Governance

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.

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.

Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 6^th 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.

Vice-Chair (Resources), Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 6^th 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.

Parent Governor
Date of Appointment: 15^th 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. 

Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 16^th 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.

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.

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.

Co-Opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 24^th 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.

Member-Appointed Governor
Date of Appointment: 13^th 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.

Co-Opted Governor
Date of Appointment: 21st April 2024

Stoko is a Strategy Advisor in the Department of Work and pensions, focussing specifically on Labour Market Strategy, Fiscal events and supporting departmental engagement with national employers. She has worked across Finance and Operations, and has previously worked in the non profit sector both in the U.K. and in Rwanda. She holds a MSc in International History and a BSc in International Business Management. Stoko is passionate about strategy and community engagement as well as driving equity, diversity and inclusion. She lives in Woking and is keen to give back through this opportunity, having grown up in the local area.

Parent Governor
Date of Appointment: 16 February 2024

Ian lives locally in Woking and is a father of two - one at Hoe Valley and the other currently at Barnsbury Primary. The school will therefore be an important part of his family’s life for the next decade and he is keen to use the opportunity as a parent governor to play a part in helping the school to be the best it can be for students, parents, staff and the wider community. Ian is a senior civil servant working at the Department of Health and Social Care with a long career in national Government.