Welcome from Our Chair of Governors

On behalf of the Local Governing Body, I would like to warmly welcome you, your child(ren) and family to our school.
Who are we?  
Kingsnorth is your local Church of England Primary School.  We are proud of the part we are striving to play in our community and the links we have with Borough, Parish and the local church.  We like to promote the feeling that we are the “village school” even though we now serve a much wider area. The role of the Governing Body is an intrinsic part of the leadership of the school, although often unseen by parents and other community stakeholders. The Governing Body is made up of a group of dedicated volunteers, who invest a huge amount of good will, hard work and time for the sole purpose of improving the education of every child at our school.

The Governors’ priority is to ensure your child(ren) receives the very best education and always feels happy, secure and supported.  We are committed to ensuring an excellent and safe environment, with learning opportunities that will provide for and challenge all pupils.  Staff strive to ensure children enjoy and achieve success during their time at Kingsnorth. The Governors warmly thank the senior leadership and staff team for their dedication towards this aim. 

It is important that the Governing Body looks to foster a close-knit Christian family atmosphere where staff, pupils and parents work together to ensure all pupils have the opportunity to grow to their full potential, where nothing is impossible and all pupils and staff can aspire to and achieve.

The school is part of a multi-academy trust called Aquila, based in Folkestone – it is the Diocese of Canterbury’s Multi Academy Trust (MAT). Aquila has grown from 3 schools in 2015 to 19 schools today. The school works closely with the Trust, and other schools within the MAT, to ensure that your child(ren) has/have the opportunities to achieve the very best academic results and for the school to provide the very best care. Kingsnorth also works with the Canterbury Diocese as part of our MAT.

The Local Governing Body consists of a maximum of 12 governors who are either appointed by the directors of Aquila or elected by the staff or the parents/carers of our pupils. There are also ex-officio representatives from the local church/ Diocese who are governors by virtue of their role.   

Although governors are appointed or elected into various categories they ALL support the whole school and do not solely represent the groups who appoint them. Governors are appointed to serve a 4-year term of office, after which they can be re-elected or re-appointed. Many of our school governors have found the role so rewarding they have been with us for more than one term of office and know the school and staff very well.

All governors have an equal say in Governor Board business however, their position does not allow them to be involved in the day-to-day operational management of the school, which is the responsibility of the Executive Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team. No one category or governor has more influence than any other.

All Governors, Aquila Trust staff and members of our senior leadership team are here to support you, the parents or carers. 

What do we do?   The Local Governing Body manages and supports the strategic direction of the school alongside the Executive Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Team.  Decisions regarding day-to-day operational matters are delegated, by the Trust, to senior leaders.  

The Local Governing Body has a range of powers and duties laid down by various Education Acts – also by the Aquila MAT Scheme of Delegation that provides our framework for governance.  We are measured by the following core functions: 
-    Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
-    Holding the Executive Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and pupils
-    Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure money is well spent.

These functions relate to the following responsibilities:
•    Ensuring accountability
•    Monitoring and evaluating the school’s progress to promote high standards of educational achievement
•    Ensuring the curriculum for the school is balanced and broadly based
•    Budgetary allocation and control, ensuring value for money
•    Planning for the long term future of the school
•    Setting the school’s aims and values and the framework within which the school operates
•    Appointing senior members of staff including the Head Teacher
•    Ensuring the Christian ethos of the school is maintained and developed.
•    Ensuring there is daily Collective Worship and weekly teaching of Religious Education.

Governors discharge their statutory responsibilities through scheduled Governing Body meetings across the school year. There are separate committees with delegated responsibilities for, e.g. finance/budget/staffing/health & safety:  Quality of education, e.g. the curriculum, SEND, safeguarding, pupil progress etc.  Governors visit school regularly where they will meet with staff, team members and the children to monitor and evaluate progress by collecting evidence of impact and outcomes of the various school daily routines and actions put in place by the school to aid school improvement.  Governors play a key role in OFSTED and SIAMS inspections.

The approved minutes of all full Local Governing Body meetings are publically available to any parents/carers on request.  

The Governing Body is rightly proud of Kingsnorth School, not only in terms of academic results which again, in some cases, have exceeded other local, county and national results; but also in the solid Christian foundations it provides in preparing our pupils for the remainder of their formative education as well-rounded young people.  Our recent SIAMS inspection confirms this.

The Governing Body’s aim is for all the pupils at our school to have lasting and happy memories of their time at Kingsnorth School and, when they leave for secondary school, to become independent lifelong learners. 

I am always happy to answer any questions about governance in our school and can be contacted via our Governance Professional on: clerk@kingsnorth.kent.sch.uk  

Keith White — Chair of Governors – September 2026

To contact Mr White, please do so via the school office.
Details are at the bottom of this page.