Annie Lennard Primary School

Governor News - Message from the Chair of Governors

Dear Parents and Carers

I am writing to introduce myself as the new Chair of Governors at Annie Lennard. My name is Alison Pemberton Smith and I feel very privileged to have been elected chair of governors for this academic year after being a governor since January 2017 and to be working with such a professional team of staff and governors. My background includes being a primary school teacher for 14 years in both Birmingham and Sandwell and I am currently a Senior Lecturer at a local university training individuals to be primary school teachers. You may have seen me in school supporting trainee teachers and I am a familiar face in classrooms to the children. I am also a mother of two children, a 12-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl, and a stepmom to four boys!

I would also very much like to thank the outgoing chair Stephen Edmonds for all his hard work and dedication over the last year.

Governors are volunteers and our main role is to work with the school ensuring that your children receive the best education in a supportive and safe setting. To this end we have three core strategic functions which are:

  • Making sure that everyone, including yourselves, is clear about the school’s vision for your children and how the school plans to realise the vision.
  • Working with the Head Teacher to ensure that your children do the best they can and that all the staff are supported and trained, to work with them to the best of their ability.
  • Making sure the funding is well spent, by seeking value for money and targeting resources to areas that will best help your children achieve their full potential.


The governors come from a range of backgrounds and have different skills, but we could not do our job without the expertise of the Head Teacher, Leadership Team, Staff Governors and all the amazing staff at Annie Lennard.

We all want to give your children the best possible chance in life to succeed and I believe with the right commitment from everyone, the governors, the staff and yourselves, we will forge a dynamic partnership that will enable this to happen.

When you see me at school, please come and say hello but if you would like to contact me before then, or any of my fellow governors – please do so by contacting me through the Head Teacher or the school office.

Best wishes
Alison Pemberton Smith
Chair of Governors