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Our Governors

Governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in all St Christopher’s Multi Academy Trust schools however, the ultimate responsibility for the school lies with the Board of Directors with much of the work delegated to the Local Governing Body (LGB).

In trusts, the purpose of local governance is to provide:

  • strategic leadership
  • accountability and assurance
  • strategic engagement

Governors set the aims and objectives for the school and set the targets/policies for achieving those aims and objectives. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the headteacher.

Governors bring a wide range of skills and expertise from their professional lives to the governing body and schools benefit greatly from working with skilled volunteers.

Chair of Governors: Anne Newall

Vice Chair of Governors: John Money

Safeguarding Lead: tbc

Clerk to the LGB: Ruth Cadoux

If you are interested in hearing more about becoming a governor please contact;

Name
Role
Appointed by
Term of Office Start/End date
Registered Interests
Date Interest began
Date Interest ceased (if applicable)
Attendance 2024/25
Kelly Earnshaw Headteacher Ex-Officio 1/9/2018 (Post related) St George's C of E Primary Academy September 2018 n/a 6 of 6
Anne Newall Chair of LGB Foundation 01/09/23 - 31/08/27 Governor at Oreston Community Academy - December 2022 4 of 6
Kayleigh Vickery - Parents

01/05/22 - 30/04/26

Governance Support, Practice Plus Group;

Quality Support Manager, Hamberley Homes;

UHP Derriford Patient Safety Facilitator

30/11/2020

 

 

September 2022

 

January 2023

September 2022

 

January 2023

 

 

n/a

 4 of 6
Sophie Daykin - Staff

01/09/23 - 31/08/27

St Christopher’s MAT;

husband works for Plymouth Schools Sports Partnership

2007

 

2016

n/a

 

n/a

 6 of 6
Colin Mackenzie-Blackman - Parents 22/01/24 - 21/01/28

The King's Foundation;

trustee for registered charity SNAP - Special Needs Action Project

 tbc tbc 2 of 6
John Money Vice Chair of LGB and Ex-Officio Foundation

26/02/25 - 25/02/29

-

 - - 3 of 3
VACANCY - - - - - - -
VACANCY - - - - - - -
Resigned in the last 12 months
Mike O'Sullivan Co-Chair of LGB Foundation 01/09/23 - 31/08/25 None - - 5 of 6
Paul Ottewell Vice Chair Foundation 16/11/21 - 17/01/25

Chief Operating Officer, Optimus OD Ltd;

wife is headteacher of another school within the Trust

 01/01/24 n/a 1 of 2
Leon Sim - Foundation 09/11/22 - 20/12/24 None - - 2 of 2

Name of Governor

Monitoring Responsibilities
Anne Newall Safeguarding, Attendance and Behaviour; Disadvantaged Pupils; Early Reading and Phonics; English
tbc Maths; History; Geography; MFL (Modern Foreign Languages) and PE (Physical Education)
John Money Ethos & Christian Distinctiveness
Colin Mackenzie-Blackman DT (Design Technology)
Kayleigh Vickery Operations (Health & Safety, Risk and Wellbeing); Young Carers

 

Kelly Earnshaw

As head teacher at St George's, Kelly is also part of the Local Governing Body. They work together to make strategic decisions and ensure that the children at St George's receive the best education.  

She has been head teacher here since September 2018 and has led the school through the Covid pandemic and, more recently, a successful OfSTED inspection. She has been a teacher for 23 years and is also a qualified SENCo. She sees her job as a real privilege - she works with an amazing team of children, parents, staff, governors and the wider community. No two days are the same and that's part of what makes the job so rewarding. 

On a personal level, she is married and has a little boy who is currently in year 3 at another school within St Christopher's Trust. In her spare time (not that there's much!) she enjoys reading, baking and visiting the beach. As a family they love to travel around the world and have been lucky enough to visit places such as Costa Rica, Morocco, The Seychelles and the Middle East.

Anne Newall

Chair to the Governors

Anne was born in Scotland and spent the first 18 years of her life travelling the world with her parents, due to her father’s work with HM Forces. After leaving school, she worked in London, moving to Plymouth in 1975 with her husband. They have 3 adult daughters, who live in Spain, Plymouth and Cornwall respectively, and two grandchildren aged 7 and 10. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, swimming, cycling and learning Spanish. 

Anne has been a governor at St George’s for several years, having previously been a governor at St Matthew’s. She is the lead governor for Safeguarding, SEND, and all aspects of English – phonics, reading and writing. 

Anne trained as a teacher in Plymouth, and taught at several Plymouth schools before becoming Deputy Headteacher of Salisbury Road Junior School in 1992, and Headteacher at Glen Park Primary from 1998 until 2012. She trained as an Ofsted Inspector in 2006, and was involved in inspections as a team member. Following retirement from Glen Park in 2012, she worked as a lead inspector until 2015. 

Anne’s motivation for being a governor at St George’s is to support the staff in providing the best educational opportunities for the children and to witness their success in all that they do.

Kayleigh Vickery

Kayleigh has been a parent governor since May 2021 and she works for the NHS as a Patient Safety Facilitator. Outside of work, she is mum to William and their favourite thing to do is jump on a train to a new city and explore! As a family they all love St George's - the family feeling the school gives is why they picked this one over so many. Be Safe, Be Kind, we feel, are two of the most important things you need to be in life!

Colin Mackenzie-Blackman

Colin was elected as a parent governor in January 2024, with both of his sons attending St George’s. Colin is currently Executive Director of Development at The King’s Foundation. Amongst its diverse range of programmes, The King's Foundation provides educational opportunities for 15,000 people annually from primary to PhD. Colin has spent 20 years in the third sector including working for the NSPCC, the Royal Opera House and Shakespeare's Globe. Colin is currently also a trustee of Inverness-based special needs charity, SNAP.  

Sophie Daykin

Sophie has been a staff governor for St George’s for over 5 years. She trained to be a teacher here in Plymouth and, after teaching in Ivybridge, she joined St George’s over 17 years ago. During that time she has taught all ages from EYFS through to Year 6 and is currently teaching Year 3 and 4. The children at St George’s ‘build on firm foundations’ and she is fortunate to be part of their journey.

As well as being the senior teacher, she also leads maths, history, geography, music, PSHE and RE, (including Christian Distinctiveness and Collective Worship). She is the Subject Champion for RE for St Christopher’s Trust so she is able to share her passion for this subject with others. She finds it a privilege to be a mentor for student teachers and ECTs as they embark on their teaching careers.

When she is not busy at St George’s she enjoys spending time with her two daughters, either baking or exploring the wonderful world we have on our doorstep.

 John Money

Photo and introduction to follow!

Diversity Data

The board believes that it is important that we reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Diverse boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people. We collect data on the diversity of the board, including age, ethnicity, and gender and we use this data to inform our recruitment and training needs, ensuring there is always a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision making. We do not publish diversity data online as individual governors could be identified and we have a legal obligation to protect their personal data.