Maidenhead & Windsor

The 'unsung heroes' of Maidenhead school governing bodies will be given the star treatment on Thursday (March 8) with a special event in the Town Hall's council chamber.

Clerks to governing bodies – the people who organise meetings, advise on procedures, keep the minutes and carry out a host of other activities that keep the business wheels in motion – will be honoured at a Maidenhead Celebration of Clerking evening (7pm for 7.30pm).

Designed to highlight the valuable work of clerks in the borough's 62 schools, the evening will see certificates presented to a number of clerks, including six of the longest-serving:

* Janice Partridge, Cookham Nursery School, and Carolyn Thompson, White Waltham CE School (19 years)
* Judith Mitchel, Furze Platt Senior School, Roma Harland, Trevelyan Middle School, and Maureen West, Windsor Boys' School (18 years)
* Viv Cooper, Woodlands Park Primary School (17 years).

Cllr Cynthia Pitteway, lead member for Maidenhead education and lifelong learning, described clerks as the 'unsung heros' of schools governance.

She said: "We owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone who serves as a school governor. Their contribution to the education and wellbeing of our children and young people is invaluable. However, the clerks are the unsung heroes – the people who make the system work, thanks to their vast knowledge, organisational and administrative skills, sensitivity and attention to detail.

"Many of them toil in the background and it is only right that we should have an evening to celebrate their skills and talents and pay particular tribute to the six who together have given well over 100 years of service."

The celebration evening will be attended by Cllr Pitteway along with Cllr Kathy Newbound, lead member for children's and young people's services, Jim Gould, corporate director of learning and care, and Cliff Turner, head of children's and young people's services.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead