Governors
Governors
Chair: David Craddock, Parent Governor
Tracey Arthey, Parent Governor
Lucy Ashcroft, Co-opted governor
Jennifer Bromley, Co-opted Governor (Vice Chair)
Charlotte Christman, Staff Governor
Christine Dutton, Parent Governor
Kate Fryer, Co-opted Governor
Graham Nickson, Local Authority Governor
Valerie Noon, Head
Hollybush Governing Board has three core functions:
1. ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
2. holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
3. overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
Governors work with the headteacher 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.
The constitution of Hollybush Governing Board is called the 'Instrument of Governance' and describes the number of governors on the Full Governing Board and their roles.
Governors are elected for 4 years. The dates when each governor was elected and when they are due for re-election are recorded in the document titled 'Governor Terms of Office'
Constitution of the Governing Body
The governing board has meetings which all governors attend which are called 'Full Governing Boards'. There are also smaller committees meetings which focus on the Quality of Education and Finance. Some Governors have additional roles in connection with safeguarding, Special Educational Needs and Data Protection (known as the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR). This structure is described in the document titled 'Structure, responsibilities and committees'.
Structure of the Governing body
Each year, governors complete complete 'Declarations of Interest', which are designed to identify any potential conflicts of interest that may arise so they can be managed appropriately.
Register of Interests
Governors are required to attend meetings regularly. Attendance records for Full Governing Boards, Quality of Education and Finance Committees can be found below.
Governor attendance
Minutes of Full Governing Board meetings are available from the school office, on request.
Governor biographies
David Craddock
Parent governor, joined May 2021, term ends May 2025.
Chair of Governing Board; member of Quality of Education Committee.
David has lived in Hertford for ten years, having grown up in St Albans and lived in Oxford and London for study and work. He has two children at Hollybush.
David is a lawyer in the pensions industry with over 12 years’ practising experience. His current role is Senior Counsel at The Pensions Ombudsman (an arm’s-length public body), where he sits on the SLT and co-manages a legal team of 20. He previously spent ten years working in private sector law firms, advising employers and trustee bodies running large pension schemes. David was appointed Chair of the Governing Board in summer 2023.
Tracey Arthey
Parent governor, joined January 2024, term ends January 2028
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.
Lucy Ashcroft
Co-opted governor, joined October 2023, term ends October 2027.
Member of Quality of Education Committee.
Lucy has lived in Hertford for 30 years, having grown up in Rugby.
Lucy is a primary school teacher with over 30 years experience. She trained in Birmingham where she lived and worked for 7 years. and has taught children across both KS1 and KS2. Lucy is currently working in KS1.
Christine Dutton
Parent governor, joined May 2021, term ends May 2025.
Chair of the Finance Committee; Health & Safety Link Governor.
Both Christine’s children attended Hollybush Primary School with her son currently in Year 5. 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.
Jennifer Bromley
Co-opted Governor, joined October 2023, term ends October 2027.
Member of the Finance Committee; Safeguarding Link Governor.
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.
Graham Nickson
Local Authority Governor, joined October 2023, term ends October 2027.
Member of the Quality of Education Committee; SEN Link Governor; Data Protection Officer
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.
Kate Fryer
Co-opted governor, joined October 2023, term ends October 2027.
Chair of Quality of Education Committee
Kate has lived in Herford for 7 years, having grown up in Cambridgeshire and lived in Newcastle, Dijon, London and Barcelona for study and work. She has two children at secondary school.
Kate works in educational publishing for Pearson. She spent many years teaching English as a Second Language and now works in the Primary education team producing books and developing new learning strategies. She specialises in cross-curricular and project-based learning with a special interest in English as a Second Language and SEND.
Valerie Noon
Headteacher
Appointed: September 2016
Member of all committees
Valerie has been headteacher of Hollybush since 2016. Prior to that she was headteacher of a 3 form entry primary school in London, and a Primary National Strategy literacy consultant. Valerie has a passion for inclusive education and has a Masters Degree in Teaching and Learning from the University of Cambridge.
Valerie grew up in The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and now lives in Hertford with her husband, two children and Truffle the dog.
Contact
If you have any questions about governance at Hollybush, please email the Chair of Governors: craddock@hollybush.herts.sch.uk