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Say hello to your School Governors

Read a little more about our School Governors below.

Mrs Alice Tubbs

Headteacher

I believe with a passion that the children’s time with us should be some of the happiest of their lives, through which is instilled a lifetime love for learning. It is a privilege to watch each child’s journey from nursery to the start of their secondary education and know that for a small part of each child’s life we have the potential to make a big difference.
Christian Church School

Richard Duxbury

Foundation Governor

Kathryn Peaty

Kathryn Peaty

Foundation Governor, Vice Chair of FGB and Chair Of Learning and Achievement Committee

Kathryn lives in Martin with her husband and three children Laurence, Willem and Millie who all attend Western Downland Primary School. Since joining the governing body as a foundation governor Kathryn says that helping to start up the Nursery Class for 3 & 4 year olds and seeing this wonderful facility in action, has been one of her proudest achievements. She believes ensuring excellence in teaching and creating a safe, rewarding, yet challenging school environment is vital to enable children to reach and exceed their individual learning goals.
Louise Lambert

Louise Lambert

Clerk

Kirsty Anderson

Kirsty Anderson

Local Authority Governor and Safeguarding Governor

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.

John Godber

Associate Governor

I am married to Catherine (Cathy) and have two now grown up sons, the eldest who attended Western Downland School in its first Federated academic year. I have been consistently involved with the school for over 37 years either on the Friends of the School committee or as a Governor on the buildings sub-committee.
I am employed at Allenford Farms in the village, one of the Churchwardens at St George’s Church for over 25 years, serve on the Village Hall Committee and help to put together and dismantle the Damerham Fair each year.

Sheree Cumming & SEND Governor

Foundation Governor

I have been a practising Speech and Language Therapist working with children for over 40 years. I am married, my husband is a retired Anglican clergyman, and we live locally. I have worked both in schools (for local authorities) and clinics in England and abroad. For 15 years I worked in a specialist Dyslexia/Dyspraxia School where I was SENCO and then went on to run training courses for teachers and other professionals in teaching, assessing and diagnosing SPLD dyslexia. I retired 3 years ago. I have recently become a school governor and wish to support the school in any way I can.
Stewart Melrose

Stewart Melrose

Parent Governor & Chair of Resources Committee

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 Carr

Associate Member

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.

Jonathan Vincent

Parent Governor

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.

Tori Haworth

Foundation Governor

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 Bailey

Duncan Bailey

Chair of Governors

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

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.

Rev Les Player

Ex-Officio 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.

We are proud to welcome you to our school.

 

Our strong governing body is committed to supporting and continuing to improve our school. The Governors work closely with the headteacher and the leadership team:

* In the management and strategic direction of the school.
* Acting as a critical friend to the school.
* Being accountable for the quality and standards of education and care.

Care for the individual child is our priority.

We meet regularly during the term with additional committee meetings to discuss specific matters such as evaluating learning and school effectiveness, health and safety, the school environment and the school finances. We want to do all we can to ensure that our children receive the very best experiences and opportunities to enable them to achieve their goals and aspirations in an environment where Christian values are paramount.

Our Governing body is made up of  volunteers from the local community and the wider world of business, offering a diverse range of skills and views, bringing a breadth of experience to the team. As a Church school the majority of our Governors are Foundation Governors, whose role is to encourage an understanding of the significance of faith and promote our Christian values and distinctiveness.

VIEW GOVERNOR Pecuniary Interests

VIEW GOVERNOR Terms of Office

MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEES

Governor information and duties:

 

For details on how Governor vacancies are filled please click here