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Our School

Our Governing Body

School governors have a varied and important role, helping the school to run effectively. Some of our governors are also school staff, many are volunteers and some are parents.

The governing body has 3 core functions:

  • Planning the strategic direction of the school
  • Overseeing financial performance of the school and ensuring that money is well spent
  • Holding the headteacher and school leadership to account

See below documents for more information. If you wish to contact the Governing Body please email the Clerk, Jane Bennett, in the first instance (janeb@htpd.surrey.sch.uk). Emails will be forwarded to the relevant committee or the Chair.

Our Governors

Simon Butler

Simon Butler became Rector of Holy Trinity & St Mary's Guildford in January 2024 and his role is to keep warm and supportive links between the local church and the life of the School as well as play an active role in governance. Simon came to Guildford from Battersea and his interests include classical music, opera and foreign language films. He's learning Italian.

 

 

 

 

Deborah Pepper - Co-Chair 

Deborah has served as a governor at HTPD for many years and has recently taken on the role of Co-Chair with Helen Murray.  She worked until recently for the Education team at Guildford Diocese on school organisation and academisation issues.  Deborah is also a churchwarden in her church and loves the countryside, gardening and walking.

Catherine Finniear - Co-opted Governor

Catherine was appointed as a governor in 2019 and is part of the Learning Committee. She has recently moved to Reception after previously being a Year 5 teacher. She is also HTPD's RE leader. Catherine loves being outdoors - anything 'eco' is her thing! She's currently studying for her Master's degree, but has plenty of time to spend at National Trust properties with her husband, Sam.

catherinef@htpd.surrey.sch.uk

Helen Murray - Co-Chair

Helen has been a governor at Holy Trinity since 2005, following a career in Project Management. She takes a particular interest in staffing and admissions matters. Her two daughters look back nostalgically to their happy times at Holy Trinity, especially the assemblies!

 

Sara Waterfield - Co-Opted Governor

Sara started as a governor at Pewley in 2007 and has been an enthusiastic parent helper since then in both her children's classes. She is a practising local architect and takes an interest in all aspects of the school buildings from site masterplans to roof repairs and the design of the Pewley Ecoplay house.


 

Mark Sharman - Foundation Governor

Mark first became a governor in 2005 when his daughter Florence, the youngest of three, attended Holy Trinity. Mark served as fire officer with the London Fire Brigade before practising as a fire, health and safety consultant from his office in Guildford. As a fitness fanatic, Mark enjoys spinning, body combat and off-road biking across the Surrey Hills.

Geraldine Tame - Foundation Governor

Admissions Committee Learning Commmittee

geraldinet@htpd.surrey.sch.uk

See 'Our People' page for information and duties.

 

 

Tim Burgess - Foundation Governor

Tim was appointed in 2016. He has a long connection with Holy Trinity having attended the school as a pupil, served as Deputy for 14 years and also sent his four children here. Tim has been in education all his career and is currently Senior Lecturer in Teacher Development at Winchester University.

 

Femke Perry - Foundation Governor

Femke has three children, who all absolutely loved their time at HTPD. Femke is a management consultant and university lecturer, specialising in Design Thinking. She started as a governor in 2014 and focuses mainly on learning and EAL (English as an Additional Language).


 

Vanessa Taylor - Foundation Governor

Vanessa's 3 daughters all attended HTPD over a period of 12 years. She has been involved with the PTAs, as Treasurer of FOPS and Assistant Treasurer of HTSC. She worked for many years for large firms of chartered accountants as a tax adviser and later as finance manager at a secondary school in Guildford. She now works as a tax manager for a German multinational company. She is particularly interested in the areas covered by the Finance and Admissions Committees.

Paul Okesola - Foundation Governor

Paul was appointed a governor in 2019. He has three sons with the eldest two currently thriving at HTPD. Paul works in Investment Management with a long background and expertise in Technology. He is a member of the Finance and Premises Committee and hopes to be able to make a valuable contribution

 

David Harris - Parent Governor

David has had two children at HT. He has spent over 20 years working in the area of sustainability and climate change with companies and investors and is passionate about this work. He currently works for London Stock Exchange Group. David also enjoys foraging for wild foods and brewing his own beer.

 

 

Sam Ludlow Taylor - Parent Governor

Sam started her journey as a school governor in 2020 and currently has two children at Pewley. She is passionate about people and in her day job, is a Senior Manager for Human Rights Programmes within a large retailer. Sam loves to travel and is a keen runner, both of which she is more (or less) successfully trying to pass on to her children.
 

John Saunders - Co-opted Governor

John joined as a governor in March 2023, having lived nearby to the school sites for over 15 years. He and his wife have 2 children now away at University, with an attention seeking Cockapoo still at home. John's career started in the legal profession before moving into banking and wealth management, and was most recently involved in starting up a new UK bank. John is looking forward to working as part of the governing body, and with the school leadership team, in the pursuit of the school's Vision and in accordance with its Values