leaders
• Engage with the school community by attending events and arranging time to visit the school
• Address a range of education issues within the school including disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special needs, staff workload and teacher recruitment
• Ask challenging questions about data, pupil premium, SEN and other pupil groups

• Sit on panels and make decisions when required such as staff discipline/complaints
• Attend relevant training to keep up to date with education changes and statutory compliance

The Governing Board has two committees:

• Standards Committee - Governors focus on the welfare of pupils, data-progress and attainment, educational development, safeguarding.
• Assets Committee - Governors focus on the financial performance of the school analysing reports and making sure money is well spent.

Angela Whitney

My name is Angela Whitney. I am Divisional Director of a Dutch distribution company heading the Food business in the UK. I am the Chair of Governors. All my three children have attended our school and I initially became a parent governor to give something back to the school. Having experience of working in a business environment I felt that I could help those aspects of school life that require a discipline and skill in finance, recruitment and management. Whilst this is the case, it is the time spent in school understanding what impact our decisions as Governors make to each child, that is most rewarding. Working with the staff and the children themselves to make a better learning environment and ensure that each child achieves to the best of their ability defines the role.

Gwen Byron

My name is Gwen Byron and I work for the Inclusive Learning Department. I currently hold the position of Vice Chair of Governors. I am a Foundation Governor but was originally voted onto the Governing Body as a Parent Governor. My 3 children attended St Mary and St John’s and I believe the faith education they received and the foundations that were laid by our school were responsible for their academic success. I am passionate about education and believe that parent involvement and support is the key to enabling the school to get the best out of every child. As a Governor I want every child to feel supported and valued and as a team the staff and Governing Body work hard to try to achieve this.

Allan Foster

My name is Allan Foster. I am a retired Senior Electronics Buyer for Joy Mining. I also run a local Scout Group and I am the Vice Chair of the Friends of Mesnes Park –a  volunteer group helping to maintain the standards of our local park. I am a Foundation Governor for the school. I wanted to become a Governor to help support staff and pupils to encourage them all to develop their own spiritual, physical and mental well-being. More importantly to ensure we have the resources available to maintain and improve the excellent standards we have attained.

Tony Staunton-Unsworth

My name is Tony Staunton-Unsworth and I am a parent Governor, with two children currently at the school and another who has recently moved on to High School. I work for the Targeted Education Support Services within Wigan Council and I help schools across the borough to support pupils who have Social, Emotional or Mental Health difficulties. Because of this I am always mindful of the need to take a holistic approach; to help foster emotional resilience and self-esteem. This is something that fits well with both the ethos within school and the hard work of the staff in developing young hearts and minds.

Peter Taylor

 I have worked in the Catholic Education Service for over 40 years and was very pleased to be asked to support St Mary and St John's School as a governor, over ten years ago. As a member of the parish I have a keen interest in the welfare of our school and enjoy working with the staff and pupils to maintain our excellent school.

Peter Moran

 My name is Peter Moran. I am a lawyer specializing in criminal advocacy with my own firm based in Market Place, Wigan for the last 20 years.

I am also a keen Rugby League fan, an independent member of the RFL's Community Board and the President of the National Conference League. I even have some shares in Wigan Warriors!

Married to Sylvia, our four children all attended St Mary and St John's before 'graduating' to St John Fisher and ultimately to University. I am a Foundation Governor and the Chair of Finance. I have been a governor for some 25 years.

It has been a source of enjoyment to me to see the school become one of the very best locally and nationally. Ensuring that we attract and develop quality staff, providing resources and spending our funds wisely, but most importantly of all giving our children the best available start to their educational journeys - these have and will always be amongst my priorities.

Jennifer Armstrong

Stephen Grayson

My name is Stephen Grayson and I am a partner at a large accountancy practice in Manchester city centre.

I am delighted to have been appointed as a Foundation Governor for the school.

I have 2 children already at the school and another child who will eventually follow in their footsteps. Therefore I am keen to ensure that the school continues to create the right culture for learning and development of all the children.

Mrs Hitchen 

My name is Mrs Hitchen, I am the deputy head teacher at St Mary and John catholic Primary School.  I have worked in education for the past 22 years and have spent the last 18 years working at St Mary and John Catholic Primary School. During this time I have worked in many different class and experienced a wide age range of children from Y1 to Y6 inclusive.  I really  enjoy all aspects of my work and  find it extremely rewarding to see the children's journey across each academic year.  I am the maths coordinator at school and have a love of maths, I work extremely hard to ensure that my enthusiasm and enjoyment of this subject is shared with the children.

In recent years my governor role has provided the opportunity for further personal development and I am proud to be one of the school Governors.

Mary Kearsley

My name is Mary Kearsley and I am a Foundation Governor linked with Year 4. I retired as Head teacher of the school over 5 years ago and feel so privileged to be actively working alongside the staff and pupils once again. Two of my grandchildren attended the school before transferring to St. John Fisher High School and another of my granddaughters is currently in Year 1.

Since retiring I have worked on a part time basis with the headteachers of a number of the Catholic Schools within Salford Diocese and this has kept me abreast of changes within education.

I am active within the parish as a member of both St. John’s Childrens Liturgy group and the Parish’s Sacramental Programme team.

I will strive to support the school to sustain its excellence and maintain the very positive ethos that provides such a safe and caring environment for our children.

Mrs Angela Whitney - Chair of Governors

Mrs Gwen Byron - Vice Chair of Governors

Mr Allan Foster - Foundation Governor

Mr Peter Moran - Foundation Governor

Mr Peter Taylor - Foundation Governor

Mrs Mary Kearsley - Foundation Governor

Mr Stephen Grayson - Foundation Governor

Mrs Jennifer Armstrong - Parent Governor

Mr Tony Staunton-Unsworth - Parent Governor

Mrs Vicky Hitchen - Staff Governor

Mrs Louise Vose - Headteacher

Mrs Marie Collier - Clerk to Governors

The total number of governors is eleven. A new local authority governor is to be apppointed.

The Governors remit is to:

a) Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

b)Hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and the performance management of staff;

c) Oversee the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Governor Details

NB: Any Governors appointed by the Governing Body are under the Liverpool Archdiocese.

Register of Interests