Skip to content ↓

Governors Information

Governing bodies exist to maintain high educational standards, to set the strategic direction of schools and to ensure that they adhere to their statutory duties.
The governing body provides strategic leadership and accountability, and governors act as a ‘critical friend of the school’, advising and supporting the management team. They consist of parents and members of the local community who offer support, guidance and challenge.
The full governing body meets twice a term. Additional work is carried out by the Business Committee and the Learning and Wellbeing Committee.


Governor Type

Name

Position

Profile

Head Teacher

Jodie Matthews

 

 

Parent Governor

Mr Alan Davies

Chair of the Governing Body, Business Committee Member, Headteacher Performance Review.

  • Occupation: Global Chief Strategy Officer at DigitasLBi
  • Lives: Silverstone with his wife and 2 children who both attend John Hellins Primary School.
  • Personal Information: Alan operates as strategic director for a large global company. His skills in leadership, strategic planning and corporate development help him drive the business forward and mentor senior staff.  As a qualified off-road driving instructor, Alan likes to spend his spare time outdoors and in the hills.

Parent Governor

Mrs Carolyn C Holland  

Vice chair of Governing Body, Learning and Wellbeing Committee Member

  • Areas of responsibility: Vicechair of Governing Body, Learning and Wellbeing Committee Member
  • Lives: Potterspury with her husband and 3 children all who have or do attend John Hellins Primary School
  • Personal Information: Carolyn is an extremely enthusiastic mum to three children all who have been at John Hellins.  Carolyn is always keen to get involved in the community and with her extensive career history brings a wide skill set to the Governing Body.

Staff Governor

Mr Tim Crouch

Staff Governor, Learning and Wellbeing Committee Member.

  • Occupation: Teacher at John Hellins Primary School
  • Lives: West Northants with his wife and 2 children
  • Personal Information: Tim has been a teacher for over 10 years, Cub Scout Leader for over 30 years and in his spare time enjoys baking and spending time with friends and family.

Local Authority Governor    

Mrs Sam Fordham  

Learning and Wellbeing Committee Member, Safeguarding Governor

  • Occupation: Community Services Manager for CNWL Milton Keynes NHS.
  • Lives: Potterspury with her husband and 3 children all who attend John Hellins Primary School
  • Personal Information: In her primary role Sam focuses on health and wellbeing, safeguarding and promoting independence and enabling patients to manage their health conditions.  Sam leads a large team providing operation and strategic direction.  In her spare time she enjoys being creative and mindful.

Parent Governor        

Mr Mick Folwell  

Chair of Business Committee Member

  • Occupation: Software Test Manager at Unisys
  • Lives: Potterspury with his wife and 2 children one of whom is at John Hellins Primary School
  • Personal Information: A leader with a reputation for delivering successful projects, a track record of testing, developing and supporting performance critical software for global corporations over 20 years. Proven skills in test management, quality assurance, program, project and technical management with experience in multi-site verification, development, resource management (incl. offshore), staff development/recruitment and customer interfacing

Parent Governor

Maria Ingram

 

  • Occupation Maria set up her own business 7 years ago she held the position of
    Creative Director within one of the UK's top design agencies. Responsible for the management of both teams of creative people
    (no mean feat) and multi-million pound budgets. Now Maria divides her time
    between her children and a successful Illustration business.
  • Lives  Milton Keynes
  • Personal Information A
  • busy mum to two young children: Joshua who is in Year 2 and
    Freya who is currently at Pre-School. I moved my son to John Hellins
    during Year 1, not because it was my closest school, but because of
    the way the Head and teaching staff understood that each child is
    different, with different needs and abilities.

Parent Governor

Justine Willmott

 

  • Occupation Performance Operations Manager for British Canoeing

 

  • Personal Information Justine has 2 children, Daniel Evans (Year 3) and Miles Evans (Year 2), who both attend John Hellins, Justine has an active interest in school matters and has a broad range of experience and skills to bring to a School Governor role, ranging from former international badminton player, international level coach (from junior through to senior level) and over 10 years’ experience in Performance Management positions in both Paralympic and Olympic sport (and have been privileged to be involved Paralympic/Olympic Games through my roles in Performance Sport

Co-opted Governor

Mrs Cathryn Judd-Akrill

Chair of the Learning and Wellbeing Committee, Special Needs Governor

  • Occupation: Pupil and Family Wellbeing Leader at John Hellins Primary School
  • Lives: Potterspury with her husband and 3 children all who have or do attend John Hellins Primary School
  • Personal Information: Cathryn works part time as a Pupil and Family Wellbeing Leader.  Outside of school she is a busy mum of 3 children, she enjoys spending time with her family, trips away in their caravan.  Her hobbies include reading, gardening and baking.

Associate Governor

Mrs Lucy Soper

 

  • Occupation: UK & Ireland Learning and Skills Manager at Costa Coffee
  • Lives: With her husband and 2 children in Potterspury
  • Personal Information: A highly motivated and enthusiastic Individual with strong Learning, Change and Programme Management skills who can deliver results both individually and through others. A continuous track record of building and leveraging relationships within an organisation, from an operational and strategic perspective.

 

Associate Governor

Mrs Dinah Spence

 

  • Occupation: Chief Compliance Officer at Macmillan
  • Lives: Potterspury with her husband, daughter and 2 dogs.
  • Personal Information: Dinah’s key areas of professional interest and expertise are international business ethics, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, organisational change, coaching and development and investigation and audit

Associate Governor

Mrs Judy Cox

 

  • Occupation: School Business Manager at John Hellins Primary School
  • Lives: Potterspury with her husband and three children, 2 attend John Hellins Primary School and the youngest will soon.
  • Personal Information: Judy has worked at John Hellins Primary School for 18 months and had close links with the school since her children joined 4 years ago.  Prior to that she ran a family owned security business and has a wide skill set to utilise within school and the Governing Body.  Outside of work Judy loves spending time with the family and can often be found at motorsport events or in her holidaying in her caravan.

Associate Governor

Mr Tony Barlett

 

  • Occupation: Postman for Royal Mail, Site Supervisor at John Hellins Primary School
  • Lives: Potterspury with his wife
  • Personal Information: Tony has been dedicated to John Hellins Primary School for many years.  His (now grown up) children attended and he now enjoys being a part in the changes that the school has been through over time.  Tony can often be found within the school vicinity and outside of that time he is known to be an avid football supporter.

 



Minutes of all Governors meetings are available to view by request.  Please ask at the school office.
Pecuniary Interests for the Governing Body can be found here.