Governors

Jim Mathieson- Chair of Governing Board

Jim started his teaching career in Brighton in 1974 and after teaching posts in Peterborough and Bracknell came to Rivermead Primary School in Woodley as deputy head at Christmas 1986. He was appointed substantive head in April 1989. Jim was seconded to the Berkshire Local Management of Schools support team for the spring and summer terms 1992. He left his headship at Rivermead in the summer of 2005 to become a Primary School Improvement Officer with Wokingham Borough Children’s Services. As such he was involved with the launch of the ‘Every Child Matters’ Extended Services agenda in Woodley in 2006. 

During his time with Wokingham, he has also been the Interim Area Manager of two Neighbourhood Teams working with multi-disciplinary teams including social care in 2008-2009, and the Interim Head at Willow Bank Junior School for a year in 2012. 

He was also the lead officer for primary phase assessment in the Borough, accountable for the work with disadvantaged pupils, and the Assistant Head of the Virtual School working with Children in Care and their educational provision. He retired in 2018 although continues to work part-time for Wokingham Children’s Services.  His wife is a Key Stage 1 teacher in Wokingham and Jim and Chris have two daughters, both of whom very successfully received their secondary education at Waingel’s College.

Membership: 

Chair of Governing Board

Rob Hobart- Vice Chair of Governing Board 

Rob is a parent of children who attend Waingels; the family were new to the Woodley area having moved back to the UK in 2017 after 10 years working abroad in the US, South America and Africa.

Professionally Rob has over 20 years of experience in the Food & Drink industry, working in Marketing and Innovation roles.

During his time in Venezuela, Rob was also a Governor of the American International School in Caracas and this instilled an appreciation of the many challenges the different stakeholders face and an interest in helping schools achieve success for its community in its widest sense.

Membership: 

Vice Chair of Governing Board 

Gareth Hayes

Gareth was elected as a parent governor in 2014 and became a trustee in 2018. He is also a governor at Willow Bank Junior school having initially been elected as a parent governor in 2009 and is currently an LA governor.

He has had two daughters go through both schools and on to university.

Gareth graduated with a degree in Electronics and Computer Science and has worked in the Telecoms and Aerospace industries in both chief engineer and director roles.

Membership:  Trustee, Chair of Finance & Resources and Chair of Standards

Stuart Alexander

Membership: Finance and Resources

Stuart joined Waingels in January 2003 as a Deputy Headteacher. He had previously been a Head of Mathematics and Assistant Headteacher at a school in Richmond.

Stuart has seen a huge number of changes at Waingels in his time here so far and one of his roles as a Deputy Head was representing the school in the design and build of ‘The new School’.

Stuart ‘retired’ in 2014 – but then took a part-time position leading Key Stage 5 Mathematics at Waingels. He has been a Governor at Waingels since 2015.

Nayana Bharti

Nayana was originally elected as a Parent Governor in 2003 and was appointed as a Trustee in September 2021.She is passionate about Waingels meeting the educational needs of all its students and keenly supports the leadership team to achieve this.

Both of her children successfully completed their secondary education at Waingels.

Nayana is a qualified solicitor, primarily working in corporate governance in both listed and private environment.

Membership: Trustee & Standards Committee

Roger Evelyn

I joined the governing body in 2022 as a parent governor, and my son currently attends the school. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to support our school in this capacity and to give back to the community. I believe that every child should have access to an outstanding education, irrespective of their social or economic background. I am passionate about inclusion and the continuous improvement of the learning environment to maximise the educational outcomes of every child. I've worked as senior manager within the financial services sector for many years, where I have developed strong analytical skills, the ability to deliver effective communication and offer pragmatic advice. I hope to use these skills to help the school and governing body achieve their objectives.

Membership: Finance and Resources

Lizzie Fellowes-Freeman

Membership: Standards

Beverley Hibbert

Membership: 

Standards

Ignazio Puzzo

Membership: 

Kevin Wooldridge

Kevin joined the Governing body in February 2019 as a Parent Governor, having two daughters attending Waingels.

Previously a parent governor at Loddon Primary School for 8 years, during a time of much improvement for the standard of education and learning environment, demonstrated by  the Ofsted report documenting improvement both in the School and of its governance.

He is passionate about the continual improvement of the learning environment for our children at Waingels and, being employed in the IT sector recognises the many opportunities and challenges the digital transformation represents for our Children, their learning, and their future.

Kevin has worked at Microsoft since 2000, holding several different positions during this time, currently a Director in the Core Services Engineering & Operations organisation managing a worldwide team responsible for Change Management and Project Implementation across the globe.

In addition to this he and his family work with Guide Dogs for the Blind as boarders for Dogs during their advance training before going out to be partnered with a human that they will support which they find immensely rewarding.

Membership: 

Standards