THE GOVERNING BOARD

All members of the Governing board can be contacted via the School Office

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

Dominic Koole

Chair of Governors

Co-opted Governor Appointed by GB/board

Member of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee 

Link Governor for Whistleblowing, Academisation

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.

Camille Sowersby

Vice Chair of Governors

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.

Ben Warnes

Parent Governor

Member of Finance & Premises Committee

Link Governor for H&S

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

Chair of Finance and Premises Committee

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

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. 

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

Heather Martin

Foundation Governor

Member of Teaching, Learning & Staffing Committee 

Link Governor for EYFS, Foundation & Ethos, SIAMS

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.

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. 

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

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. 

Tommy Towers (HT)

Corrina Darker (SBM)

Neil Carpenter (Chair)

Anna Glassborow

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

Nicola Atwell (humanities)

Alex St John Wright (core)

PAST GOVERNORS

(In post for some or all of the academic year 2025/26)

Chair of Finance & Premises Committee/ Parent Governor

PAST GOVERNORS 

(in post for some or all of the Academic year 2024/25)

Co-opted Governor

24/05/24-24/07/25

25/05/22-24/5/24

Parent Governor

14/11/18-25/05/22

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

01/09/22-01/09/24