Our Governing Body
At Bisley Church of England Primary School our Governing Body strive to create a happy and secure learning environment, under-pinned by God’s love and guidance, in which the all-round development of the individual can be fostered to make every child successful every day.
Bisley C of E Primary School has a governing body of 14 governors, consisting of a mix of:
- The Head Teacher
- Foundation governors – appointed by the Parochial Church Council and Diocese
- Parent governors – elected by the parents and carers of pupils at the school
- Local Authority governor – appointed by Surrey County Council
- Staff governor – elected by the staff themselves
- Co-opted governor – appointed by the governing body
- Associate member - appointed by the governing body and attend Full Governing Body meetings. They are not governors and therefore do not have a vote in Governing Body decisions, but may be given a vote on decisions made by committees to which they are appointed.
So what is our role?
The Governing Body is responsible for the strategic management of the school, for setting the school vision and policy framework and the school budget, but also has a strong focus on three core strategic functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
As a Voluntary Aided school we are also responsible for raising 10% towards any capital spending on our school. Our most recent project being to replace the heating within the old part of the school.
The Head Teacher, who is also a member of the Governing Body, is responsible for the day to day (operational) management of the school, is the head of paid staff and provides professional advice and support to the Governing Body.
There are 7 Full Governing Body meetings per year with each agenda drawn from the Governor Work Plan agreed at the start of the academic year. The minutes of all our meetings are available to view by appointment with the school office. As a relatively small school we have determined that the most effective method of governance is through link governors reporting back to the Full Governing Body. The only committees are the statutory ‘Head Teacher’s Performance Management Committee’ and the ‘Pay Committee’.
If you are considering becoming a School Governor and would like to find out more please do not hesitate to get on touch with us by emailing: Governors@bisley.surrey.sch.uk
Letter to parents regarding governors fund
Membership Table for Website - September 2023
Register of interests April 2023
Meet the Governing Body
Emma McCargow - Co Chair of Governors
Emma was elected as a parent governor in December 2019. She is the link governor for the STEM and humanities faculty as well as eco activities within the school. She currently has three children at Bisley C of E Primary school so is committed to the schools continued success.
With a degree in Medical Microbiology and a career of over 16 years in the Pharmaceutical industry, Emma has commanded many global, multimillion-pound major scale projects and programmes. With a lifelong interest in learning, both to improve prospects for future employment and for developing personal interests and skills; Emma was responsible for regulatory training within the Medical department of her last company for a number of years. She moved to West End in 2016 and joined the school as the Chair of the Friends of Bisley School (FOBS). This kept her busy for 3 years whilst on her career break and introduced her to the wonderful school community and gave a little insight into the inner workings of the school. So, when the opportunity to take an active role in the life of the school as a governor presented itself, she didn’t hesitate to seek election. Contributing to the running of the school is a genuine pleasure.
She is passionate about the ongoing development of all ages and believes the enjoyment of learning starts with a positive well-rounded, nurturing environment that children receive at school. She wants to use her experience, time and energy to work hard to help us to achieve this for the benefit of all the children at Bisley C of E Primary School.
Rachel Przybylski - Co Chair of Governors
Rachel is a mother of one and lives with her partner in Woking, juggling a career in Financial Services with family life. Rachel is a non-parent governor and her choice to do so was to fulfil her growing desire to understand her local community better and to contribute to the growth and development.
Rachel brings with her 18 years of experience in business, including business development, project management and regulatory strategy and governance. Rachel has experience of corporate governance as a Company Secretary and is used to holding senior management and directors accountable for their actions, supporting them in decision making.
Rachel is passionate about people seeing what is possible for them. Having completed leadership and coaching training, she wishes to contribute to the happiness and wellbeing of those she meets. In particular Rachel is passionate about how children see themselves and grow up free of limitations, seeing opportunities and having the confidence to take actions in line with what they are committed to creating.
Rachel also contributes heavily to her cycling community, championing diversity and inclusion in sport. Rachel believes physical exercise and team games are important for mental wellbeing and social development and looks forward to using all of her skills and passions to add value at Bisley.
Frances Wilde - Co Chair of Governors
Frances has five children with almost twenty years between the oldest and youngest and has lived in Bisley with her husband Jon for over ten years. She is an accountant and registered auditor and is a director of a practice specialising in charities and other non-profit organisations.
As a family, in their spare time they like to get out outdoors, woodlands, beaches and go camping. Frances likes to be learning something and is currently having music lessons. She has tried all sorts of things in the past, some with more success than others!
Frances believes that her finance skills and life experience as a parent and in general will add to her contribution as a Governor. Working with small charities has given her a very broad and inclusive outlook on life and the school strapline “Everyone Successful Everyday” definitely mirrors her own ethos.
Abi Brown
Abi commissioned into the British Army in 2001 serving as an officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, before leaving in 2010 to have a family. In 2013 Abi took on the role of Chairman of Bisley Pre-School for 4 years whilst her children attended, also becoming a Trustee on the Bisley Village Hall Committee. This period was her first exposure to the education system and the importance of parental involvement, as well as the benefits of a very strong local community. In 2016 she returned to the British Army as a Reservist.
Both her children, Eleanor and Harrison, attended the school but have now moved on to Secondary. Whilst she has volunteered to help read, accompany trips and with extra-curricular clubs, as well as her passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), she felt the need to offer more to such a thriving and positive school. She became a Parent Governor in March 2018, then served as Chair of Governors from September 2019 to September 2023. Her personal drive for the school comes from creating a safe and welcoming environment where both children and adults can flourish in all aspects of their development, her military background is undoubtedly a benefit as a representation of our forces community within our school and her local community links help support a growing school within the village.
Reverend Fiona Simon
Fiona joined the governing body of the School when she came to Bisley as Rector in November 2020. She has served previously on governing bodies in other Surrey parishes where she has lived ; New Haw and Dorking.
Fiona has 3 grown up children two of whom work as teachers and she is married to Paul , who, (after a career of 35 years in the oil industry), is just embarking on a new career as a Chemistry teacher! It seems there is no getting away from education in their family.
Before taking up the dog collar and becoming a priest, Fiona worked as a Chemical engineer on a large oil refinery. She is passionate about helping children and families make connections between the Christian faith and their everyday life and she looks forward to supporting both the spiritual and educational aims of the school through serving as a governor.
Jane Clark
Jane graduated (with Honours) in Early Childhood Education and Humanities in 1991 in Maryland USA. On her return to Surrey she decided that she would like to utilise her skills to work with people who may not have had the best start to life and subsequently joined the Prison Service.
Her first posting was to HMP Coldingley here in Bisley where she worked as a Prison Officer before specialising in the delivery of cognitive behaviour therapy workshops. She helped to set up the Youth Offending Project to divert young people away from crime and also helped to develop and implement Through the Gate services to support people transitioning from prison life into employment upon release. Her career spanned the Prison Service, the National Probation Service where she specialised in drug counselling, included a secondment to Surrey Police before she finally retired from the Ministry of Justice in 2019 as a Commissioning Manager.
Jane has served and continues to serve the local community as a volunteer in a number of roles including the delivery alternative therapies to people in need of emotional support and as a Parish Councillor.
She is thrilled to be invited to be a School Governor at Bisley as she has a keen interest to help young people get the best possible start in life.
Charlie Tanton
Charlie has lived in Bisley since 2013. He and his wife have two children; their eldest at Bisley School. They regularly attend the Messy Church service at Holy Trinity, West End.
Charlie is a secondary school teacher, mainly teaching History.
He is very excited to be a governor of his local Primary school and to support the excellent work that is being done to give the children the best possible start to their education.
George Priestley-Jones
George became staff governor in May 2021, after having been a part of the Bisley community since 2017, when he first came to the school on a teaching placement as part of his PGCE. He was delighted to return the following academic year as a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) and has since taught in upper Key Stage 2, and has very much come of age as a teacher amongst the wonderful staff and pupils at Bisley.
In school, George runs singing assemblies and, once the pandemic restrictions begin to ease, he hopes to bring back musical and dramatic performance opportunities to the pupils, including choirs and productions.
Outside of school, George sings as part of the choir of the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor Great Park, and takes part in a plethora of opera companies and societies. He looks forward to being the representative staff member; bringing a staff viewpoint and perspective to discussion and debate within the Governing Body, and is excited to learn more about school governance and the wonderful world of education.
Emma Reeves
Emma was elected parent governor in March 2022. As a parent of two children at Bisley C of E, Hayden in year 5 and Holly in reception, she has seen the school develop and support the local community and is looking forward to helping this continue and develop in this role.
Emma has worked in professional services marketing and business development for over 20 years and currently leads international marketing and business development for a global accounting firm, managing and working with diverse stakeholders across multiple disciplines. Emma has a wealth of experience in stakeholder management, business development, bids and proposals including those that are procurement led, marketing campaigns and events.
Emma is looking forward to bringing a fresh perspective on the strategic direction of the school, offering guidance on the challenges faced by the leadership team and how best to implement strategic plans, for the benefit of all current and future pupils of Bisley C of E.
TG Villiers
TG was elected as Governor in July 2022. He is a parent of one child in the school and feels passionately about the education and development of the next generation of Godly leaders in the country, and specifically in our community in Bisley.
TG has worked in professional services for over 15 years and is a Partner at one of the largest global accounting firms. In this role, he has exposure to the Boards and other governance structures of companies, leads the recruitment of staff, staff management, bids and proposals, and also actively drives the strategy of his business unit in the firm.
He furthermore is an active Christian and also leads the Children’s Ministry at his local church.
TG is looking forward to use his leadership skills and knowledge gained both inside the workplace and in his local church to support the effective running of the school whilst maintaining a strong Christian ethos.
Helen Stapleton
Helen became the local authority governor in January 2023. She is presently Head of Mathematics at a secondary school in Woking but lives with her husband just down the road in Bagshot. Her school has values which closely align with Bisley’s, in that they aim to help mould good citizens as well as aiming for academic success, and Helen hopes to share ideas between the schools.
Helen is a second career teacher (or third!) taking her PGCE in 2014-15 after a range of jobs from a TA, a PA in computer games, working for a leading ADHD charity, a nightclub manager, a film extra, a professional dancer and a Santa’s Elf in Toronto! The planning, managerial, technical and people skills she has learnt along the way have helped Helen throughout her teaching her career and she hopes to share her experience with the Bisley community.
She is very excited to be a governor and to support the excellent work already taking in place at Bisley Primary School.
