Meet the Governors
Our Governing Body consists of parents, staff, and members from the local community. This voluntary group will work closely with the Headteacher, to provide strong strategic leadership to a school, and ensuring accountability for its educational and financial performance. Our Governing Body is made up of 12 members including:
- Head Teacher,
- 1 staff member,
- 1 Local Authority nominated governor,
- 2 Parent Governors
- 7 Co-opted Governors.
A governor will stand each year as Chair, and another as Vice-Chair. Governors are appointed to these roles, and other areas of responsibility for a 1 year term. They can be re-appointed to the roles in successive years.
We appoint governors based on the various skills and experience that they can contribute to our governing body; parent governors are elected by the parents of the school; staff governors are elected by the staff members within the school. Each governor serves a term of 4 years, so they are able to get to know our school well and get involved in the school community.
The Full Governing Body (FGB) meets at least six times a year. All governors have voting rights for FGB meetings and committee meetings. The FGB delegates financial matters to the Finance Committee, whose main function is to advise the Headteacher on matters relating to the school’s site and premises, resources (not including staff) and financial activities and to consider the challenges the school is likely to face over the next few years.
Governor Roles for 2024/25
- Co-Chair of Governors - Luke Robinson and Sarah Reece
- Vice Chair - Ben Durbin
Specific Governor Responsibilities:
- Pupil Premium – Sarah Reece
- SEND – Ben Durbin
- Safeguarding - Luke Robinson
- School Environment - Natalie Davy
- Development Governor - Jo Welch
- Attendance - Natalie Davy
- Writing - Elle Daniels
In addition, any member of the Senior Leadership Team may attend meetings to bring reports for Governors to review.
The governors of Holly Spring School believe it is important that boards reflect the diversity of the school communities they serve. Diverse boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people.
The governors are currently researching the best ways to collate data on the diversity of the board and how that data will be used to inform their recruitment and training needs to ensure there is always a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision-making.
Co-Chair of Governors - Luke Robinson and Sarah Reece
Luke Robinson
I am delighted to be Co-Chair of Governors of Holly Spring Primary School. I am a local Secondary school music teacher and Head of Pupil Care, I have experience in mainstream and special school settings and can’t wait to work with the extremely experienced governing body in supporting this fantastic primary school.
Sarah Reece
I am a Lead Practitioner Teacher and Senior Leader at a school in Woodley. I became a governor for Holly Spring Primary School in 2022. I have been teaching for 13 years and a Senior Leader for 11 years where my role has varied from Key Stage Leader right through to Acting Deputy Head.
I have a passion for teaching and learning and believe strongly that every child should receive the best possible primary education to set them up for success in their future life, therefore my favourite part of my current role is coaching and mentoring colleagues to develop their practice. I have also had the privilege of developing my school's curriculum to ensure it is engaging and purposeful while igniting a thirst for learning in the children. As part of this, I have been working on the middle leader development to ensure they have the knowledge, confidence and support to move their subjects forward and ensure all children are receiving the education they deserve.
Ben Durbin
I have lived in Bullbrook for the past 18 years and both of my children have attended Holly Spring and really flourished here. I have spent most of my career working for education charities where I have seen the difference that schools can make to children's lives and the challenges they face. Being a governor is a chance for me to give something back to the school and the community, and I hope to learn lots from the experience too.
Nathalie Davy
I became a parent governor during the 2020 pandemic. I only moved to the area just before my daughter joined Key stage 1 last year and we live locally to the school.
I have a previous background in Early Years Education, in a leadership role. Due to this am used to education frameworks, policies and OFSTED inspections. I also was the designated inclusion representative and completed required training to be a safeguarding deputy for our setting.
I am now working for the Crown prosecution service, and throughout the pandemic I have been in a health & safety, security and facilities role, which has been rather challenging.
All these experiences have shown me how transferable all my skills can be and I want to use them to the best of my ability to help the school, and our children to have the best educational experiences possible.
Jo Welch
I have been a teacher for over 15 years and have always been actively involved in all the schools I have worked for, as I believe children are the future and deserve the very best from those who help to shape their lives.
I am local to the area and have two young children. I joined the Holly Spring team in September 2022. I have settled in quickly and can see all the hard work the staff and those who support the school do and wanted to add my experience to that.
Over the years I have held many different positions and understand how schools work. I have worked closely with colleagues to deliver improvements and make sure what we have in place is right for all our children. I firmly believe children should be at the centre of every decision we make. As staff governor, I can support colleagues and children.
Elle Daniels
I have lived in the local area for the last ten years and my two children attend Holly Spring Primary School. I've been a secondary English teacher for the past 12 years and I have been in a leadership position for the past 9 years. I spent 8 years of my career in a local secondary school as a curriculum middle leader; I'm well-versed in teaching and working with Holly Spring's alumni! I now lead the whole-school Personal Development provision of a school that mostly caters for children with SEND needs.
Education, teaching, learning, and everything in between and around it, is one of my biggest passions. I'm exceptionally driven when it comes to raising standards and ensuring that our children have the best quality education: both in terms of academic provision and their personal development and well-being.
Jyothirmai Medepalli
The main motive to apply to this role is to make a difference in the community, especially in schools, the past few years I have been working (as a learning support assistant in the classroom) in different schools so I have an idea which areas can be improved on. I hope I can contribute to the school.
My qualifications BA degree (in English literature, History, Tourism)
Work experience: Hospital manager in India (1year)
Course : Accounting AAT level 2
Accounting jobs in Loyd’s Register, Bracknell (six months)
Working in special needs school (part time).
Kerry White
Dawn Harris
I wanted to find a volunteering role in my local community and felt my background and experience would be well suited for a school governor role.
I am a qualified accountant, who has always worked within smaller businesses, so my responsibilities have always been much wider than just finance. I have extensive experience of all the operational aspects of running a business so everything from HR and legal and compliance matters to premises, IT and system development.
I have absolutely no experience of working in an educational environment but I am extremely practical, have lots of common sense and I’m happy to do whatever I can to help.
I live in Bullbrook and my children both went to Holly Spring many years ago, they are now in their 30s. It was a lovely school then and has always maintained a fantastic reputation in the community.
I am very much looking forward to becoming a governor, to bring a different skillset to help support the existing team, to learn from them and to benefit from all their knowledge.
Instrument of Government
What do governors do?
Do you wonder what governors do for our school and what are the responsibilities they hold? Please see the document below, which shows how we contribute to the success of Holly Spring Primary School. There are many areas of responsibility for the Head Teacher, but she will bring reports and updates to the governing body, and we will visit the school to see evidence for ourselves.
Governor Vacancy
More Information
If you are interested in becoming a school governor please contact the clerk to the governing body at clerk@hsprimary.uk, or chair@hsprimary.uk to register your interest or gain more information. Alternatively, you can email governor.services@bracknell-forest.gov.uk for other governor roles within the borough.
Governing Body Information
This section contains statutory information for our governors. Please click on the document below for:
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