Welcome to our Governors’ section

Governors are responsible for overseeing the management side of a school: strategy, policy, budgeting and staffing. They enable our school to run as effectively as possible, working alongside the Headteacher and supporting teachers to provide excellent education to children. Being a school governor is a commitment to attending the LGB meetings which consider issues such as setting the school vision, mitigating financial risk and scrutinising educational outcomes. They are also involved in the school community, acting as critical friends to the headteacher.  Governors bring a wide range of skills and expertise from their professional lives to the governing board and schools benefit greatly from working with skilled volunteers, for example anyone with experience of finance, law, premises management or human resources

Robin Taverner - Chair of the LGB (appointed September 2021)

Robin has worked as a teacher and leader in schools in England, Germany and Hong Kong. He has been a Deputy Headteacher in two schools and a successful Headteacher in three schools. In recent years, Robin has worked in a large number of schools in Essex, supporting them with all aspects of school improvement and helping them to prepare for successful inspections. Robin runs training courses for middle and senior leaders, including the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leaders and the Leadership Programme for Deputy Headteachers. Robin has also worked as a school inspector, on behalf of the Office for Standards in Education. Recently, Robin has supported EES for schools with the introduction of a major school improvement programme called School Effectiveness Plus. This has involved working with schools to pilot this initiative and also writing a development programme called, ‘From Data to Action’.

Heather Faulkner

Heather is recently retired and has experience in supporting schools and governing bodies in both LA maintained schools and academies. She has a degree in business administration and has extensive experience managing teams and projects. She worked for Essex County Council (ECC) for over 14 years and had responsibility for overseeing aspects of school improvement, the Early Careers Teacher and Initial Teacher Training programmes, workforce development and performance data for schools. Her experience of supporting governors is through coaching and mentoring.  She has experience linked to statutory intervention boards in schools causing concern, appointed by Essex County Council and the Department for Education. Prior to her career at ECC, she worked at an international school in Singapore where she was responsible for the management of transport logistics and operations serving over 2000 pupils.