Our Governors

I have lived in Fingest in the Hambleden Valley for over 40 years. I am a retired solicitor having sold the practice, of which I was a co-founder, in 2010. I am a keen golfer, and I sit on the Board of England Golf, where I am Chairman of the Governance Committee. I am a Churchwarden of St Bartholomew’s Fingest and enjoy supporting village and valley events. Walking the family's dogs in the local area, enjoying my 2 young grandchildren , supporting the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution ,all make for a busy life , but I consider my role as a Governor at Frieth is one of the most important responsibilities I have. I believe the role of a Governor is to both support and challenge. I am very proud to be associated with the hardworking committed staff and the happy, socially aware pupils in our school.

I chose to join the Frieth Governor Board, as I believe that the experiences that our children have in these early stages of education, have such a profound influence on their appetite for learning and development throughout their entire lives.
I have lived in several countries and worked in several industries, including travel, technology and automotive. I am currently in the middle of completing an MBA at Henley Business School, and hope that some of these experiences and learnings can help me to add value as a governor.
My daughter attends Frieth School, and if the giving of my time or skills can remotely enhance the experience that she, and the other pupils, staff or parents have, then they will have been put to great use.

I have lived in the Hambleden Valley for over 33 years and have had a long association with Frieth school. I completed my work experience at Frieth whilst at sixth form college and I also did a teacher training placement at Frieth. In addition to this my husband was a pupil at Frieth. I am a Primary school teacher and have been teaching for over 20 years. I have taught in several Bucks Primary schools and have taught all ages from 4 to 11.
Both my daughters attend Frieth and are very happy there. Since my eldest daughter joined Frieth I have supported the school through PTA responsibilities. When the opportunity arose to become a governor I felt that it would allow me to use my knowledge and skills as teacher to support the school in a different way. I understand how important it is to support your local school and feel very lucky to be able to do this.
When I’m not working, I like to walk our dog in the beautiful surrounding countryside. I also love being creative, sewing and creating pictures and scrapbooking with my girls.

I have worked in Education all my adult life. I always wanted to be a teacher, and have taught in Harrow, in Hillingdon, and for one year in Vancouver Island in Canada. I had 14 years as a Headteacher of two schools in the London Borough of Hillingdon. My second school was judged o be Outstanding by Ofsted in 2007.

In 2011 I was recognised as a National Leader of Education, and supported a number of schools. I am also a qualified coach. I have a MBA in Educational Leadership.

In between my two Headships I spent 5 years working as a School Improvement Officer for London Borough of Hillingdon, and during this time I trained as an Ofsted Inspector. I was the link officer for 12 primary schools and led on Leadership & Management across the authority.

I retired from Headship after a total of 46 years in education in April this year, and wanted to use the skills and knowledge gained over these years. It has been a real privilege to be part of the life of so many children, and watching them gain in confidence and develop a love of learning. I have three grandchildren who attend Frieth school and felt this was an opportunity to support their school.

I believe strongly in life-long learning, and in recent years have taken up the piano, and also Spanish. I am now starting on Italian! Hopefully this will be useful when we go skiing in the Dolomites.

I live in Frieth with my husband and twin boys (who you may have seen ‘tearing’ around the village on their balance bikes!). Having grown up in a small village in Cornwall myself, I have witnessed first-hand the benefits of a school being supported by the local community. I hope that, as a governor, I can help to contribute to the support for Frieth School.

I am Director of Legal & Business Affairs for a new homes developer. I studied English Literature at Cardiff University, and at the University of California, Irvine. Having torn myself away from the sunshine, I attended The College of Law in Guildford, where I obtained a law degree, along with a Graduate Diploma in Law. I trained and practised at a City firm in London prior to moving in-house.

I am passionate about sport and played netball for Cornwall in my youth. Whilst working at the City firm, I was lucky enough to participate in The Prince’s Trust 10 day endurance challenge, which took place in Borneo. I am currently training for my first marathon!

I have lived in Fawley with my wife and two daughters for several years now. Prior to this I stayed in several places during a career in the British Army. My eldest Daughter attends Frieth School as will hopefully our youngest when of age; therefore, becoming a Parent Governor and contributing my time to support the school was a relatively simple decision.
At work I am a currently a Managing Director at a US Headquartered corporate that provides global subsea telecommunications infrastructure. I look after a relatively diverse international team which certainly keeps me on my toes, I also enjoy travelling with work and learning about various cultures around the world.
Outside of work I am a bit of an outdoor enthusiast, walking, fell running, mountaineering and I enjoy planning and accomplishing various challenges with my likeminded friends.
I look forward to becoming part of the team and supporting the school and children in anyway I can.

I am the father of Ellie, an ex-pupil who hugely enjoyed and benefitted from her time at Frieth. I am a Prison Governor with other civil service experience in HM Treasury, as well as being active in the church. I welcome the opportunity as a Governor at Frieth to use these skills, experiences and interests to support Frieth to continue providing local children with a great start to their education

I have lived in Frieth for over 20 years and until my retirement in 2019, I worked as a senior manager in local government Recreation, Leisure and Health departments in the south-east of England for over 40 years. I am active in a wide range of village organisations including, St John the Evangelist Frieth Church, Hambleden with Frieth and Skirmett Parochial Church Council (PCC), the village hall and get involved with other village events and activities.

I am married to Lynda (a former Frieth school governor) and our children flew the nest some years ago and started their own families. So far, we have 11 lovely grandchildren located mainly in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire but with 2 living in Paris, so they all keep us pretty busy. One of our grandchildren currently attends and enjoys Frieth school and we regularly pick her up from school.

Lynda and I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area and we enjoy walking our energetic dog in the lovely countryside. I am also a hobbyist beekeeper which also keeps me busy during April to October.

I believe that primary school is so important and should give our young people a great start in their journey in education and learning and I am keen to try to use my skills and experience to help the children, staff and other governors.

I live in Frieth with my wife Katherine and two kids, having moved to the village around 8 years ago. Both kids have been to Frieth school, one having left for secondary school last year. We moved into the village partly because we liked the school so much, and both try to be as involved as we can to support the school.

In my work life I am a CFO at a software company, and try and use those skills to support the school, with my key role at the Governing body being Chair of the Finance Committee. In my spare time I like to run, having done a few marathons in the past, and watch and play a range of sports.... along with running around after the children.

I was licensed as Priest in Charge of the Hambleden Valley Group of Churches in December 2023 and I am delighted that by virtue of that appointment, I am now an ex officio Foundation Governor of Frieth school.
I grew up in Peppard, near Henley in rural surroundings not unlike the Hambleden Valley. I read Law at Cambridge and became a solicitor. I was ordained in 2019 and served my curacy and a period as an associate priest in Caversham. I felt a strong call to rural ministry and so decided to give up my ‘day job’. I recently sold the law firm I founded to embark on my ministry full time. My wife Janice and I moved into the ‘new’ Rectory in Pheasants Hill at Easter. I love the countryside and I am a keen cyclist (my preferred way to get about in the Valley), runner, and walker.
As part of my interview last year, the Archdeacon asked me to lead a service of common worship in the school - a joyful if rather daunting experience. However, the energy, kindness and enthusiasm of pupils and staff was infectious and already I feel part of the Frieth school community. I am looking forward to contributing both as a Governor and pastor to the life of the school and to meeting more parents and carers in the coming months.