Category: Governance

NGA Outstanding Governance Award

At a ceremony at the House of Commons on 21st May 2019, the School received a Highly Commended Award from Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System, for Outstanding Governance in a Single School. The award was one of the National Governance Association’s (NGA) Outstanding Governance Awards 2019.

The NGA is the national membership organisation for state-funded school governors and trustees in England, and the awards run every 2 years to recognise the very best practice in school governance nationally and celebrate the role of governors. The NGA note that “Our finalists lead the way as exemplars of good school governance and have met rigorous judging criteria to reach the final.” In order to be considered for the award we had to provide a detailed case and a supporting statement from someone independent. Two judges then visited the school to question us on our practice, and inspect evidence.

The finalists in the Outstanding Governance in a Single School category had been chosen because they demonstrate the eight elements of effective governance, and have gone beyond the basics of their role to have a significant impact on the education provided to students in their schools.

The judges noted that Hoe Valley School is a demonstration of what a group of dedicated parents can achieve having turned our vision into reality and created a brand new school.  They were impressed that the board has consistently shown excellent capability to strategically manage all aspects of the school, utilising our experience and enthusiasm to best effect, and that trustees have not been afraid to make difficult decisions.

Below is the full statement from the judges

“Demonstrating what a group of dedicated parents can achieve by setting up their own free school, this board has turned a vision into reality. The board took the early decision to strategically oversee the development of the permanent site, allowing senior leaders to focus on ensuring an excellent standard of education. The permanent site opened in September 2018, four months after the school was deemed Outstanding by Ofsted. An indicator of the board’s success in engaging stakeholders throughout the project was an oversubscription for the third year of entry to the school. Trustees have not been afraid to make difficult decisions and the judges were impressed that board has consistently shown excellent capability to strategically manage all aspects of the school, utilising its experience and enthusiasm to best effect. “

Members

Hoe Valley School is a Single Academy Trust registered at Egley Road, Woking  GU22 0NH.

The role of the Members is different to that of the Governors and they play a limited but crucial role in safeguarding academy trust governance. Members hold the governing board to account for the effective governance of the trust. but have a minimal role in the actual running of the trust. As the guardians of the school’s governance, members sit at the top of the trust’s governance structure.

 

The Members

 

Claerwyn Hamilton-Wilkes

Date of Appointment: 6th January 2014

Claerwyn Hamilton-Wilkes 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

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.

 

Alex Holmes

Date of Appointment: 6th January 2014

Alex has worked in the creation of technology products for 20 years across analytics, media and data services businesses. He currently leads the product management of business planning applications for a global media agency, dentsu. Prior to this, he has held a variety of product and technology roles with organisations including the BBC, dunnhumby, Argus Media and Reed Business. Alex is one of the group of the school’s founding parents. From being closely involved through the government’s Free School application process, Alex served as a governor for a number of years and now as a member of the trust. Alex is married and has been lucky enough to have two daughters attend Hoe Valley.

 

Claire McDonnellClaire McDonnell

Date of Appointment: 6th January 2014

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.

 

Lynne O’Reilly

Date of Appointment: 19th January 2015

 

 

 

Governance

Hoe Valley School is a Single Academy Trust. Academy trusts have different governance arrangements to local authority maintained schools and as a Single Academy Trust, our governors have a wider range of duties than governors of maintained schools. Academy trusts have an additional layer of governance compared to maintained schools, known as the members. The governing body is responsible for making strategic decisions about the day to day running of the academy. As an academy is also a charitable company limited by guarantee, the governors have duties as directors under company law and trustees under charity law. These duties are similar to those they have as governors of the school.

The Board of Governors meets formally three times each term. Once each term is a Full Governing Body (FGB) meeting at which the Board focuses on strategic matters and those matters requiring the formal consideration / approval of the FGB. Once each half term there is a committee meeting to which all governors are invited. Committee meetings are where the Board discharges its duties to hold the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its students (The Education Committee), and to oversee the financial performance of the school (The Resources Committee). Each of the committee meetings considers all aspects, allowing issues to be dealt with holistically.

In addition, the Board of Governors operates a Pay Review Committee to consider changes to pay policy, to review and approve changes in staffing structure and recruitment plans, and to conduct the annual pay review.

Education Committee Responsibilities

The Education Committee is responsible for reviewing the curriculum at the school to ensure that it provides the best opportunity for learning for the children and supports the school’s vision, values and ethos, as well as holding the Head Teacher to account for delivering the curriculum with the focus on student development, achievement and success. The Education Committee is accountable for:
⮚ Strategic oversight of the school curriculum, ensuring fitness for purpose.
⮚ Strategic oversight of the governor visits/monitoring programme; strategic oversight of student achievement and teacher performance.
⮚ Strategic oversight of the provision of SEN in the school.
⮚ Strategic oversight of safeguarding in the school.
The Education Committee has full authority to undertake the above on behalf of the FGB. Notwithstanding this, the Committee may, if it feels it appropriate, refer items to the FGB for ratification.

Resources Committee Responsibilities

The Resources Committee is responsible for the strategic management of the financial and physical resources at the school, ensuring they are being used to best effect, monitoring efficiency and usage, and challenging and supporting the school in ensuring value for money. They report any issues of concern to the Full Governing Board (FGB). The Resources Committee is accountable for:
⮚ Strategic oversight of the school’s finances, including financial management, cost effectiveness and value for money.
⮚ Strategic oversight of the school’s premises.
⮚ Strategic oversight of the staffing structure of the school, ensuring it is maintained in line with the requirements of the School Development Plan and within the available budget.
⮚ Strategic oversight of Safeguarding in the school
⮚ Undertake the role of audit committee
The Resources Committee has full authority to undertake the above on behalf of the FGB, with the exception of the approval of the final budget and sign off of the annual accounts, authority for both of which rests with the FGB

 

The Governing Body of Hoe Valley School

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.

Alexandra Arnold

Co-opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 16th March 2023

Alexandra is a secondary-trained English teacher and an Assistant Headteacher at Hoe Bridge School. She has worked in education for over a decade and has an in-depth knowledge of the independent sector. She has an MEd in Senior Leadership, is a member of Women’s Ed and is a Chartered Member of CMI. Alexandra lives in Guildford with her husband and daughter and is keen to bring her knowledge of the classroom and schools-based leadership to the Hoe Valley team.

Zane Carrazedo

Co-opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 24th November 2022

Zane is an MBA-qualified Chartered Accountant who is comfortable operating strategically to drive a consistent vision but also adept at providing functional direction to meet day-to-day tactical needs. Wide-ranging experience across financial disciplines and strong experience of private equity-owned businesses who undergo constant change and operate at pace to deliver value over an investment cycle. Married with two young children entering education, Zane has a keen interest in learning, growing and providing value back to the community through this governorship role.

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.

 

Adrian Kingsford

Parent Governor
Date of Appointment: 15th March 2022

Adrian is a father, husband, business owner, executive/leadership coach, board advisor, business mentor and c-level technologist (including experience with information security governance). Having lived in Mayford since 2008, he’s seen the school be built and thrive, and with a child attending the school, he has a vested interest in its’ continued success. Adrian feels a responsibility to give back, to give guidance, to ask the difficult questions, to provoke thoughts, to respectfully challenge the leadership and hold them to account, and ultimately to enable the best outcomes for each and every child. 

Claire McDonnellClaire 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.

Rob Money

Co-opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 16 March 2023

Rob is a serving Army officer, currently working in the Ministry of Defence. Having graduated from RMA Sandhurst, Rob spent the last twenty years planning and leading operations all around the world. He holds a BA (African Studies) from SOAS and PG Diplomas in International Relations and Strategic Leadership from KCL and the Chartered Management Institute respectively. Rob is passionate about the transformative power of education, specifically in helping institutions and individuals fulfil their potential.

Kerry Symeonidis

Co-opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 14 September 2023

Kerry has an MA in Education & Social Justice and an interest in reducing the disparity in pupil outcomes that result from differences in school and family resources. She works at an independent school in Berkshire as Head of Social Impact, promoting efforts by the school to reduce its environmental impact and to help tackle some of the challenges facing the local community. For example, Kerry has established a fund with a local education authority to better enable refugee pupils to attend their schools; initiated a pilot project to improve the educational outcomes of the children of armed forces personnel; and runs a grant scheme for local state schools to upgrade their teaching equipment and facilities according to their own priorities. Prior to this, Kerry managed UK government-funded projects to improve socio-economic conditions in low-income countries. Kerry is also a mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation; and a Beaver leader for 6-8 year olds in Old Woking.

Lynette Van der Merwe

Co-Opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 24th November 2022

Lynette is a Managing Director at Accenture, a global professional services company.  Her career has been focused on helping organisations, particularly in the financial services industry, transform by focusing on people change management, enterprise agility, human capital management, organisational development, learning and leadership development. Passionate about learning and people development, she has taught psychology at under- and postgraduate level and often contributes as faculty in her corporate setting. She holds a Ph.D in Psychology, lives in Woking and is married with two daughters.

Eti VyasEti Vyas

Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 13th July 2021

Eti lives in Woking and is married with a young daughter. She is the Vice President at Morgan Stanley Bank in the Risk department and has vast experience in working with Banks and Consulting firms in the Financial Risk domain.

All governors have a Term of Office of 4 years from appointment unless otherwise stated.

Contacting the Governing Body

You can contact the Chair of Governors by email at chair@hoevalleyschool.org.
Paper correspondence can sent to The Chair of Governors, c/o Hoe Valley School, Egley Road, Woking. GU22 0NH. Additionally, you can contact the Clerk to Governors by email at clerk@hoevalleyschool.org.

Records of Attendance
Governor Attendance Record 2022-23

Registers of Business Interests
Register of Interests 2023-24