Governors
Welcome to our Governors page
Who are we?
Volunteers appointed as governors to support Heathcoat School. The governing board was formed on 1 September 2026 after the Federation of Tiverton Schools was dissolved.
Our governing body is made up of representatives from parents, staff, Tiverton Co-operative Learning Partnership (TCLP) foundation, the local authority and the local community. The current governors are listed below. We are recruiting and if you are a parent or a supporter of our school please do get in touch to find out how you can get involved.
We may also appoint additional people with relevant skills and expertise as associate governors to support our governing body in key areas.
What we do
We work with our schools and leaders to ensure a high quality, inclusive education which enables all students to maximise their potential and make greater progress than expected. We have three core functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding leaders to account for the educational performance of our schools, their pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the schools and making sure money is well spent.
Governors are not involved in the day to day management of a school. We are “eyes on, hands off”.
We provide strategic oversight of the processes, policies and practices of our schools to ensure that that they are statutorily compliant and to monitor and evaluate their impact. For example, we do not set the school behaviour policy – that is the head teacher’s role. Our job is to ensure that school behaviour systems are fair and support inclusion and achievement for all pupils.
How we do it
To achieve this we will:
- support and challenge leaders
- have knowledge of the student experience
- have a comprehensive understanding of how our schools work
- have the benefit of our pupils at the heart of all our decisions
- strive to engage with parents
- ensure governors are well trained
Our structure
The Full Governing Body (FGB) meets monthly. It looks at resources and school budgets as well as learning, pupil progress and welfare in our schools. The only committee is the pay committee. The governing body agree the three governors who form the Headteacher’s Appraisal Panel with the support of an external advisor.
The FGB also has First and Second Committees to deal with Disciplinary issues, Exclusions or Appeals.
Documents
HPS Governors Code of Conduct 2026-27
During 2025 – 2026 Heathcoat Primary School was governed by by The Federation of Tivertion Schools Governing Board which was dissolved on 31st August 2026 and a new substantive board was created for Heathcoat Primary School.
Governing Body
Flora Wood – Chair of Governors (Local Authority Governor)
Phil Barlow – Foundation Governor (TCLP)
Paula Hempstead – Staff Governor
Helen Hyland – Foundation Governor (TCLP) & Safeguarding Governor
Hannah Gleeson – Co-opted Governor
Carly Wilkins, Ex-officio Interim headteacher, Heathcoat Primary School
[vacancy] – Parent Governor
[vacancy] – Parent Governor
[vacancy] – Parent Governor
[vacancy] – Co-opted Governor
[vacancy] – Co-opted Governor
[vacancy] – Co-opted Governor
Clerk – Jill Larcombe
Unless otherwise shown, all terms of office commenced on 1st September 2026 and are for 4 years, except for the Headteacher who is ex-officio.
The Governing Body can be contacted by emailing the Clerk to the Governing Body jilllarcombe@heathcoat.devon.sch.uk