Our Governing Body
We are lucky to have a supportive but challenging governing body. Each governor has a link to a different aspect of school life and their responsibility is to make sure the school is constantly moving forwards and developing. They challenge the headteacher on all aspects of the school. In the interests of transparency, details of governors business' and financial interests are listed below.
The Chair of Governors can be contacted via the school.
Ruth Girdham - Chair of Governors
Role: Chair of Governors
Type: Co-Opted Governor
A Little About Me: I have lived in Great Ouseburn village for more than 39 years. My two daughters both attended, and thoroughly enjoyed, Great Ouseburn Community Primary School. I am passionate about supporting the local community and have been involved in a number of aspects of village life over the years. I have 3 grandchildren and enjoy doing a regular ‘Granny Days’ to help support my daughters. I spent my working life as a Nurse and Nursing Lecturer. I finished my career as Head of Academic Department at the University of Bradford and have been retired for 4 years. I enjoy cooking, hill walking and visiting new places with my partner, both in the UK and abroad.
Dawn Thyne - Vice Chair
Roles: Vice Chair of Governors, Key Stage 2 and Ofsted
Type: LA Governor
A Little About Me: I joined the governing body as a Local Authority Governor to give back to my local community and now serve as Vice Chair. I bring over 18 years of experience in education, including roles as Deputy Head, Teacher Training Lecturer, Tutor, and middle and senior school leadership experience. I have a strong background in curriculum development, assessment, and staff development, and I’m currently working at King James’s School in Knaresborough. My link governor responsibilities include Key Stage 2 and Maths, and I’m passionate about supporting inclusive, high-quality education that nurtures the whole child.
Outside of school, I enjoy walking my dogs, attending my local church, growing vegetables, and caring for my chickens.
Lynne Gray
Role: Early Years
Type: Co-Opted Governor
A Little About Me: My daughter and family live in Little Ouseburn and my granddaughter attends Great Ouseburn Community Primary School. Having retired in 2021 I was interested in supporting the school in some way and becoming a governor seemed a good way to do this. My background is in health, having worked as a Registered Nurse and Midwife for 50 years. The majority of my career was in General Practice and Community Nursing. I have an MSc in Clinical Nursing and worked as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in both Liverpool and Easingwold.
I live in Huby with my partner Dudley and our rescue dog Lyra. I enjoy travel, cooking and crafting, as well as looking after my granddaughter on a regular basis.
Florence Irvine
Roles: Staff Governor
Type: Staff Governor
A Little About Me: This is my eighth year working at Great Ouseburn and having only two reception children in the class in my first year, I have loved watching the school grow. I have three-year-old twins who keep me very busy when I’m not at work and I love going on adventures with them. I enjoy spending time with my family - having kitchen discos, going for woodland walks and visiting Newcastle which is where I am originally from. I love to sing and although not always in tune, I can turn anything into a song - I still remember one child telling me, ‘Please stop singing Miss Irvine, you sound like my Nan.’
Nick Oswald - Headteacher
Role: Headteacher
Type: Headteacher
A Little About Me: I'm very proud to be the Headteacher of Great Ouseburn Primary School. I started in January 2016 and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the school grow and thrive at the heart of the village. As headteacher, I am automatically on the Governing Body - working closely with the other Governors, shaping the strategic development of the school.
My personal interests are mainly sporty - in particular football, cricket, rugby and skiing. My two children have been pupils at the school, so I can view the school from a parent’s perspective too, and it has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to have them in the same school as me, seeing them benefit from the skills of our fabulous staff.
Dominic Paglia
Roles: English and Resource Committee
Type: Co-Opted Governor
A Little About Me: I moved to Great Ouseburn 4 years ago and instantly fell in love with the village. The community feel throughout is amazing and very unique in the modern world. I really believe that the primary school is a very integral part of village life, and I aim to support it in any way I can, along with other charitable community initiatives in the village. I have run my own business for over 15 years now and that experience very much helps me within my role as a Governor.
Outside of work I spend most my time with my wife and two sons and enjoy dog walks in the countryside, golf (on a sunny day), cooking, meals out and supporting my beloved Liverpool football club.
Henry Pearson
Role: Resource Committee
Type: Parent Governor
A Little About Me: I have lived in Great Ouseburn village for about 5 years and both of my children attend the Primary School. I trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte in London, before moving back up to Yorkshire to work out of the Leeds office in 2018. I now work (unexpectedly back in London) for Octopus Energy, running the finance team for their Electric Vehicle business, so I’m becoming increasingly geeky about EVs! I wanted to get involved with the school to be more active in supporting the community. In addition to the children, we have 3 horses and 2 dogs, so weekends are very busy! When I get the time, I also enjoy cycling.
Rebecca Purssord
Roles: Health & Safety, Compliance and The Den Provision
Type: Co-Opted Governor
A Little About Me: Having been a parent at school since 2020, I now have three children and became a Governor in 2021 to support the school’s growth and provide practical support and experience to everyone in the school including the children and staff. I completed a degree in Clinical Sciences and have worked in a variety of management roles gaining experience in business operations and logistics, client and corporate relationship support and maintaining regulatory body accreditation. In my spare time, I love spending time with my children, taking my children and dog to the beach and cooking food from around the world.
Rhianwen Shouksmith
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Role: Key Stage One
Type: Co-Opted Governor
Alan Stewart
Roles: Resource Committee and Maths
Type: Parent Governor
A Little About Me: I moved with my family to Great Ouseburn during COVID in 2020 and even in those strange times settled in very quickly to the community. My eldest son is in his final year at university, and my youngest son attends the school in Year 4 and has been there since he was 3. I am keen to support the community in many ways and have been treasurer for the village hall and am still chairman of the beer festival committee. You will often see me helping at events whenever I can. I work as Chief Operating Officer for a software services company based in London and commute there several times each month. I enjoy taking my son to play the many sports he loves and spent 2 years as an assistant coach at his last football team. I enjoy playing golf and football on occasions myself.
Phil Taylor
Role: Safeguarding and Child Protection
Type: Co-Opted Governor
A Little About Me: My children have both been Great Ouseburn pupils and I have served as a governor now for more than 5 years. I work full time for City of York as a Practice Manager, leading a team of Careers Advisers who specialise in SEND and working with looked after young people. I have previously worked as a teacher, mentor, coach, youth worker and personal adviser. I enjoy music, sport and fellwalking.
Responsibilities
The Governing Body is responsible for:
- Setting the strategic direction, aims and targets for the school
- Monitoring the school against its policies, plans and targets
- Working with the Head to ensure children are making the best possible progress
- Taking general responsibility for the school’s budget
- Challenging and supporting the senior management team
- Promoting the interests of the school and its pupils in the wider community
Committees
Finance & Resource Committee
The Finance & Resource committee is responsible for the school finances and premises, including staffing and Health and Safety. They provide challenge and support to the Headteacher, scrutinising budgets, financial forecasts, spending and staffing arrangements. Chris France is Chair of the Finance & Resources committee.
Financial Information
No employees at Great Ouseburn Primary School has a gross salary over £100,000 per annum.
Schools Financial Benchmarking information can be found HERE
Types of Governor
Parent Governor: Elected from parents at the school by parents at the school.
Staff Governor: Elected from staff at the school by staff at the school.
Local Authority (LA) Governors: Appointed by the Local Authority (North Yorkshire)
Co-opted Governors: Appointed by members of the Governing Body. They are intended to be representative of the local community and may add particular kinds of expertise.