Home Page

Executive Members

How To Join

Papers and Publications

2005 Award
for Outstanding Clerks

Links and Resources

Governors' News
- June 2003
- September 2003
- November 2003
- February 2004
- April 2004
- June 2004
- September 2004
- November 2004
- February 2005

- April 2005

Consultation

Research

Contact Us


NASG
2nd Floor, SBQ1
29 Smallbrook Queensway Birmingham B5 4HG
Tel: 0121 643 5787
Fax: 0121 633 7141
e-mail: governorhq@nasg.org.uk


On 12 March, at the Council House in Birmingham, our eight Regional Winners, all outstanding clerks, were presented with their awards by Estelle Morris MP, the current Minister of State for the Arts and a former Minister for Education - who had just the day before been involved in that mammoth sitting in the Commons.

At the end of the proceedings, RICHARD ASHDOWN from St Peter's Secondary School in Bournemouth LEA was named 'Clerk of the Year'.

It was a joyous and heart warming occasion. It gave us all an opportunity to celebrate not only the exceptional work of these clerks but also the good work carried out behind the scenes by so many other dedicated and hard working clerks across the land. Much like the recipients of the teaching awards, these people were reticent about accepting that they were doing anything other than their job. Features of all of our winners were their unassuming nature and their commitment to their jobs and to their schools. They also played a leading role in organising and developing the work of their governing bodies and all produced exemplary paperwork.

We were not able to respond individually to thank all those governors and their clerks for taking part so we'd like to take this opportunity to do so. The high quality of the nominees made our task difficult but these nominations were sifted and scored. This process produced three finalists in each of the eight geographical regions. The finalists in each region were visited by a judge who examined their paperwork and interviewed both the clerk and his or her nominator.

The judge's task was to verify the information on the nomination form and to gain sufficient information about those finalists to make the decision as to which should be the regional winner. As you can imagine, this was not an easy task! All twenty-four regional finalists are special people whose performance is above and beyond the call of duty. The eight regional winners were chosen and invited to lunch and to collect their awards at a special celebration in Birmingham. A moderating panel of judges met just prior to the awards ceremony in order to decide which of our regional winners should be clerk of the year. This was an even harder decision - when you have eight truly exceptional contenders, you are really looking for the crème de la crème!

This is the second time we have run this award and we have again found it a really rewarding experience. Those of us involved as sifters, judges or moderators have gained insights into the vast improvements in governing body performance that an exceptional clerk can bring. And we have realised that we all deserve that level of support - but we don't all get it!

This year we gained sponsorship for the award from DfES, the Times Educational Supplement (TES), Best Absence Management Services, the Centre for Public Scrutiny and Toshiba. This has again been a most worthwhile project and, provided we can attract sufficient funds, we will want to repeat it in 2007.

Jane Phillips


Richard Ashdown, Clerk of the Year (centre), with Estelle Morris

Sylvia Vine, South East Regional Winner (centre)

Sophia Rowbotham, Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Winner (centre)

Ian Russell, West Midlands Regional Winner

Kay Mullett, North West Regional Winner (centre), with Estelle Morris

Cath O'Sullivan, London Regional Winner (centre)

Margaret Arksey, North East Regional Winner (right)

Pauline O'Neill, Eastern Regional Winner

John Britton, DfES

Jane Martin, CPS

Justin Damer, Best Insurance

Stephen Adamson, NASG Vice Chair (centre)

OUR REGIONAL WINNERS ARE:

Eastern: PAULINE O'NEILL
St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Northampton LEA
Pauline was nominated by Mrs S J Kealy and is also employed in the school in another capacity.

London: CATH O'SULLIVAN
William Morris Sixth Form Academy in Hammersmith and Fulham LEA
Cath was nominated by Carol Moore and she is part of the LEA clerking Service.

North East: MARGARET ARKSEY
Herdley Bank First School in Northumberland LEA
Margaret was nominated by Thomas Moore and she is part of the LEA clerking service.

North West: KAY MULLET
Keswick Secondary School in Cumbria LEA
Kay was nominated by Sue Leigh and is also employed in the school in another capacity.

South East: SYLVIA VINE
Eggars Secondary School in Hampshire LEA
Sylvia was nominated by Margaret Crowe and she is part of the LEA clerking Service.

South West: RICHARD ASHDOWN
St Peter's Secondary School in Bournemouth LEA
Richard was nominated by Dr R L Thomas and is an independent clerk.

West Midlands: IAN RUSSELL
Federation of Wainbody Wood Special School in Coventry LEA
Ian was nominated by Barbara Kempster and he is part of the LEA clerking Service.

Yorks and Humber: SOPHIA ROWBOTHAM
St Mary's CE J&I School in Calderdale LEA
Sophia was nominated by Richard Shaw and she is a parent at the school.

REGIONAL FINALISTS:

J. Bateson, Menston Primary School, Bradford

Joanna Cain, Batford Nursery School, Hertfordshire

Christine Eaves,
Kirkland & Caterall St. Helen's CE Primary School, Lancashire

Anne Gregory,
Moreton Say C.E. Controlled Primary School, Shropshire

Ann Harrop, Dorchester Primary School, Hull

Julia Hughes, The Russett School, Cheshire

Mike Jefferis, Whitecross High School, Herefordshire

Stepahnie McIntosh, Longhill High School, Brighton & Hove

Gordon McMillan,
Benson Primary and Nursery School, Croydon

Ruth Morrison, Bloxham Primary School, Oxfordshire

Jackie Mulvey,
Winkfield St. Mary's C.E. Primary School, Bracknell Forest

Dianne Pattison, Gainford C. of E. Primary School, Durham

Clive Richardson, Wymondham College, Norfolk

David Sassoon, Braintcroft Primary School, Brent

Glennis Smith, Whitecliffe School, Redcar & Cleveland

Debbie Stoneman, Callington Primary School, Cornwall

CLICK HERE for results of 2003 Clerks' Award
[ Top ]

Search For:

Match: 
Any word
All words
Exact phrase
Sound-alike matching

Show: 

results 

summaries

Sort by: 


 

Top of Page | Home Page | Contact Us

All pages are subject to our disclaimer

© 2005 - Site last updated 17 May 2005