Governing Body
Who are we?
The governors are a group of individuals, made up of parents, staff, members of the community (co-opted) and the Local Authority. Governors typically serve for four years, and will have a variety of responsibilities during this time. An effective governing body will have people from different backgrounds with mixed skills. Governors are not education experts – they are there to bring a fresh perspective.
In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing bodies, the 3 core strategic functions of Great Chart Primary School’s Governing Body are:
- that the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school are clearly defined
- that the headteacher performs their responsibilities for the educational performance of the school
- the sound, proper and effective use of the school’s financial resources
Annual Governance Statement 2024
Chair of Governors – Mrs S Windle
Vice Chair of Governors – Mr C Gibbins
The Governance Professional – Mrs L Page
Should you wish to contact any member of the governing body, please make contact via the governance professional, Mrs L Page. Visit the Contact section of the website.
If you are interested in becoming a governor or just want to find out more about what governors do, please visit National Governors’ Association for more information.
Meet the Governing Body
Authority Governor
Mr MARK Hughes
Governor with responsibility for Health & Safety
Mr Hughes has lived in Ashford since 1994 and is married to Gemma and has 3 children. Mia is at a local secondary school, Adam and Claire both from a previous marriage. He also has grandchildren. Mark had the pleasure of being a co-opted governor for Great Chart School before but with work commitments he had to step back. He's been working in retail all his life and spent the last retail years in London as an Area Manager. As part of his natural career slow down he moved out of food retail into the car sales industry as he has a passion for cars and meeting people. He has retired in the early part of 2023 which gave him the time to be able to work alongside the team at Great Chart and fellow governors again. He enjoys keeping fit and have a gym at home. He loves travelling and looks forward to holidays with his wife and daughter. Mark also enjoys walking his dog cockapoo.
Co-opted Governors
Ms AMBER Crosby
Governor with responsibility for Finance
We are pleased to introduce Amber as a new school finance governor. Residing in Ashford with her partner and children, Amber brings a wealth of experience from a successful career in the public sector, including a strong background in school business management. Her dedication to education and commitment to the community will undoubtedly contribute to the ongoing success and growth of our school.
Mr STUART Fitch
Pupil Premium (and other targeted funding), EYFS Governor
Mr Fitch lives in Great Chart and is married to Ruth, they have 2 children. On leaving school Mr Fitch joined the RAF as a pilot. After 13 years he and his family moved to live in Africa working for Mission Aviation Fellowship. They spent 8 years living in Kenya and South Africa. They moved to Kent in 2011 and both his children were pupils at Great Chart. He still works for Mission Aviation Fellowship as the Director Flight Operations running a team that provides oversight, advice, support and training to pilots and flight operations teams in 13 countries around the world. He enjoys cycling, trail running, skiing, travelling, reading and cooking.
MR RONAK Manek
Governor with responsibility for Child Protection, Safeguarding and Looked-After Children (incl. E-Safety), member of Pay Panel
Mr Manek is married with two young children who attend Great Chart Primary. He graduated from University of Wales in 1997 with an LLB Honours and qualified as a Barrister specialising in criminal law. He is a Pupil Supervisor & Head of Advocacy as In-House counsel in the nationwide law firm, GT Stewart. He is a sports enthusiast and a keen cricketer who captained Kenton Cricket Club (Harrow) playing in the Middlesex County League winning back to back league titles. He enjoys travelling abroad and has travelled North America, South America, Australia, Africa and India. He worked for a magic circle law firm in Sydney before qualifying as a lawyer in the UK. He used to supervise an integrated summer school for many years teaching sports to children of all ages. Growing up as a teenager, he used to attend Sylvia Young Theatre School and appeared in West End theatre and television. At university, he was elected as a president of the Students Union, Asian Society.
mr pETER mutabaruka
Governor with responsibility for monitoring Maths, member of the Headteacher's Performance Management Group
Mr Mutabaruka is married with two young sons who both attended Great Chart Primary School. Upon completing his secondary school in Ashford at the Norton Knatchbull school, he moved to Leicester for further education and spent several years volunteering and working with young people in a local church. Mr Mutabaruka is lead Pastor of a church in Ashford as well as running an exports business. He plays several musical instruments and is passionate about sport. Proud to be a part of Great Chart school to support and contribute to the success of the school community.
Mr ANTHONY Parish
Governor with responsibility for Finance, Chair of Pay Panel
Mr Parish is married with two grown up children, who both attended Great Chart School. He has been involved in the school since 1993. Been a Governor at the school since 2002, initially as a LA Governor and later became a Co-opted Governor. He recently retired from the police after serving 31 years in the Metropolitan and Kent forces. Worked in several areas of policing, finishing as a Detective Inspector. He is proud to be part of Great Chart School.
Mrs BEVERLEY Walsh
Attendance and Wellbeing Governor, Chair of Headteacher Performance Management Group
Mrs Walsh has worked for Barclays Bank for over 40 years in many different roles. The last 20 years she has been the Branch Manager for Ashford and surrounding branches. She has recently retired. She has been involved with Great Chart School for many years through the Barclays Matched Fundraising and also the Moneyskills Programme whereby she and colleagues from Barclays have been actively involved in classroom activities supporting pupils. Her daughter is also a teacher at the school and Mrs Walsh is now looking forward to being involved with the school as a Governor and supporting in a much broader way.
Mrs SALLY Windle
Chair of Governing Body, member of Headteacher Performance Management Group, monitoring governor for Sustainability
Mrs Windle lives in Singleton with her husband Phil. They have a daughter who attended Great Chart. She has a background in interior design and prior to being a full time mum she worked as a kitchen designer for a showroom in West London. She is also involved in the Friends’ Association and enjoys supporting the school. Her other passions are dressmaking, health and fitness.
Parent Governors
Mr CHRISTOPHER Gibbins
Vice Chair of Governing Body, Governor with responsibility for Finance
Chris has been living in the local area since 2007, and originally from Essex. Married to Kerry, the school finance officer, they have three children who all received their educational start at Great Chart. Working in London as an executive director of service UK for a lift and escalator company, and coaching the girls team at Ashford Rugby Club, Chris hopes to bring a business and culture driven background to the support function of the governors skill set.
MISS JENNIFER KEEN
Inclusion and Training & Development Governor, Pupil Premium (and other targeted funding)
Jennifer lives in Singleton with her partner and 3 young children, the older two currently attend Great Chart Primary School. As an ex-pupil of the school she has fond memories of her time at Great Chart and believes it set her up to be a successful student at secondary. She attended Highworth Grammar School in Ashford and went on to study a BA Hons History degree at Queen Mary University of London. Jennifer completed post-graduate teacher training in Primary and Secondary education with Canterbury Christchurch University and has taught for over 10 years at a local secondary school. She hopes to bring her up to date knowledge of current education issues, reading, writing, SEN and inclusion, as well as professional knowledge of teaching and learning across the key stages to complement the skills of the existing governing body. With a vested interest, and direct experience of the value of high quality education, she hopes to ensure Great Chart pupils are given the best foundations at their primary school to become confident secondary students and beyond.
Staff Governors
Mrs PAULA High
Responsibility for Inclusion
Mrs High has been at Great Chart School since January 2000 when she started as Year 5 Teacher and ICT Manager. She came from a school in Stockton-On-Tees where she taught in Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6. Over the years she has taught throughout KS2 and was also a Senior Leader before becoming Inclusion Manager in 2008. She is currently Deputy Head with overall responsibility for Inclusion.
Mrs WENDY Pang
Headteacher
Mrs Pang has been involved with Great Chart School since 1991. She became a deputy headteacher in 2004 and progressed on to being the headteacher in 2013. She has been a staff governor since 2003.