Clerking Arrangements

We believe that it is vital that all of our Board and Sub-committee meetings are fully clerked and benefit from the advice and support that an experienced Clerk brings to the table as a governance professional.

What, exactly, is the role of the Clerk?

The Clerk to the Governing Board provides advice and guidance on governance, constitutional and procedural matters. A professional clerk will contribute towards the efficient functioning a governing board and its sub- committees and panels by providing:

• Providing administrative and organisational support, including the preparation of agendas and minutes

• Offering guidance to ensure that as a Board we comply with appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks, such as those set out by the Department for Education and the Local Authority, and that we understand the potential consequences that might arise from non-compliance

• Giving advice on procedural matters relating to our operation of the Board, or a Sub-committee or Panel of the Board
• Liaising with the Chair, the Vice Chairs, the Federation Headteacher and the wider Board on all matters arising from the above.

Our Clerks

As a Board, we draw on the expertise of two experienced and highly skilled Clerks. Their biographies are set out below.

Rod Woodhouse

Rod is a professional clerk and has been the Clerk to the Board of Governors of Bushey Primary Education Federation since its formation in 2016. Rod was a successful primary school headteacher for more than 12 years until he took early retirement in 2013. Before turning to teaching he spent 20 years in industry working for a number of UK and multinational companies. During his career in education he sat on the National Executive of the National Association of Headteachers and was a member of Hertfordshire’s Primary Heads’ Forum. He now divides his time between being a clerk; a governor of two schools and as a tutor to. trainee teachers for the University of Buckingham. In addition, he is currently supporting the Federation in a leadership capacity. In his spare time, he walks his dog and spends too much time making model tanks.

Allyson Woodhouse

Allyson Woodhouse spent a highly successful career as a classroom teacher and then headteacher at schools in Hertfordshire. Since taking early retirement, she has been an Executive Headteacher at a number of schools in south east England. She and Rod have two grown up children, one of whom is a primary school teacher married to a secondary school teacher. Allyson has been clerking governing boards for over three years and is serving the Federation Board whilst Rod is working as part of the Federation Leadership Team. In her spare time, Allyson also walks the dog, enjoys sewing and spends time volunteering in a local primary school.