John Sloan, chair of governors at Stevenage’s St Margaret Clitherow Primary School, has won an outstanding governor of the year accolade which includes a £500 windfall for the school.

The first Outstanding School Governors Awards, run by Hertfordshire Association of School Governors and the UK’s largest not-for-profit school company Herts for Learning, took place on Saturday at Hertfordshire Development Centre in Stevenage and formed part of the annual conference for the governors’ group.

The awards, the first of their kind in Hertfordshire, have been established to publicly recognise, not only the contribution of individual school governors, but to celebrate the dedication and commitment of all governors in Hertfordshire’s 525 schools.

Schools across the county were asked to nominate a governor or governorss they believe has really made a difference and helped to improve the educational outcomes of children in their school.

Many nominations were received and reviewed by an independent panel of judges from HASG and Herts for Learning, and from these, a shortlist of 38 governors was drawn up.

After further review, eight finalists were selected, with three receiving the Outstanding Governor of the Year award; winning £500 for their school and a £50 individual prize.

The eight finalists represented schools in South Mimms, Hitchin, Berkhamsted, Stevenage, Watford, St Albans, Tring and Ware and included Colin Minton, chair of governors at Hitchin Girls’ School Academy in Hitchin and Mr Sloan.

Paul Rosen, who chairs the Hertfordshire School Governors Association, said: “We are delighted to be able to celebrate our governors for the efficient and dedicated work that they do within their schools to support children and young people in receiving the education they deserve.

“We had an overwhelming response from schools across the county to the awards, and whilst we chose three awards this year, we could have chosen 33 or 300 – it still wouldn’t be enough!

“We value enormously the contribution made by governors in this vital role and thank all of them for willingly giving up their time, expertise and commitment to support our schools.”

Others on the shortlist included Anita Parfitt and Renshaw Watts of Kimpton Primary School; Catherine Shadbolt of Woolenwick Junior School, Stevenage; Dave Postance of Trotts Hill School, Stevenage; David Standing of Weston CE Primary School and Nursery; Eileen Dutt of Our Lady Catholic Primary School, Hitchin; Jennie Simmos of The Highfield School in Letchworth; Nicky Clarke of Almond Hill Junior School and The Barclay School, Stevenage and Richard Aggus of The Nobel School, Stevenage.

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