Sherston C of E
Primary School
Learning, Caring and Achieving Together
Welcome to our School
Friendship
Courage
Curiosity
Respect
Kindness
Ambition
Celebrating Achievement
"Teachers have the expert subject knowledge to challenge and extend pupils’ thinking" Ofsted 2021
"Leaders place the value of friendship and kindness at the heart of their work" Ofsted 2021
"Leaders inspire pupils to grow into responsible citizens" Ofsted 2021
"Pupils enjoy carefully planned opportunities to broaden their knowledge and appreciation of the wider world" Ofsted 2021
"Relationships between staff and pupils are based on mutual respect" Ofsted 2021
"Pupils are unanimous in their view that this is a happy and safe place to learn" Ofsted 2021
"Leaders and staff are ambitious for all pupils" Ofsted 2021
"Pupils with SEND thrive in a supportive environment" Ofsted 2021
Meet the Governors
THE GOVERNING BOARD All members of the Governing board can be contacted via the School Office | |||
| STAFF GOVERNORS | |||
 | Tommy Towers Head Teacher Ex-officio by virtue of office as Headteacher/Principal Member of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee and Finance & Premises Committee
01/09/23 ex officio | ||
| Anna Glassborow Staff Governor Appointed by GB/board School Admin Officer Member of Finance & Premises Committee Link Governor for Equalities, Communications & Community
01/09/24-01/09/26 | ||
| NON STAFF GOVERNORS | |||
Dominic Koole Chair of Governors Co-opted Governor Appointed by GB/board Member of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee Link Governor for Whistleblowing, Academisation | 23/05/25-22/05/27 24/05/23-23/05/25 | ||
 | I moved to Sherston with my family in 2021, having previously grown up in Gloucestershire, and love living in a thriving village. I joined the governing body to support the school and village to continue to thrive, giving the best possible experiences to local children. I have always passionately believed that a great education can transform lives and set young people up to succeed, whatever their starting point. I started my career working in the Department for Education, working on teacher training policy, among other areas. I then spent a number of years working at United Learning, one of the largest and most successful academy sponsors in the country. This gave me the opportunity to work very closely with many schools around the country, at different stages of their growth and development. I am now Head of Operations at Jamie’s Farm, a charity that works with vulnerable young people who are at risk of social or academic exclusion. I have the pleasure of working across a wide range of the charity’s business and meeting hundreds of wonderful young people in the process. | ||
Ben Warnes Parent Governor Member of Finance & Premises Committee Link Governor for H&S | 21/07/23-20/07/27 | ||
| I moved to Sherston in 2021 along with my wife and two boys, the eldest of which is just completing reception year at the school. Being at the beginning of the ‘school’ journey and with a long term plan to stay in Sherston it feels an ideal time to both get more involved in the community but crucially the school which with my boys ages I have a strong interest in. I am a qualified chartered engineer, and having traded large scale particle physics experiments for consumer products - initially in technology development but more recently in more strategic roles, I feel I have a broad range of skills I can draw on that would be of value to the role of parent governor. From strong interpersonal skills, facilitation of strategic working groups to managing ambitious stakeholders. Through these experiences and skills I feel I can make a valuable contribution to the Sherston Primary school governor team. | ||
Neil Carpenter Co-opted Governor Appointed by GB/board Member of Finance & Premises Committee Link Governor for Parent Forum, Attendance, Governor Training & Development | 05/02/25-04/02/27
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 | I am delighted to be serving as a governor once more at Sherston Primary School. I have a long association with the school, firstly as a parent and subsequently as a parent governor, clerk to the governing body and supporting in the school office and classroom. My previous day job was as a headteacher both locally and in London. My wide and varied experiences will help me in this important role – giving our children the best start in life through learning, caring and achieving together. | ||
Nicola Atwell Local Authority Governor Co-Chair of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee Link Governor for Curriculum (humanity subjects), Safeguarding | 11/07/23-10/07/27 | ||
 | Having bought our first home in Sherston in 2009 and being brought up in Hawkesbury Upton, I am proud to be a local! After studying Music and Arts at The BRIT School in London and working for the BBC Classical Television Department, I ventured into teaching where I have led the music departments at both Colston's Independant and Westonbirt School. I am currently still teaching at Westonbirt where I run the Westonbirt Community Choir and outreach projects with local feeder schools. As a passionate champion of the arts, I am excited to join the Governing Body at Sherston School where I feel I can bring my experience in education, teacher training and creative arts to help support the school, staff and pupils in its continuation as a thriving village school. | ||
Mike Ward Parent Governor Chair of Finance & Premises Committee | 10/10/22-09/10/26 | ||
 | I am a qualified accountant and a Partner within a local firm of accountants. I have over 20 years experience in accounting and finance. I hope to use the experience i have gained to benefit the finance function of the school. I am local to Sherston having lived in the village most of my life so I am very passionate about ensuring the community continues to thrive. I have young children of my own who already or will attend the school so i certainly have a vested interest in the success of the school. | ||
Alex St John Wright Co-opted Governor Appointed by GB/board Co-Chair of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee Link Governor for Curriculum (core subjects) | 28/03/25-27/03/27 29/03/23-28/03/25 | ||
 | We moved from Bristol to Luckington in late 2021 and both my children started at Sherston immediately, in Year 1 and Year 3. They have settled so quickly into this lovely school. However, as a primary school teacher near Stroud, I don’t often get the chance to attend school events or be around in normal school time, so it was a great opportunity to be able to join the governing body and be a part of the wider school community. I have been a Year 5/6 teacher for 13 years, as well as being a staff governor at my school in the past. My specialism is in writing and I have been a moderator for the county for KS2 assessments and am currently undertaking an NPQ in Leading Literacy. Outside of school, I enjoy playing guitar, board games and the odd game of football when the creaking knees permit. I look forward to helping the school move forward as a governor. | ||
Heather Martin Foundation Governor Member of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee Link Governor for EYFS, Foundation & Ethos, SIAMS | 04/12/24-02/12/28 | ||
 | On the Board of Governors I represent Sherston Church of the Holy Cross. My aim is to continue to develop a good relationship between the school and the church. I trained as an Art teacher and have worked at Secondary and Tertiary levels, also as an Artist in Residence in several Primary and Secondary Schools, including Arts Council funded projects. My own specialism is in textiles, which I practice and exhibit. We came to Sherston over 40 years ago, our sons grew up here and attended Sherston and Malmesbury Schools. We love the friendly and vibrant community here and have contributed in many ways over the years. For over 20 years I ran Sherston Young Craft Group for 9 to 12 year olds. I belong to the Village Hall committee and am chair of Sherston Arts Festival, which brings high quality arts events to the village. | ||
Camille Sowersby Co-opted Governor Appointed by GB/board Member of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee Link Governor for Safeguarding, Wellbeing, SEND-Pupil Premium-LAC
| Co-opted Governor 17/09/25-16/09/27
Associate Member 18/09/24-17/09/26 | ||
 | As a relatively new arrival in Sherston, my husband and I have been so impressed by the village and we were keen to get involved to support the place we’ve come to love. Our daughter is only 5 months old, but I so want her to attend Sherston primary when she’s ready and I’d really like to offer my services to try to help the school in the meantime.
As a solicitor and manager of a very keen legal team within a charity, I hope I have some skills to offer. I have dedicated my career to helping disadvantaged members of society obtain legal representation and through that I have always worked closely with public bodies. I am also a safeguarding specialist (although focusing on adults with additional needs, rather than children), which I hope may be useful. | ||
| ASSOCIATE GOVERNORS | |||
Martin Smith Associate Member Appointed by GB/board Member of Finance & Premises Committee Link Governor for Sustainability | Associate Member: 05/02/25-04/02/27
Co-opted Governor: 29/01/24 - 05/02/25 30/01/20-29/01/24 | ||
 | I have lived in Sherston for over 30 years and my 3 children attended both Sherston and Malmesbury Schools. I can bring some experience to the Governor role, as I was initially a governor at Sherston from 1996 to 2003 as Vice-Chair for much of the period, involved in plans for school extensions and then in the new building, which we enjoy today. I then became a governor at Malmesbury School from 2003 to 2015 with periods of being Vice-Chair and Chairman of the Curriculum Committee. I was on the panel that appointed a very successful headteacher, who achieved an outstanding OFSTED inspection for Malmesbury. I’m very community minded as I’m on Sherston Parish Council, I’m secretary of Sustainable Sherston and on the steering committee of Malmesbury Climate Action Network. I’m also Chair of Members of the Athelstan Trust, which is the top tier of the trust governance structure. In May 2021, I was elected as the Wiltshire Councillor for the Sherston Division. With all the above commitments, it's just as well that I have retired from my 40 year career in IT, as a Senior Project Manager in software development and can now spend much of my time working for the community of Sherston. | ||
Ben Parkyn Associate Member Appointed by GB/board Member of Finance & Premises Committee Link Governor for Sports Premium, Communications & Community, GDPR, Website & Online Safety, Technology & AI | 18/09/24-17/09/28 | ||
| I have a child currently at the school with another likely to join him in the coming years and I would very much like to ensure a valuable early education for them and the other children of the village. I currently work as a business analyst where there is always the need to understand the environment in order to suggest and implement improvements. I believe these skills will be transferable to help challenge the school to ensure it has a clear strategy with related goals, as well as help ensure there is a coherent set of actions to help the school achieve its strategic aims. On a personal level, a large part of my life has been dedicated to children’s basketball coaching. Everything from introductory sessions for primary school children through to coaching at a regional level. | ||
| GOVERNING BODY SUB – COMMITTEES (2025/26) | |
| Finance Premises | Teaching, Learning & Staffing |
Mike Ward (Chair) Tommy Towers (HT) Corrina Darker (SBM) Anna Glassborow Neil Carpenter Ben Warnes Ben Parkyn Martin Smith
| Alex St John Wright (Co-Chair) Nicola Atwell (Co-Chair) Tommy Towers (HT) Dominic Koole Heather Martin Camille Sowersby
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| LINK GOVERNOR ROLES (2025/26) | |
| Health & Safety | Ben Warnes |
| Safeguarding | Camille Sowersby |
| Wellbeing | Camille Sowersby |
| Whistleblowing | Dominic Koole |
| SEND, Pupil Premium, LAC | Camille Sowersby |
| EYFS | Heather Martin |
| Curriculum | Nicola Atwell (humanities) Alex St John Wright (core) |
| Sports Premium | Ben Parkyn |
| Communications & Community | Ben Parkyn/Anna Glassborow |
| GDPR | Ben Parkyn |
| Website - filtering and monitoring & online safety | Ben Parkyn |
| Equalities Monitoring | Anna Glassborow |
| Foundation and Ethos | Ben Parkyn |
| Sustainability | Martin Smith |
| SIAMS | Heather Martin |
| Parent Forum | Neil Carpenter |
| Academisation | Dominic Koole |
| Attendance | Neil Carpenter |
| Governor Training & Development | Neil Carpenter |
| Technology/ AI | Ben Parkyn |
PAST GOVERNORS (in post for some or all of the Academic year 2024/25) | ||
| Name | Status at School | Term of Office |
| Belinda Robinson | Chair of Governors/ Co-opted Governor | Co-opted Governor 24/05/24-24/07/25 25/05/22-24/5/24
Parent Governor 14/11/18-25/05/22 |
| Martin Smith | Co-opted Governor | Move to Associate Member role 5/2/25
Co-opted Governor 30/01/20-05/02/25 |
PAST GOVERNORS (in post for some or all of the Academic year 2023/24) | ||
Name | Status at School | Term of Office |
| Linda Shepherd | Staff Governor | 01/09/22-01/09/24 |
| Becky Fisher | Foundation Governor | 19/01/21-01/09/24 |
| Rev Adam Beaumont | Foundation Governor - Ex Oficio | 02/12/24-30/11/23 |