Welcome to Elaine Primary School. We are really proud of our school.  Elaine Primary School strives to be an outstanding school at the heart of the local community in which every child is empowered to have self-belief and to aspire to achieve her/his highest potential.  

Our Trust Governance 

At Inspire Partnership, we value and celebrate the diversity of each school and community we serve. While every school is unique, we share ideas, skills, and resources across our trust to help every child thrive.

Our trust has three key layers of governance:

• Members (who hold the Trust to account),

• Trustees (who make strategic decisions), and

• Committees (who focus on specific areas of work).

The majority of our committees are focused on the performance of the Trust with a very unique exception - our Local Community Councils (LCC).   This sub committee is made up of local voices who work with school leaders to represent the views of families and the wider community.  Other committees focus on areas like finance, staff, standards, and safeguarding—all working together to support strong, well-run schools.

At Inspire Partnership, Local Community Councils (LCCs) are an important part of how we make sure every school stays closely connected to its local community.

LCCs are made up of school leaders, parents, carers, and community members who help shape local decisions putting their communities first.  They listen to the voices of parents, pupils, and staff, and use this feedback to make sure the school is meeting local needs and continuing to improve.

LCCs support our values in action:

• Community First – They strengthen the link between school and home by listening to what matters most to families.

• Collaboration Matters – They work in partnership with school leaders and the wider Trust to share ideas and drive improvement.

• Excellence in Everything – They ask thoughtful questions and provide support to help schools be the best they can be.

• Equity in Everything – They help ensure that every child, no matter their background, gets the support and opportunities they deserve.

Through regular school visits and involvement in school life, LCC members stay visible, active, and informed—ensuring that parent and community voices are always part of the conversation.

If you’d like to learn more or get involved, please contact jnewman@inspirepartnership.co.uk.

For more details please see the Scheme of Delegation and the Guide to Governance.

Meet your Local Community Council (LCC) 

Ian Chappell - LCC community member (Chair)

• Term of office: 5th October 2023 to 4th October 2027
• Relevant business/pecuniary interests: Yes 

Tracey Notley - LCC community member (Vice Chair)

• Term of office: 21st October 2021 to 20th October 2025 
• Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Kirstine Boon - LCC community member 

• Term of office: 2nd September 2024 to 1st September 2028
• Relevant business/pecuniary interests - Yes 

Henry Chung - LCC community member 

• Term of office: 2nd September 2024 to 1st September 2028
• Relevant business/pecuniary interests - Yes 

Robin Vincent - LCC parent member  

• Term of office: 11 December 2023 to 11th December 2027
• Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Rupinder Bansil - Head Teacher

• Term from: 1st September 2024
• Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Previous governors resigned in the last 12 months 

Vicki Chambers - Parent Governor: Term of office: 29th September 2020 to 28th September 2024; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Helen Stewart -  Community Governor: Term of office ends 1st September; appointed: 15th April 2024 :Relevant business/pecuniary interests - yes 

Alex Jordan - Community Governor: Term of office ends 1st September; appointed 7th June 2023; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to decare

Abigail Ratcliffe - Parent Governor: Term of office ends 1st September; appointed 17th June 2024; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Jo Capes - Head Teacher Maundene Primary School: Term of office ends 1st September; Term from: 1st September 2021; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None declared  

Sarah Martin - Head Teacher Elaine Primary School: Term of office ends 1st September; Term from: 1st September 2022; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Loni Stevens - Head Teacher Delce Primary School: Term of office ends 1st September; Term from : 1st September 2023; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None  to declare

Bethany Condon - Staff Governor: Term of office ends 1st September; appointed 21st November 2022; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None declared  

Lucy Jackson - Staff Governor: Term of office ends 1st September; appointed 1st February 2023; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare 

Kevin Skipp - Community Governor: Term of office ends 1st September; appointed 2nd October 2022; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None declared

Sara- Jane Spring - community governor: Term of office ends 16th July 2024; appointed 3rd July 2023; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: None to declare

Amanda Boyne - community governor: Term of office ends 26th April 2024; appointed 14th December 2021; Relevant business/pecuniary interests: Yes  

Medway LGB Transparency information

Elaine Academy has always aimed for a partnership with parents, which undoubtedly brings great benefits to the children. One of the most significant ways you can help in promoting this aim is to volunteer to be a parent governor. 

The LGB's main tasks are to hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and to ensure that suitable provision is made for the safeguarding and wellbeing of the academy's pupils and staff.

Parent governors are welcomed as valued members of the team and play a vital role in ensuring the LGB is aware of the views of parents and the local community.

Most of the LGB’s work takes place during its meetings, which occur termly. LGB Governors are also required to conduct monitoring visits to the school from time to time, to see how learning is delivered or to monitor areas that need improvement. 

We are part of the Inspire Partnership Academy Trust, which is committed to Continued Professional Development and this extends to our LGB and all Governors, who have access to training to help them carry out their role effectively. For those willing to commit their time, this can be a rewarding development opportunity. Any parent with a child or children currently at Elaine Primary school can be nominated or nominate themselves for election, we just ask candidates are:

Committed	Devoting the required time and energy to the role and aiming to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils.  Prepared to give time, skills and knowledge to developing themselves and others in order to create highly effective governance.  The LGB meets between three and six times a year and Governors are expected to conduct monitoring visits at least three times a year.  The term of office for a LGB Governor is 3 years, but they can be re-elected as long as they still have a child at the school.
Confident	Of an independent mind, able to lead and contribute to courageous conversations, to express their opinion and to play an active role on the LGB.
Curious	Possessing an enquiring mind and an analytical approach and understanding the value of meaningful questioning.
Challenging	Providing appropriate challenge to the status quo, not taking information or data at face value and always driving for improvement.
Collaborative	Prepared to listen to and work in partnership with others and understanding the importance of building strong working relationships within the board and with executive leaders, staff, parents and carers, pupils/students, the local community and employers.
Critical	Understanding the value of critical friendship, which enables both challenge and support, and self-reflective, pursuing learning and development opportunities to improve their own and whole board effectiveness.
Creative	Able to challenge conventional wisdom and be open-minded about new approaches to problem-solving; recognising the value of innovation and creative thinking to organisational development and success.