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 10 times a year. All governors have voting rights for FGB meetings and committee meetings. We have also appointed associate members, who do not have voting rights.
Governor Roles for 2023/24
- Chair of Governors - Richard Stok
- Vice Chair - Luke Robinson
Specific Governor Responsibilities:
- Pupil Premium – Sarah Reece/Richard Stok
- Health and Safety and Energy Champion – James Turner
- SEND – Alex Rylance
- Safeguarding/ Child Protection Governor – Alex Rylance / Luke Robinson
- GDPR – John Bragg
- EYFS – Sarah Reece
- Development Gov - Jo Welch
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.
Richard Stok - Chair of Governors
Hello, I am Richard Stok, your newly appointed Chair of Governors here at Holly Spring Primary School. I have been involved as a school governor in Bracknell primary schools for more than 30 years and have served as chair or vice chair at 4 of those. I am a governor because I believe all of our children should be given the best education possible to prepare them for the next stage in their lives, regardless of their family circumstances. I work with the school Leadership Team and my fellow governors to make our school great in the eyes of parents, children, staff and the community for the same reasons.
John Bragg
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I have been a School Governor at Holly Spring schools since 2011 when I was co-opted onto the Governing Body for my range of commercial experience, which includes Brand Strategy, Marketing and Technology. I have also directed Site and Operations, as well as running Design studios including my own. These transferable skills have underpinned my time on the Full Governing Body, supporting previous roles such as chair of the Finance and Resource committees, more recently as a member of the Working Party for the Amalgamation, and current responsibilities including GDPR Monitoring.
My focus is on supporting both the short and long-term requirements of the school, and most importantly our children, to the best of my ability.
During my time on the governing body I have also had one child go all the way through school, with another currently enjoying the benefits of being in a Primary school.
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.
Leanne Kirby
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I want to be a governor at Holly Spring to help support a school which is local to me and holds the same values that I do. I hope to get to know the community well and support in any way I can.
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.
Alex Rylance
Why you chose to stand as a governor?
I was looking to get involved with a local school in a governor capacity as I felt I wanted to support a school through COVID and beyond using my knowledge and experience of external business.
What your background/current role is?
My current role is working within Human Resources for a large retail business. I have a history of working within large businesses that have gone through growth and change. I have a Masters from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development
What subject you are in charge of monitoring?
I have specific responsibility for monitoring safeguarding.
What is your area of interest?
As a new governor, I will be looking at how I can use my experience to support the school achieve the yearly plan
James Turner
I am the Local Authority Governor, and have been at Holly Spring Primary school for over 5 years previously within the Infant school. I live locally and have two children, both of which have or do currently attend the school. My eldest is now at secondary school and my youngest is in Year 5. I have previously sat on the School Finance committee and have a keen interest in ensuring the facilities within and around the school are the best they can be to aid learning. I am also the Health and Safety Governor. I am a qualified Civil Engineer and currently work for Bracknell Forest Council within the Highways and Transport section but before you ask, no all the road works aren't down to me! In my spare time I help run an U14's football team and I like to play tennis. You may see me around the school either in my capacity as a governor or as a parent so if you want to have a chat or have any questions you want to raise with the Governing body I would be happy to speak to you.
Luke Robinson
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I am delighted to be a new governor 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. This is my first time in a governor position and can not wait to get started!
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.
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:
