Lavant Governing Board

  • Mr Chris Hawker

    Co-Opted Governor

    Chris has over 20 years of governor experience as well as an established career in IT. He sits on the governing body of a few other local schools including those in academies, which gives us a good insight into what others do. He is also co-chair of West Sussex Governor Association, which looks to support and represent Governing Bodies across the county. Chris brings a wealth of knowledge on our statutory and compliance obligations.

    Roles: Chair of Governors, Chair of Staff and Finance Committee, Lead Governor for Health and Safety, Lead Governor for Safeguarding.

    Committee Membership: Teaching and Learning, Staff and Finance.

  • Mrs Ann Smith

    Parent Governor

    Ann has been involved in school life at Lavant for many years, as a parent, grandparent, pianist and more recently a Governor for 5 years. She is a qualified teacher with experience in both primary and secondary education, specialising in music. Ann is particularly interested in championing SEND and disadvantaged children. More recently she has become a Trustee of Bishop Luffa Learning Partnership and aims to ensure that pupils attending schools within the partnership have the best education possible to enable them all to have a positive outlook for the future.

    Roles: Vice Chair of Governors, Lead Governors for SEND, PP and Disadvantaged children EYFS, Trustee BLLP

    Committee Membership: Teaching and Learning, Staff and Finance

  • Ms Caroline Rickard

    Co-Opted Governor

    Caroline is a qualified teacher with a passion for maths. As well as tutoring, Caroline spends lots of her time mentoring and assessing trainee teachers. She brings with her many years of governor experience and has a strong focus on ensuring pupils’ progress and professional development of school staff. Caroline is also our representative Governor on recruitment panels to ensure we find the very best staff!

    Roles: Chair of Teaching and Learning Committee, Curriculum, Recruitment, Pupil Progress

    Committee Membership: Teaching and Learning

  • Ms Sally Steel

    Parent Governor

    Sally is certainly passionate about improving the outcomes of children at Lavant CE Primary. Her background is in Business Analytics, so she has a critical eye for the data and is always asking plenty of challenging questions to the leadership team. She’s keen to listen to what children have to have a better understand challenges they face. Sally is also lead governor for Fire Safety so is regularly surprising staff & pupils with fire drills.

    Roles: Chair of Premises, Health and Safety Committee, Policy Reviews, Fire Safety Drills

    Committee Membership: Staff and Finance, Premises, Health and Safety

  • Mr David Peart

    Parent Governor

    With three children in Lavant, he’s not short on being given plenty of advice on how to improve school! Using this first-hand experience, he’s able to consider the impact of our decisions across the wider school community. David’s corporate business background is a great asset to the governing body as we continue to strengthen our strategic vision. Since joining as a Governor, David has also been analysing our existing contracts and spend, as well as championing safer routes to school.

    Roles: Website Compliance

    Committee Membership: Premises, Health and Safety

  • Mrs Claire Spencer

    Teacher Governor

    Claire has been part of school life for many years both as a parent, and a teacher in Robin Class. Clare brings an unwavering passion for excellent teaching to our discussions as a Governing Body. As we look strategically to improve school, Claire continues to champion pupil outcomes and ensure our decisions have consideration for staff well-being.

  • Mrs Lorraine Whittaker

    Parent Governor

    Coming soon...

  • Rev Martha Weatherill

    Foundation Governor

    Incumbent of Parish Church Martha is Rector at Lavant Churches and plays a vital role strengthening our relationship with the Diocese of Chichester as well as the local parish churches. Her community links ensure we think strategically about the future of the school and its importance of serving the local community. Martha and her team are frequent visitors to school, supporting our church assemblies.

    Role: Faith and Worship, RE Curriculum

  • Rev Michael Semple

    Foundation Governor

    We are currently in the progress of recruiting a new Governor, Michael Semple. As Foundation Governor, Michael, who is a retired minister, will look to ensure that Lavant CE Primary maintains its distinctive Christian ethos. He will also take the lead on ensuring pupils receive a robust religious education and have regular opportunities to participate in collective worship. Michael comes with a formidable background in teaching as well as being a retired Ofsted Inspector.

    Roles: Faith and Worship, RE Curriculum

  • Mrs Carol Skeens

    Clerk to the Governing Body

    As well as a valuable Teaching Assistant at Lavant CE Primary, Carol is also Clerk to the Governing Body.

    Carol’s role is to provide the Governing Body with professional advice on governance, constitutional and procedural matters. She is also meticulous at recording everything we say in meetings (and it’s a lot), as well as ensuring all our documentation and correspondence are up to date and distributed. We couldn’t do without her!

  • Mr Dan Taylor

    Observer

    Whilst not a member of the Governing Body, Dan attends our meetings as an observer and provides us with lots of detail on what the senior leadership team are busy improving in school.