Governance

The ESF Ordinance (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Legislative Council in 2008, led to extensive changes in the Foundation’s governance structure. The previous structure, consisting of an Executive Committee and a 130-member Foundation, was replaced by a 26-member Board of Governors. ESF now has a strong and balanced governance structure that effectively enables a variety of stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process.

The Board of Governors has overall responsibility for overseeing ESF’s affairs, maintaining its educational standards and administering its property portfolio. Its principal functions include working with the Chief Executive Officer to establish the strategic direction of the Foundation, reviewing the overall curriculum strategy for all the Foundation’s schools and ensuring the efficient use of resources. The Board is responsible for ensuring effective communication between the Foundation, parents and staff and for maintaining procedures for the recruitment, retention, management, development and support of all Foundation employees. Its responsibilities also include selecting and appraising the performance of the Chief Executive Officer and approving the appointment of all senior staff.
The Board is supported by a number of committees, including standing committees for Remuneration, Audit and Finance.

Each of the Foundation’s primary and secondary schools has a School Council which is responsible for educational matters, in accordance with the resolutions of the Board of Governors. Within this framework, the main responsibilities of School Councils include working with the Principal to establish the school’s strategic direction, approving the curriculum, ensuring that the needs of students are met and approving the annual budget. School Councils are also responsible for the approval of senior appointments, the implementation of effective procedures for staff management and development and, most importantly, with the Chief Executive Officer, for appraising the performance of the Principal.

The Board of Governors is broadly constituted and includes ten independent members, seven directly elected parent members, one Committee of Parents Governor, three School Council Chairmen, four members of staff (including a principal) and the Chief Executive Officer (ex officio).

The current membership of the Board is as follows:

Independent Governors	Mr Carlson Tong, JP Chairman
	Ms Elizabeth Bosher Vice Chairman
	Mr Robert Gazzi Treasurer
	Mr Alexander Chan
	Mr Michael Dowie
	Dr P M Kam
	D r Kim Mak, JP
	Ms Pauline Ng
	Mr Kyran Sze
	Mrs Judy Woo
School Council Chairmen	Mr Gordon Lamb
	Mr Paul Varty
	Ms Virginia Wilson
Directly Elected Parent Governors	Mr Robert Bennett
	Dr Andrea (Andy) Lowe
	Dr Vincent Ho
	Mr Simon Joyce
	Mr Simon Osborne
	Mrs Amy Wong
Directly Elected SEN Parent Governor	Mrs Kim Anderson
Committee of Parents' Governor	Mr Marc Castagnet
Committee of Principals' Governor	Ms Jane Foxcroft
Committee of Teaching Staff's Governors	Mr Paul Clarke
Committee of Teaching Staff's Governors	Mr Matthew Caplin
Committee of Support Staff's Governors	Mr Mike Draeger
Chief Executive Officer (ex officio)	Mrs Heather Du Quesnay

There are also standing committees for Remuneration, Audit and Finance. Each of our schools has a Council which comprises a Chairman and representatives of parents, teachers, support staff and the wider community, as well as the Chief Executive’s representative. The relationship between these different bodies is represented in this diagram: