Meet the Governors

The Governing Body

Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country and have an important part to play in raising school standards. The Governing Body’s role is a strategic one, and ours consists of a variety of stakeholders with the requisite skills to collectively hold the school to account.

The Governing Body’s core functions are to ensure high standards of achievement for all children by:

• Setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school, ensuring probity and value for money.

The Governing Body operates in the Circle Model working closely with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) of the school. The Headteacher (also a governor) and the senior team, are focused on the professional day to day management of the school. The headteacher reports to the Governing Body on this function via the Headteacher’s Report to Governors.

• The GB meets at least 6 times each year. The GB considers reports and recommendations, makes decisions, directs monitoring visits, and conducts routine business.

• The GB also uses themes on which groups of governors are allocated as areas of the school improvement plan (SIP) so does not have standing committees.

The governing body and the chair of the governing body can be contacted through the school office and by writing to, East Peckham Primary School, 130 Pound Road, East Peckham, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 5LH.

To contact any one of our governors please email office@eastpeckhamprimary.org.uk or call the school on 01622 871268 

Katie Bennett 

(Co-opted Governor)

Chair of Governors

Responsible for Finance and Sports Premium

Term of Office: 22nd March 2022 to 22nd March 2026 

I have two children at the school and have lived in East Peckham for over 15 years. I have always worked with and for children, from teaching PE to developing all the Children’s Centres in Kent. I am really passionate about children having the best start in life and especially at our amazing village school. My favourite book as a child was The Worst Witch - I loved Mildred’s adventures! 

Daniel White 

(Parent Governor) 

Vice Chair of Governors

Term of Office : 14th October 2020 to 14th October 2024 

I moved to East Peckham in 2019 and have always believed in giving back to the community you live in.  I have two children at the school and have a passion for both lifelong learning and technology use.  When I started at Primary school, my favourite book was ‘Where The Wild Things Are’, by the end I was reading through a series of Norse myth books.

David Durling 

(Co-opted Governor) 

Responsible for Finance, Pupil Premium and Health & Safety

Term of Office: 5th June 2023 to 5th June 2027 

I have lived in East Peckham for more than 20 years and after a lengthy career as an accountant working in the Oil & Gas Industry I am now happily retired!  As a result I have a bit more time to try to improve my golf game and to keep my mind active by helping EPPS in my role as co-opted governor.  When I am in EPPS it brings back memories of my own childhood when I enjoyed all sorts of sports as well as reading children’s classic books such as The Wind in the Willows and Anthony Buckeridge’s Jennings series.

Wendy Johnson 

(Co-opted Governor) 

Responsible for SEND and Attendance 

Term of Office: 17th November 2020 to 17th November 2024 

I am retired and have lived in East Peckham for 5 years. My career has involved many roles within the world of education including teaching, managing a school behaviour support team, supporting excluded pupils as well as having been a governor at the school my children attended. I am delighted to be a governor at the school and feel passionate about supporting the delivery of the best education for all pupils. My favourite book as a child was The Secret Garden but my favourite to read to my children was Green Eggs and Ham by Doctor Seuss.

Stephen Hollands 

(Parent Governor)

Responsible for Safeguarding and Training & Development

Term of Office: 14th October 2020 to 14th October 2024 

My daughter attends EPPS and loves the school. My wife and I were so impressed when we first visited the school that we knew it was the right school for our daughter. Although not living in the village I have personal connections to East Peckham through other family members both past and present living in the village.  I have been employed and continue to be employed by Kent County Council as a qualified social worker and care passionately about ensuring that children are provided with the best opportunities to develop and succeed in life.  I love music, film and theatre and can often be found  at concerts and festivals with friends and  family.  I loved reading as a child and loved to read any of the books from "The Chronicles of Narnia".

Louise Cartwright 

(Co-opted Governor) 

Responsible for Early Years and Quality of Education

Term of Office: 22nd September 2022 to 22nd September 2026

I have lived in East Peckham my whole life and have many happy memories attending the primary school. I have always been interested in education, from coaching and refereeing rugby to teaching in Portugal, Kent and London for the last ten years. Now that my daughter has started at the school, I felt I wanted to give back to the community. I loved reading as a child and my favourite series was Mallory Towers, I think it was all the mischief they got up to!

Rachael Moore 

(Co-opted Governor)

Responsible for Quality of Education

Term of Office: 25th March 2024 to 25th March 2028 

I moved to East Peckham in 2016 but have lived in the local area all my life. My career has centred around education including teaching, managing curriculum and leading on teaching and learning. I am, therefore, a strong advocate for all children getting the best start to their education and wanted to give back to the community by taking on the role of governor at our local school. My favourite books as a child were The Chronicles of Narnia, The Animals of Farthing Wood, Goosebumps and Harry Potter.

Matt Boughton 

(Local Authority Governor)

Term of Office: 23rd January 2023 to 23rd January 2027 

I moved to East Peckham having previously lived in Tonbridge, and really enjoy being part of our village community. My career has been based around research and campaigns, spending time working in the House of Commons and, since 2021, being Leader of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. It is a pleasure to be able to help the village and work with everyone associated with the school.

Bradley Atkins 

(Staff Governor) 

Term of Office: 10th October 2022 to 10th October 2026

Kate Elliott 

(Headteacher)

Register of Business Interests

Attendance Register

2023-24

2022-23

Vacancies

If you are looking to join our Governing Body, we are always looking to recruit people with skills and knowledge in the charity sector and schools, as well as the wider fields of finance and safeguarding. Please contact the Chair of Governors via the school office if you are interested or would like more information: office@eastpeckhamprimary.org.uk

Diversity Information

We have a duty to recognise the diverse thoughts, voices and perspectives that are essential to good governance and the effective running of any organisation. We believe that it is important to reflect the diversity of the school community that we serve. Diverse boards promote inclusive school environments and provide a variety of role models for children. 

Below are graphs to represent the formation of our Governing Body. We will use this data to inform recruitment and training needs and ensure there is always a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision making. 

The publication of this chosen data has been careful to not identify any individual as is our legal obligation to protect our governor's personal data.