Governors

Governors

Chair: David Craddock, Parent Governor

Lucy Ashcroft, Co-opted governor

Jennifer Bromley, Co-opted Governor

Charlotte Christman, Staff Governor

Margaret Elder, Co-opted Governor (Vice Chair)

Christine Dutton, Parent Governor

Thomas Freeth, Parent Governor

Kate Fryer, Co-opted Governor

Graham Nickson, Local Authority Governor

Valerie Noon, Head

Brenda Hartwig, Associate Member

There is currently one vacancy for a Parent Governor on the Governing Board.

*We are in the process of updating this page for 2023-24, and some documents on this page still relate to the 2022-23 year.*

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'

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'.

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.

Governors are required to attend meetings regularly.  Attendance records for Full Governing Boards, Quality of Education and Finance Committees can be found below.

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.

Margaret Elder

Co-opted governor, joined in September 2016, term ends September 2024.

Vice Chair of Governing Board; member of Quality of Education Committee (former Committee Chair); former SEND Link Governor.

Margaret has lived in Hertford since 1993. Her children were pupils of the school and so she has a sincere personal interest in ensuring the success of the school.

Margaret is now retired but worked for many years as a teacher in a Hertford primary school. She was part of the school leadership team with Key stage and subject responsibilities. She also has a number of other unpaid roles including being a Trustee of Hertford Museum and Secretary of the Hertford and Ware Street Pastors.

Tom Freeth

Parent Governor, joined May 2021, term ends May 2025.

Member of Finance Committee (interim Chair).

Tom has two children at Hollybush, and has been a Hertford resident for 12 years. Prior to this, Tom lived in Enfield, where he grew up, and attended a London-based university.

Tom works for the NHS, where he is a Research Delivery Team Manager at two Mental Health Trusts in London. He has worked for the NHS for 15 years, in a variety of roles, but has been in his current role for 7 years.

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.

Member 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 a Case Officer for UNISON, the public services trade union, providing support to UNISON members working for Hertfordshire County Council who are facing issues at work. 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.

Contact

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