Loyal servants claim awards for dedication

Elizabeth Scoltock,, school governor at St Hida's school, Oldham, with 30 years service, Lesley Hampson, governor at North Chadderton school, with 24 years service, Marlene Armitage, governor at Holy Cross church of England primary,Oldham, with 42 years service. L/R, (back row), Alan Armitage, governor at St Hilda's CE primary school,Oldham, with 18 years service, Eddie Moore

SCHOOL governors who have clocked up more than 500 years of volunteering in education have been honoured with Long Service Awards.

A total of 22 school governors who have each given between 15 and 40 years of service to local schools were honoured at the Oldham Annual Governors Conference on Saturday.

One of those who received an award during the event at North Chadderton School was Pride in Oldham nominee Marlene Armitage.

Eager

Marlene retires from her post as chair of governors at Holy Cross CE Primary School after 40 years of volunteering.

She was honoured with an Exceptional Service gong and praised for her passion and dedication.

There are currently over 1,100 Oldham school governors, with around one per cent of the adult population serving in this capacity at any one time.

The borough is always eager to hear from volunteers who are interested in becoming school governors.

There are different types of governors including parent governors, local authority governors, staff governors, foundation governors (appointed by the body which established the school) and co-opted governors (appointed by the governing body and might include local business people or members of local community groups).

School governors need to be able to actively support and challenge the work of senior staff at school, look at issues objectively, join in debate, listen and make informed judgements and work hard for the benefit of the children, families and staff.

Anyone interested in becoming a school governor can find out more information online at www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200333/school_governors/303/be come_a_school_governor.