Members
Liz Perkins
Chair of Governors
Date of Appointment: 12th October 2023
Liz has spent the majority of her working life in Education although she has been involved in retail and charity work as well. She trained as a Primary school teacher and worked in Primary Education in Inner city Birmingham and in several Surrey schools before becoming an Advisory Teacher for Science for the County, supporting both primary and secondary schools. She has worked for both Kingston and Roehampton Universities, becoming Head of Science Education at the later whilst obtaining an MA in Early Years Education. She then became Programme Convenor for CPD and moved into Quality Assurance and CPD provision on a local, national and international stage and presented research papers at national and international conferences. Retiring early, Liz became a home visiting volunteer for a local Family Support Charity in Woking and Runnymede, becoming a trustee and then Joint Chair of Trustees for several years. She has lived in Woking for over 30 years, with her husband who also works locally, and has brought up two children who are now adults working in the area. She brings extensive knowledge and understanding of Education, Quality Assurance and Chairing experience to the role of Chair of Governors. Liz is passionate about supporting families and helping to support children and youngsters to achieve their potential and to become the best people that they can be.
Claerwyn Hamilton-Wilkes
Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 6th January 2014
Claerwyn is a senior policy advisor in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities working on electoral legislation. She is one of the founding governors of the school and has over 10 years of school governance experience in primary and secondary schools.
Ken Henderson
Vice-Chair (Resources), Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 6th January 2014
Ken has been a management consultant for over 20 years and is currently a Director at AlixPartners, a global turnaround and restructuring advisory firm. The expertise he brings to the school includes strategy, financial management and HR. He is one of the founding governors of Hoe Valley School, having helped to establish the school in 2015. Prior to being a governor, he supported local schools with business education programmes and was Chairman of Surrey Young Enterprise until 2013. Ken is married with two children and lives in Woking.
Claire McDonnell
Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 16th September 2016
Claire, a mother of 3, is one of the original founders of Hoe Valley School and has served as Chair of the Education Committee and Safeguarding Governor. She currently works as link governor to PE and has a particular interest in how the school partners with the local community.
Claire has a finance background, and has worked as a Paraplanner in the City, specialising in pensions, protection and investments. She currently works as Home School Link Worker at Kings College in Guildford, supporting children and their families with mental health and wellbeing, attendance issues and financial / social issues. Previously, Claire worked in an alternative provision secondary school specialising in Social, Emotional and Mental Health.
All governors have a Term of Office of 4 years from appointment unless otherwise stated.