Our Governors

We are delighted that Anne Fletcher has been re-appointed as our Bishop's nominee and Chair of Governors.

Anne has served the school in many ways over the last 11 years as Chair, Deputy Chair and Foundation Governor. Anne is the Head of the Strategy Committee and TLC Committee.

Anne is the designated Safeguarding Governor and has a special passion for the Early Years Foundation Stage, as Anne ran the Ide Hill Village Pre-School very successfully for many years.

Appointed by the Sundridge with Ide Hill parochial Church Council, Richard joined the governing body in October 2010 having moved to Ide Hill when he retired.

On the Governing body, he is responsible for building development and involved in other school activities as a member of the Finance and Premises Committee.

Prior to his retirement, Richard was a civil engineer and director for W S Atkins, managing projects and business activities in the UK and overseas. Since retirement, for the past 5 years, he has had a voluntary role with CAFOD (The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) and co-ordinates the Schools Programme for the Archdiocese of Southwark. He is a Director of the Ide Hill Community Shop CIC and was the project manager for the building of the new shop in the village. He now acts as the financial director, company secretary and co-ordinates the volunteering.

Miss Alexander joined Ide Hill Primary School as Headteacher in April 2024. As Headteacher, she is automatically an ex-officio governor. Miss Alexander is responsible for the organisation, management and strategic direction of the school. As such, it is her responsibility to implement the school improvement plan, and to collaborate with governors to monitor standards across the school. Miss Alexander is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead at Ide Hill School.

Following university Niall qualified as a history teacher and taught for two years before moving into journalism and senior national roles in the health services. In the 1980s he was Editor of Nursing Times after which he joined the BBC as its first substantive health correspondent moving on to become Social Affairs Editor, broadcasting on both radio and television news. He went on to become Chief Executive of the health think tank The King's Fund, Chief Executive and registrar of the General Medical Council, the statutory body which regulates doctors in the UK, and chief executive of the NHS Confederation. He was the non executive chair of East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust until 2023. Niall is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Education and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2017 for services to patient safety.

Tammy Coles was elected to the Governing Body in 2022 as a Parent Governor and sits on the Teaching and Learning Committee. She has four children, two daughters at secondary school and two sons who are currently in Year 3 and 4 at Ide Hill. She has been a parent at the school since 2018 and lives locally to the village. Currently a stay-at-home mum she was the PTA Chair for the school for two years before becoming a governor and her career background is Performance Management and Change Management.

With 12 years experience in the education sector, Taricia currently serves as the fundraising manager for a residential special school, successfully raising funds for various projects, from iPads to multi-million-pound capital developments. Previously, as General Manager of a large secondary school, Taricia managed all soft facilities services and has experience in procedure development, policy writing, GDPR compliance, financial management and strategic planning.

Sue was voted onto the governing body in April 2015. Having graduated from Nottingham University in 1996 with a degree in mathematics, she worked as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers for 13 years. Sue has two children who both attended the school and now enjoys being a stay-at-home mum.

For the many years, Sue was the treasurer of the PTA and book-keeper for Ide Hill pre school. She also helps at the school on a regular basis. In her spare time, Sue enjoys cooking, crafts and travel.

Helen de May was appointed to the Governing Body of Ide Hill CEP School by the Rochester Diocese Board of Education as a Foundation Governor in October 2016, and sits on the Teaching and Learning Committee. She has been a Classics teacher at Sevenoaks School since 2003, lives and goes to church in Sundridge, and has two children, both ex pupils at Ide Hill School.

Ian was appointed an associate governor in May 2014 and Local Authority governor in October 2014. Ian is a chartered accountant who worked for various city institutions during his career and retired from Deutsche Bank in 2010. Ian chairs the Finance & Premises Committee and is involved with a number of charities and is also treasurer of St Martin's church, Brasted.

Miss Melin was elected Staff Governor in February 2022. She is a class teacher in Year 4 and is the subject leader for PSHE and Mathematics (jointly). Miss Melin has worked in education for 15 years, first as a teaching assistant and later on as a qualified teacher. She has two children who are currently attending university.

Much of Hayley's working life has been dedicated to enabling children to reach their potential. Her career as a teacher began in a small village Church of England school, much like Ide Hill. Several years on Hayley became a senior leader in a large primary school, qualifying as a Special Educational needs Coordinator (SENCo), leading on Inclusion as Assistant Headteacher, also being the Designated Safeguarding lead (DSL). For four years, Hayley held the voluntary position of Vice-Chair, on a Board of Trustees for a charity promoting the voice of parents who have children with SEND. Hayley currently holds a specialist advisory role, to reduce challenging behaviour across primary schools in a London Borough.

Jane ran Ide Hill Pre-School in the in the late 1980s-1993 and was a nursery teacher at Granville School in Sevenoaks for over 15 years. She has lived in the local area for 45 years. Her three children and three stepchildren attended the school and during that time she was an active member of the PTA. Jane now has granddaughters at the school and is an active volunteer in our Year 2 class.

Barbara has been a resident in Ide Hill since October 2017. One of Barbara's sons lives in the village and the other is nearby in Chipstead. Barbara's working background was in education. Barbara trained as a teacher at Stockwell College of Education in Bromley and was appointed to Holy Cross RC Primary School in Catford where she worked until retirement in 2009.

Rachel joined Ide Hill Primary School as Bursar in 2012 and has clerked various committees throughout that time. Rachel become the Clerk to the Governing Body, including the Full Governing Body in January 2017. As Clerk, she is responsible for ensuring that all matters discussed within the governing body are documented and that it proceeds in an orderly and productive manner. She coordinates and prepares Governors’ meetings, as well as ensuring that policy documents are circulated and formally agreed.