Governors

Chair:	Emma Watson (Co-opted Governor)
Vice Chairs:	Tracey Arthey (Parent Governor) Jennifer Warren (Co-opted Governor)
Governors:	Gareth Bracken (Parent Governor) Christine Dutton (Parent Governor) Graham Nickson (Local Authority Governor) Charlotte Christman (Staff Governor) Jeremy Fisher (Head Teacher)
Associate members*:	Hannah Cracknell - Deputy Head Teacher Charley Tilbury - School Business Manager

*Associate members do not have voting rights.

Vacancies - two Co-opted Governors and one Parent Governor. If you are interested in becoming a school governor at Hollybush, please get in touch with the chair, watson@hollybush.herts.sch.uk.

Hollybush Governing Board has three core 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
overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

Governors work with the Head Teacher and Senior Leadership Team to drive the strategic development of the school and raise standards of achievement. Governors are there to provide oversight and accountability - they don't get involved in the day-to-day management of the school.

Governors are elected for 4 years. The dates when each governor was elected and when they are due for re-election are recorded on Get Information About Schools.

About our Governing Board

The constitution of Hollybush Governing Board is called the 'Instrument of Governance' and describes the number of governors on the Full Governing Board and what type of governors.

Hollybush Instrument of Governance.pdf

The governing board has meetings which all Governors attend which are called 'Full Governing Board (FGB) meetings'. There are also smaller committee meetings which focus on the Quality of Education (QoE) and Finance & Premises (F&P). Some Governors have additional roles in connection with Safeguarding, Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Data Protection. The details of our sub-committee chairs and link governor responsibilities are listed below.

Governor	Sub-committee membership	Link Governor responsibilities
Tracey Arthey	Quality of Education	Pupil Premium; Attendance
Gareth Bracken	Quality of Education (Chair)	(Previously) Looked-After Children
Charlotte Christman	Quality of Education
Christine Dutton	Finance & Premises (Chair)	Health & Safety
Graham Nickson	Finance & Premises	SEN
Jennifer Warren	Finance & Premises	Safeguarding
Emma Watson	Finance & Premises; Quality of Education	Data Protection; Curriculum Outcomes

Each year, governors complete 'Declarations of Interest', which are designed to identify any potential conflicts of interest that may arise so they can be managed appropriately.

Governors are required to attend meetings regularly. Attendance records for Full Governing Board (FGB) meetings, Quality of Education (QoE) and Finance & Premises (F&P) Sub-committees can be found below. Minutes of Full Governing Board meetings are available from the school office, on request.

Governor Attendance 2025 - 2026.pdf

Contact

If you have any questions about governance at Hollybush, please email the Chair of Governors. Emma Watson: watson@hollybush.herts.sch.uk

Governor biographies

Tracey Arthey

Tracey has lived in Hertford for 14 years, having grown up in Chingford, London. She has two children at Hollybush.

Tracey works in the NHS as a manager within a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team. She has worked in her current role for 4 years, but has worked in CAMHS for 17 years in total. She is passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of children and the adults who support them.

Gareth Bracken

Gareth moved to Hertford in 2019 from Tonbridge in Kent, having grown up in East London.

Gareth worked as a journalist for nearly 13 years, writing and editing for consumer, business-to-business and charity magazines and websites. He currently works for the NHS, creating online learning and awareness-raising resources for patients, professionals and the public. This includes supporting patients to share their stories in different ways.

Christine Dutton

Both Christine’s children attended Hollybush Primary School. She works for the Hertfordshire Constabulary as their Compliance Manager, with responsibility for ensuring that the Constabulary meet their statutory obligations in all of their buildings (in excess of 40 sites across the county). She also manages a health and safety inspection team. Previous employment includes working for 3 years in a private university in Greenwich as the Compliance and Health and Safety Manager, and working for the Crown Prosecution Service in London for 12 years.

Christine has lived in Hertford since 2009, previously living in London, Liverpool, and Cheltenham. She is originally from North Shropshire.

Graham Nickson

Graham and his family moved to Hertford 25 years ago. Graham and his partner have two children who both attended Hollybush School before moving on to Sele School.

Graham works as an Administrator within the SEND Team at Hertfordshire County Council. He was elected to Hertford Town Council as a Labour Councillor in May 2023 to represent Sele Ward on the council.

Jennifer Warren

Jennifer has lived in Hertford since August 2022, having grown up in Southend-on-Sea and lived in Cambridge, London and various parts of Essex for both study and work.

Initially graduating with a degree in Business Management, Jennifer worked in London for a number of years before qualifying as a primary teacher in 2010 after completing her PGCE at the University of Cambridge. She had a very successful teaching career ending in the summer of 2023 when she left the classroom in order to start her own tuition business: Learn With Jen.

Emma Watson

Emma grew up in Hertfordshire and after living in London for just over 11 years, now lives in Welwyn Garden City.

Emma has worked in edcuation research and science engagement since studying Physics at university. While living in London, they took up a role as a school governor at a local primary school. After 4 years, and moving 20 miles away, Emma stepped down as a governor to take up a role at Hollybush. They are excited to get to know the school and offer support as the Chair of Governors.