Outstanding award for retiring school governor
Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Having retired from being a teacher and then working as an Ofsted inspector Margaret Cooper who lives near Lymington, wasn't quite ready to give up all connections with education.
Instead of taking life easy she became a school governor at Manor Infant School in Holbury. But after 11 enjoyable years, a period of which was spent as Chair of the school's Governing Body, Margaret is now finally retiring.
To mark her retirement and her years of sterling service to school governance Margaret was presented with an Outstanding Governor award at a recent meeting of the Governors' Forum.
As well as serving on the Governing Body of Manor Infant School, where she helped train other governors, Margaret also served on county governance representative groups including the Hampshire Governor Association and the Schools' Forum. These bodies represent the views of governors from local forums and enable the governors in Hampshire to work with others to influence and shape policy.
Presenting Margaret with her award Councillor Roy Perry, Hampshire County Council's Executive Lead member for Children's Services, paid tribute to the efforts of governors like Margaret who work tirelessly in a voluntary capacity to help schools across the county.
He said:
"This is a well-deserved award. Margaret's professional skills and personal qualities have made her a highly valued member of the Governing Body at the school and she has made an excellent contribution to the work of Governor Services in a variety of roles sitting on various forums to represent the voice of school governors.
"Schools and headteachers benefit considerably from the work of governors like Margaret who offer both support and challenge to the schools. Ofsted inspectors are increasingly assessing the contribution of the governing body and I am extremely grateful to Margaret and all the governors who provide their experience and expertise to our schools to the benefit of the pupils."
Margaret is modest about her efforts and says she was surprised and delighted to receive the award. She said she has thoroughly enjoyed her connections with the school and its Governing Body and is going to miss the social aspect of the role.
"It is a very fulfilling role. I enjoyed having the challenge after I had retired from my working life," she said.
"It kept me ticking over and on my toes. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others. Schools need people from all walks of life to be governors. You can make a real contribution, helping to meet the needs and care for children. They are after all our future and we should all do our best for them."
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