Governor - Volunteer

St Barnabas' CEP School, Tunbridge Wells

• Ref:KCC886-3320-91S
• Posted:04/05/2026
• Pay:volunteer
• Start Date:tbc
• App Close Date:04/07/2026 at 20:00
• Interviews:tbc

Advert

St Barnabas CE VA Priimary School is seeking someone to be our Local Authority Governor.

Our governors provide a wealth of vision, ethos and strategic direction to our school as a whole.  As a governor you will be a volunteer who makes a vital contribution to the success of the school.

School governors provide three main aims:

• helping to set out long-term plans for the school, decide where improvements need to be made and how to make them.
• to be a critical friend ot the school leadership to support the school in raising standards
• examine budgets and spending proposals to monitor whether the school is getting value for money and ensure the money is spent in the right areas.

No qualifications are required to become a volunteer governor, however the most important qualities for a governor are commitment to the welfare and achievement of the children, a desire to make a positive contribution to the school, common sense, and a willingness to commit to the role. Many of the functions of the governing body are statutory, or have a legal framework.  To carry out our core strategic roles, governors need to be able to think strategically, challenge, monitor, but also support.

Usually, governors sit on a committee  for an area they have knowledge of, or are particularly interested in – for example finance.

As a school governor you will become part of our school community and bring with you your strengths and knowledge which will become crucial to the running of our school.  Full training is available to all our governors either in person or online which enables our governors to develop their knowledge of the school and what will be expected of them.

Our Full Governing Body commit to three evening meetings per academic year (usually one meeting per term) from 7pm until the end of the meeting which can be around 2 hours depending on the meeting agenda.  

A governor is expected to complete a term of office for a minimum of four years.

Information about the school

Each child is uniquely created and loved by God.

St Barnabas’ Primary School, Tunbridge Wells, is a Voluntary Aided Church School, with our ethos and values reflected in strong Christian tradition.

As a smaller school we have the privilege of knowing every child really well, from our youngest to the oldest pupil. We greatly value all members of our school community and place our partnership and relationships with families, community and church at the top of our priority list!

In January 2024 Ofsted found that our school continued to be a good school. Our report highlights:

'Pupils are proud to attend this welcoming, safe and inclusive school. They value their caring teachers, who work hard to make learning both interesting and enjoyable. The school values of ‘aspiration, love, trust, perseverance, compassion and reconciliation’ are well understood by pupils. Everyone has a strong sense of belonging to their school community. As one pupil said, ‘Everyone is kind here, and I try to return that kindness.’

In February 2023 our SIAMs Inspection graded St Barnabas’ CE Primary School as a Good church school.

These are exciting times for our school; our doors are always open and you are very welcome to visit us and to see for yourself just what it is that makes St Barnabas’ School so very special.

Our Victorian building provides space for 7 class groups, library and intervention space, resource storage, ICT suite, and outdoor space. Our garden area consists of a small wooded corner, pond and reading library. We also have an outside classroom which is used for many exciting purposes.

Job Contact Information

• Name:Carol Steele
• Address:Door 23 Commercial Services Building, Gibson Drive, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4QG
• Telephone: 01732 525260
• Email: carol.steele@kent.gov.uk