Welcome to our Governors’ section

Governor Profiles

Chris Gittins

It is a great privilege to chair our talented and caring governing body whose members share an exceptionally wide and relevant range of experiences to the benefit of our school.

It is also a privilege to have the continued opportunity to admire and encourage our dedicated staff while helping sustain our Englefield school community in making a successful contribution to the growth and development of our children and to education in West Berkshire and the Oxford diocese.

My relationship with the school began when our two children so successfully built their education careers on the foundation that Englefield provided. That relationship continued during my time as Headteacher at Theale Green Community School while living close-by with my primary teacher wife Hilary and children as members of the Englefield community.

Having been the government’s lead education adviser on inclusion in schools, I am enormously proud of the way everyone in our school community work together to create a family atmosphere of care and value for every child as individuals – a model which I know from experience is the foundation for successful learning and individual growth for every child.

For the last 18 years I have worked internationally for UNICEF, UNHCR and the European Commission providing training programmes for schools on the care and inclusion of disadvantaged children and most recently for refugee and migrant children. So, it is really pleasing to see how well our two refugee families have been welcomed and fully included in our Englefield school community – a specific illustration of of one of our school’s great strengths.

Harriet Harley

I am the parent of two former pupils at the school, and a member of St Mark's Englefield congregation. I work part time as an architect and love drawing! I am link governor for maths in the school, and really enjoy the involvement with the school community.

Rev Julia Myles

Hello! I am the Rector of St Mark’s (which is a Vicar with a different title!). I took up my post in September 2022. Paul and I have moved to Englefield from the Isle of Wight where my previous job was Chaplain at the Mountbatten Hospice. Prior to that I was the Priest-in-Charge of 4 churches in Winchester Diocese and I was a curate in St Michael's, Alnwick in Northumberland.

In my earlier career I was a Dance lecturer at Birmingham University, an arts worker in community and education, a youth worker and a Primary teacher … many years ago!

I love getting to know the children at Englefield Primary and they really are unique in the way they engage with life’s big questions. I come in for story and contemplative practices and Collective Worship each week. I also love attending trips and I got to teach some dance of other cultures in RE week !

Zoe Benyon

I am the mother and stepmother of lots of boys who went to this school.  I live in Englefield and am keen to see the school thrive alongside the community.  I’m a trustee of Ufton Court, the Englefield Charitable Trust and the Greenham Trust and I work in London three days a week as a jeweller.

Our Governing Body

We have a full and proactive governing body, many of whom are either parents or past parents of children at our school.  We hold five full governing body meetings a year and consist of 12 members made up from the following groups:

2 elected Parent Governors

1 Local Authority

1 Headteacher

1 elected Staff Governor

7 Foundation Governors:

• 2 appointed by St Marks Englefield Parochial Church Council

As a governing body we are not expected to be professional educators – we set the strategic direction of the school and ensure there is sufficient accountability – we act as a ‘critical friend’ for our Head teacher and her staff and provide them with constructive challenge.

As a Voluntary Aided school our governing body has specific responsibilities such as being the employers at the school and we set our own Admissions Policy.  Our governors also have specific responsibilities for curriculum areas, a list of subject coordinators and link governors can be found below.   

We operate on a committee basis in which all governors participate.  Briefly these are as follows:

Foundation Governors (promote the Christian ethos within the school, monitor the effectiveness of Collective Worship and Religious Education and maintain the links with our three local churches)

Admissions Committee (reviewing admissions arrangements, administering the admissions process and admissions appeals)

Finance, Buildings & Staffing Committee (monitoring income and expenditure and forecast projections, advises on building and staffing issues and reviewing the staffing structure of the school)

Pay Committee (to apply the criteria set by the whole school pay policy in determining the pay of each member of staff at the annual review)

Development Committee (supporting the delivery and monitoring the achievement of the School Development Plan)

For a who’s who please see the attached list of members and their committees/responsibilities. 

If you would be interested in becoming a governor at our school please do come and talk to our Headteacher or our School Business Manager.

Diversity Statement 

The governors believe it is important that boards reflect the diversity of the school communities they serve. Diverse boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people.

The governors are currently collecting data on the diversity of the board, including data on age, gender, and ethnicity. They will use that data to inform their recruitment and training needs and ensure there is always a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision making.

Due to our relatively small governing board, we will not publish this diversity data online as individual governors could be identified and we have a legal obligation to protect their personal data

Governor Meetings