Kirsty Anderson began her teaching career after graduating from Exeter University, teaching first at The Hall Junior School, London, and then at Trinity Grammar School, Sydney, as part of an exchange programme. After a brief spell at St Paul’s Junior School (Colet Court), London, she returned to The Hall as Head of the Junior School in 2001. Before retiring in 2017, The Hall created an endowment Bursary Award in her name.

Kirsty now lives in Damerham and is a local Parish Councillor.

Kirsty is a consultant for the Birla Schools in Kolkata. She volunteers at The Walled Garden, Sandroyd and IntoUniversity, Southampton. She sits on a number of school Governing Bodies (Farleigh School, Red Rice, Hampshire and Alpha Plus Group, London).

Kirsty is very experienced in all aspects of safeguarding and child protection in schools.

I am originally from Peterhead in the North East of Scotland and moved to the South coast in 2001. I live in Alderholt with my wife, Cathrine, and my two boys, Ruaridh and Toby, who both attend Western Downland. I own a lift company suppling control systems to the lift trade.

As a governor I hope to be able to support the school to continue to provide an excellent standard of education for the children.

Andy lives in Rockbourne with his wife Hannah, and his two daughters, Freya and Isabelle.

I've spent my career working across the Healthcare, Energy and Insurance sectors, and most recently joined Microsoft as a Principal Cloud Engineer.

I'm passionate about Digital Transformation and the opportunities it provides in an educational setting to help develop learning outcomes. As a Parent Governor I'm looking forward to bringing my skills and experience to support this.

Having been a parent at Western Downland since 2016 I currently have 3 children attending the school across both the Damerham and Rockbourne sites.
I have been a teacher of Design and Technology for 15 years, having worked at Burgate until 2018, and I currently lead Design and Technology at Ringwood School.
I am looking forward to the prospect of being able to use my experience to engage students at Western Downland with all the exciting opportunities that the creative subjects have to offer.

I am honoured to have become a Governor at Western Downland. With three children currently at the school, I am truly delighted that I am now able to give something back to our school community. Despite having no previous experience of working within a school or a governing board, I am very much looking forward to the challenge and helping the governing body to support Mrs Tubbs and the staff members in continuing to grow and develop the school for the benefit of all the children. We have lived in Whitsbury for 10 years, where my husband manages the horse breeding stud and I work part-time in the office for Marcus Tregoning who is a race horse trainer based in the village - horse and the sport of racing are very much part of our life's!

Duncan lives in Sandleheath with his wife Caroline and his two daughters, Hannah and Sophia. Having recently retired from the army following 16 years service as an officer with the Royal Engineers, Duncan now works as a civil engineer in Ringwood.

Duncan is passionate about education and development. He hopes as a Parent Governor to assist the school in continuing to deliver excellent education and development opportunities for the children.

Gemma Hearsum, Foundation Governor, is a parent of two current and one former Western Downland pupils. She previously worked both in the NHS and for an international charity, developing health policy and managing operational services. She is a Trustee of a local charity and actively involved in the voluntary sector.

Having joined the board in July 2022, Gemma sits on the Learning and Resources Committee, and is the link governor for Art and Design and Technology. She is also working with Kirsty Anderson as the safeguarding link governor.

I am an ex-officio member of the Governing Body. I am also Rector of the four parish Churches of Western Downland: the congregations and communities of Damerham, Martin, Rockbourne and Whitsbury. I serve on the governing body of our School because of the vital part which the Church played in establishing education in this country, and specifically in these communities, which is why our School is a Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School. The Church continues to play an important role in support of children’s education in thousands of schools. I am actively involved in the ongoing life of the School, including the appointment of Foundation governors. Over the years we have been blessed with the participation of many fantastic foundation governors. All three of my children were pupils at the School.