Local Governing Body

Letter from the Co-Chairs of Governors

co-chairs

We are the Co-Chairs of the Governing body. Claire was previously the Chair of Governors and this new job-share brings even greater capacity to the leadership of the school.

For many years our school has provided a rich, creative curriculum, with excellent teaching supporting outstanding academic results. We want to carry on doing this, not only at our physically-enlarged school but also by continuing to work with other Southwark schools. We also want to become a leader in pastoral support for our children, bringing in the very latest expert thinking on mental health and on how to create a happy learning environment. And above everything, we value our diverse school community and the way parents and teachers work together to create caring and responsible global citizens.

If you would like to contact us, please email the school office or leave a note at school marked ‘for the attention of the Chair of Governors’.

Claire Maugham and Rebecca Kaloo

Local Governing Body

Who are our governors?

Each school in The Charter Schools Educational Trust has a local governing body (LGB) composed of a group of volunteers drawn from the community, each bringing a range of skills, expertise and professional experience. Our Governors provide essential links between the school, parents/carers, the local community and the Trust Board, which is ultimately responsible to the Department of Education for the performance of all its schools.

More information about The Charter Schools Educational Trust can be found by following the link to the right or visiting tcset.org.uk

Local governors work with staff and parents to provide the best possible framework for educating our students. They are involved in all aspects of school life and meet regularly with the school’s leadership teams.

Governors fulfil their responsibilities by:

Holding the school’s leaders to account for the educational and financial performance of the school. Governors create robust accountability for the schools leadership team through rigorous analysis of performance data and financial information.
Setting the school’s vision and the strategy for achieving this vision. The school’s vision centres on pupil progress and achievement. Working with senior leaders, the governors agree key priorities and key performance indicators against which progress towards achieving the vision can be measured.
Ensure the school’s financial success and probity. The governing board must ensure that the budget that the school receives is managed effectively, and with regard to value for money.

Governors are appointed by the Trustees except for parent governors, who are elected by parents and carers, and staff governors, who are elected by all school staff.

Claire Maugham

Appointed Governor (Co-Chair)

Start date: 1st July 2020

End date: 10th December 2023

Claire is Co-Chair of Governors and has been on the governing body since 2012. She works in corporate affairs for a major UK employer, and has senior experience in the charity sector and the civil service. She has three children, two of whom currently attend Charles Dickens.

Rebecca Kaloo

Appointed Governor (Co-Chair)

Start date: 1st July 2020

End date: 22nd November 2021

Rebecca is a learning and development specialist with a focus on designing and delivering business and finance learning solutions. Having qualified as a chartered accountant, she has spent the last 18 years working with multinationals to develop organisational and individual skills to improve business performance.

Rebecca has been a Charles Dickens parent for many years and an active member of both the PTA and Parent Forum. She is keen to support the school as it expands to include more local children.

Cassie Buchanan

Ex-offico (Executive Headteacher)

Start date: 1st July 2020

Cassie joined Charles Dickens Primary School in 2007 and is the Headteacher.

Cassie has led the school to ensure that outstanding levels of learning are achieved each year for all pupils. Cassie is responsible for whole school improvement and the performance management of all teachers. Cassie is married with three children.

Linda Taylor

Elected Staff Governor

Start date: 1st July 2020

End date: 27th February 2022

Linda has been a Staff Support Governor for 5 years with commitments to health and safety within the school.

Linda has been a member of staff at Charles Dickens Primary School since 1998. She is currently a higher level teaching assistant. She became the Staff Support Union Rep in 2006 and enjoys supporting the support staff at the school. She felt it would be a positive and challenging experience to become a part of the Governing Body at Charles Dickens Primary School. This has proved to be correct and she is enjoying supporting the school in its continuation to move forward.

Matthew Harris

Appointed Governor

Start date: 1st July 2020

End date: 7th December 2022

Matthew was invited to join the Governing Body in 2012 as he brings a wealth of legal expertise. Matthew is a solicitor at Waterfront Solicitors ( a local firm) where he specialises in Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution.

Jemima Rhys-Evans

LGB Adviser

Start date: 1st July 2020

Head of Primary Curriculum and Standards for The Charter Schools Educational Trustl, Director of the Charles Dickens Research School.

Michael Eggleton

(LGB Adviser)

Start date: 1st July 2020

Head of School, Michael is responsible for the day to day running of the school.

Simon Gleadhill

Appointed Governor

Start date: 1st July 2020
End date: 22nd November 2021

I’ve lived in the area for over 15 years and I’m proud to be a parent at the school. I can see the great work that’s being done here, and I hope I can contribute to that by using my finance and accountancy skills.

Ran Holst

Elected Parent Governor

Start date: 14th July 2017

End date: 13th July 2021

Ran joined the Governor Body in July 2017 as a parent governor, having previously been an associate member. She is an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for over 20 years. As a parent of two children at the school, she is exceptionally grateful for our diverse and brilliant school, its powerful ethos and everything it achieves for its children and the wider community.

She is a trustee for the newly launched ‘Children Book Project’ that redistributes books to children. At school, she spent time every week in year 2016/17 as a reader helper. She is an active PTA member.

For 18 years Ran worked as Executive Producer and Head of Commercial Film Production. The role demanded significant communication, budgeting, flexibility and project management. She plans to use her skills to help the committees that she is attached to as well as further the work of the Governor Body.

She is a big supporter of the important RULER work that has been implemented throughout the school. She aims to promote and support this work and further a shared language and openness about how to handle and understand feelings.

Daniel Efunnuga

Appointed Governor

Start date: 1st July 2020

End date: 27th February 2021

I’m pleased to be able to contribute as a parent governor within Charles Dickens where the children benefit from a vibrant academic and social experience. I will bring my experience within Further Education and the Awarding Body sectors. Given today’s pace of change within the Department for Education, I hope to be able to offer the operational support that will help the school to thrive through this rapid change.

Paola Wilson

Parent Governor

Start date: 3 December 2019

End date: 3 December 2023

Paola Wilson campaigned for the successful opening of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Borough Academy. From 1995 to 2010 she worked as a barrister, specialising principally in criminal and human rights public law. She liaises on a voluntary basis with parents and carers on local issues pertaining to community and youth projects.

She has a son at Charles Dickens.

The following governors have been in post in the last 12 months.

Shulamit Ambalu (Parent Governor) – 12/02/2015 – 11/02/2019
Miaomiao Yu (Parent Governor) – 14/12/2016 -
Laura Johnson – Vice Chair. 11/12/15-20/7/19
Ashe Misra – Partnership Governor – 11/03/19 – 26/03/20
Emma Gleadhill (Appointed Governor) – 1st July 2020 – July 2020
Amir Eden (Local Authority Governor) – 11th March 2019 – July 2020

What do the Governors do?

The governors have a strategic role supporting and challenging the headteacher. Governors work as a team, in the best interests of the children and the school, to raise educational standards. More specifically, they:

Appoint the headteacher, who has day to day responsibility for everything that happens in a school and is accountable to them
Agree how the school’s money is allocated
Agree policies about the way the governing body and the school work
Ensure new initiatives and guidelines from the Department for Education and the education authority are put in place

The full governing body usually meets at least once a term in addition to meeting in smaller committees. Most of the governors’ work is done in committee meetings when financial, staffing, curriculum and premises issues are discussed in detail. These committees meet at least twice a term and more when there are pressing issues such as building works.

Minutes of Governors’ Meeteings

Governing Body Papers

Governors Code of Conduct

Instrument of Government

Governor’s Meeting Minutes