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 Local Governing Board

Rob Hobart- Vice Chair of Local 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 Local 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:  

Chair of Finance and Resources

Trustee

Standards

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

Stuart Alexander

Membership: 

Finance and Resources

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

Tom Bartlett- Principal

Tom grew up and went to school in the East Midlands where both his parents were teachers before training as a teacher of Drama and English at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, graduating in 1983. After completing his induction year at an inner city primary school in London, and having always wanted to travel, Tom took up a teaching position in a small rural secondary school in Botswana in Southern Africa, and having initially only signed up for a two year contract, it was 17 years before he finally returned to the UK during this period Tom served as a Teacher of maths and English, as a National Schools Athletics Coach, he was Deputy Headteacher of two large boarding schools, a University Lecturer and a Headteacher of a rural community school for 5 years.

Tom returned to the family home in West Oxfordshire in 2001 and taught in two Oxfordshire schools as a Head of Year and as a pastoral leader before joining Waingels in 2008 as a Vice Principal. At Waingels he has held responsibility for Staff Development and Teaching and Learning and was appointed as Principal in September 2016. Tom is a passionate advocate of community based comprehensive education, having spent his entire career covering four decades– both here and oversees - serving in state-funded community schools. He lives in West Oxfordshire with his wife and daughter. 

Membership: 

Finance and Resources

Standards

Beth Rowland - Member

Beth has lived in Woodley for over 40 years – she has 4 grown up children all of whom were educated at Waingles. Beth has been a School Governor for many years serving as Chairman on two local primary schools.

Beth also serves as a Woodley Town Councillor and was a Wokingham Borough Councillor from 1996 – 2017.

Beth is also a director of Berkshire Credit Union.

Lizzie Fellowes-Freeman

Membership: Standards

John Kick- Member

John has lived in Woodley since the early 1970's and has been a Governor since 2010.  John’s career was in the IT industry including a stint as HR director for a large American IT company. Both of his children studied at Waingels and went on to University.

During his career John was responsible, among many things, for graduate recruitment and that formed his interest in guiding as many students as he can in preparing themselves  for work both in terms of taking the right paths and then doing the basics of presenting themselves appropriately for selection.

John is now particularly interested and supportive of the new apprenticeship programmes in all sectors, particularly engineering.'

Christine Liddle

Having served as a junior school governor, Christine moved her attention to Waingels as her child moved up. A graduate of the University of Lund in Sweden, she was also educated at universities in Italy, Germany and England, as well as schools in Sweden and Australia. She has lived in Woodley for over 20 years, and taught at a number of schools and colleges for nearly as long, from outstanding to requiring improvement. She’s passionate about every child’s right to a quality state education that opens the door to all higher education alternatives as well as prepares them for working life. She has a particular interest in STEM and foreign languages, but is also very keen on all curricular and extra-curricular activities that broaden the children’s horizons and increases their understanding of other cultures and people. 

Membership:

Finance and Resources

Beverley Hibbert

Membership: 

Standards

Valeria Sala

Membership: Finance and Resources

Roger Evelyn

Membership: Co-opted for one year Finance and Resources

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.

Ignazio Puzzo

Membership: Co-opted for one year Standards