Governors are a voluntary body of people who guide and support the strategic direction of the school. Their role includes:

• 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 and making sure its money is well spent.

They are key members of the school team and their contribution to the running of the school is highly valued. 

Our Chair of Governors, Carole Reich, can be contacted at chairofgovs@denver.norfolk.sch.uk or through the school office on 01366 383272.

Here is a list of our school governors:

 

Equality and Diversity Statement

As we are a small Governing Body, we do not feel that it is appropriate to report on personal information relating to diversity. At Denver School, we believe that when people feel respected and included, they can be more creative, innovative and successful. While we have more work to do to advance diversity and inclusion, we are working to move our School forward.

 

Finance

The governors take financial management seriously in the school and use benchmarking data to assist out planning and decision-making. For more information, please visit

Denver School Financial Benchmarking

 

Pen Portraits of our Governors: 

Carole Reich - Chair

“My invitation to join the Governing Body of Denver School, as a Foundation Governor, came in the Autumn of 2020. After visiting the school in one of those brief pandemic moments when visitors could enter, I knew I would be privileged to be part of this delightful school.

My working life has been varied, I started out as a lecturer in Salford working with unemployed teenagers and also established groups for refugee women and taught English as a Second Language. A move to Cambridgeshire allowed me to join the Community Education team as a Community Development Officer in a primary school in Cherry Hinton and later as a Senior Community Education Tutor in Huntingdon. I moved to work with the Regional Health Authority of East Anglia as an Organisational Development Manger supporting management teams develop strategy and organisational structures across the region.

An offer for my husband to work in San Francisco, California gave me the opportunity to explore a new culture and to re-engage with the art I had studied as part of my degree. Whilst in the USA, I developed my own art practice and used this to work across primary schools in the city. I became President of my son’s pre-school and ultimately began to teach part-time at Argonne Elementary School where I taught art across the year groups.

On my return to the UK, I started to teach at Hilgay VC Primary School in a part-time capacity working in KS2. I also established ‘Making Marks’ an art partnership where we worked with the community to create public art. Our first piece was the carved wall near the Clock Tower in Downham Market. We also have pieces in Watton, Norwich, Diss and Oxford. I later moved to be Senior Teacher at Sporle VC Primary School, teaching Years 5 & 6. After completing my NPQH, I became Head Teacher of The Norman VA Primary School and later Executive Head Teacher for Trinity Partnership. I retired in 2018.

As secretary of the PCC for Bexwell, St Mary’s Church I help guide the organisation of church; have created and maintain their website and manage the technological side of running regular fortnightly online services.

My current focus is my printmaking practice, which allows me to create designs using primarily lino and screen printing. This is my passion and I gain such joy from seeing a design be realised after weeks of trial and error. These skills are also shared through running workshops for adults, as a step to enabling them discover greater wellbeing, I guide them to greater expression of their creativity through visual art experiences.

Earlier this year I was asked, I agreed to be the Chair of Governors for the school because I feel I have relevant experience and that I can contribute positively to the continued development of the joyous Denver VC Primary school.

 

Janet Wilde - Vice-Chair

Janet Wilde Having moved to live in Denver in the spring of 2021 I was keen to get to know the local community and the school in particular. I have long experience in Primary education having started out as a teacher in Lewes in East Sussex from 1993 when I worked as a class teacher and Deputy Headteacher within the town.

From there I became Headteacher of a Voluntary Aided Church school in a village not unlike Denver. I went on then to train as a Child Psychotherapeutic Counsellor in London and worked for 8 years in schools and the local community offering therapeutic support for individual children and their families, groups within the schools and teachers.

During this period, I was also a governor at a school in Brighton. I am passionate about the importance of creating a calm and creative learning environment in which children can thrive because their individual needs are recognised and addressed with understanding and purpose.

 I saw in Denver school that these principles were understood and the result is a school which is calm, purposeful and creative where the children have great opportunities to learn and develop their skills and interests. I have three grandchildren, one of whom has recently entered year 1 in his schools, one who attends preschool nursery and the other who is too little as yet for either. I am very happy to share my time between them and Denver School!

 

Emma Goulding - Co-opted Governor

My 4 children have all been to Denver starting from reception year with only the youngest still there now.  I chose Denver in preference to our catchment school due to its small size and friendly atmosphere where everyone knows everyone.  I have been a parent governor since 2012.  I originally applied to become a governor because I value being involved in my children’s education and I thought it would be interesting! 10 years on and I’m still here…

 My background is in biological sciences and food science and before having children I worked as a research scientist. I now work at Downham Market Academy as a science technician, which fits in with both my family commitments and governor responsibilities.

 I enjoy number-crunching and analysing data which is useful in this role, as are good report-writing skills.  I also have individual responsibility for monitoring Attendance, English as an Additional Language and Looked After Children.  This year, I have taken on subject responsibilities for Modern Foreign Languages and Music.  I feel I know the school very well, having been a part of it for such a long time, both as a parent and a governor.

 

Dawn Henden - Staff Governor 

I have been involved with Denver Primary School since moving to Downham Market with my family in 2006. I began working as a learning support assistant for a specific child who was in year 4 at the time. I continued working in the school until the child moved on to secondary school and my contract came to an end.

Inspired by the great teaching in the school, I embarked on a PGCE course at Cambridge University to become a teacher. I completed my training in 2010 but there were no vacancies so I worked in other local schools while maintaining contact with the school and staff who had become my friends. In 2013-14 an opportunity arose to return to Denver on a temporary contract to cover for Mrs Jones’s maternity. It was wonderful to be back albeit only for a year.

Then in 2017, I rejoined the school and have been fortunate to have remained ever since. I am now a staff governor and I teach Class 4. I became a governor for the first time in 2019. I have responsibilities for the PE budget and the curriculum. I have subject leader responsibilities for science, MFL, RSHE and PE. I am also the deputy safeguarding lead. I know the school and the local area very well which helps in this role.

In my spare time, I am very active. I am a member of Renegade Runners based in King’s Lynn and often compete in local running events.

 

Louise Jones - Headteacher

From the very young age of 5, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I had a real passion for learning throughout my childhood and absolutely loved school, from primary right the way through to my A-levels. I knew that my vocation was in teaching, and I never looked back.

Following my A-levels, I went to Ripon and York St John University to study a teaching and English degree. The Ripon campus closed during my studies, so I moved to York, a place I still feel very much at home in. I finished university in 2002 with a BA (Hons) with QTS degree and gained my first teaching position at Werrington Primary School in Peterborough. Werrington was a large urban primary school, and I really enjoyed my four years teaching here.

I left Werrington in 2006 to join Denver VC Primary School and I have never looked back. I joined as Class 4 teacher and KS2 Coordinator. Over the years, I continued to work as Class 4 teacher and progressed to Assistant Head. I became a staff governor April 2012.  In 2013 I had a brief spell in Class 3 prior to going on maternity leave, when I left the class in the very capable hands of Mrs Henden.

I returned from maternity leave in September 2014 and went back to teaching in Class 4, where I’ve always felt at home. In 2017, Mrs Allison, my predecessor, started her retirement process and went down to three days a week; I became Acting Head on the other two days. This successful partnership continued until Mrs Allison’s retirement in July 2019. I then became Headteacher that September.

I am now in my fourth year of headship at Denver VC Primary and I am incredibly proud to be part of such a wonderful team of children, staff and parents.

Outside of school I have a husband, Steven, and son, Samuel, who is nine years old. I enjoy exercise, when I have the time, and travelling.

 

Jo Walton - Foundation Governor

From a very young age I always thought I was going to be a doctor but upon finishing GCE's I had the opportunity to spend a week on work experience in a small primary school in North Yorkshire. The entire week was such a pivotal time that I changed direction and applied to become a teacher.

Following my 'A' levels I attended Neville's Cross College, Durham and studied Biology and Physical Education. My first job was at Gaywood Park School, now Lynn Academy, where I worked for 7 years teaching mostly Physical Education and some Biology. I became Head of the P.E. Department and when Comprehensive Education arrived in Norfolk everyone had to apply/reapply for jobs. I secured Head of Girl's P.E at KES, where I worked until I had my children. I had no intention of returning to teaching full time until the children started Primary School but when they started Nursery School, I was asked to do supply work at KES, Gaywood and Terrington St Clements, all secondary schools, but also worked for a very short time in a local Primary. Once the children started school full-time, I was asked to cover maternity leave at Downham Market, now Downham Academy, and never really left. I took on the full-time post in the Girl's P.E. Department following the appointed person changing their mind and worked my way through to be Head of the Girl's Department and then overall Head of Boy's and Girl's P.E. During my latter years in the school, I worked closely with children with SEN and also taught PHSE.

Upon my retirement I was asked if I was interested in helping children struggling with GCSE English and for a few years worked with small groups of children at Downham Academy. I was also contacted by Wisbech Grammar School and asked if I was able to help out with any of their P.E. lessons and worked part-time there teaching netball, hockey, badminton and cricket. I still help out with netball and hockey when they are short staffed due to away fixtures and tournaments.

I became a Governor in September 2019 and have found it a truly rewarding experience. It is wonderful to be able to give back and make a difference to children, in such a good school as Denver, and support them in their educational journey and provide them with the opportunities for a successful future.

The responsibilities of Governors are many and varied and range from having some responsibility for how funds are spent, holding the Head Teacher to account and to support the school with its strategic direction to name but a few. It has also given me the opportunity to improve a variety of skills such as communication and problem solving.

 

Dr Jonathan Webster - Foundation Governor

I was invited to join Denver VC Primary School as a Foundation Governor early into the Summer of 2023. It was a privilege to be asked being new to Norfolk and Denver having moved here with my family in April 2021 from East Sussex. What struck me when I first visited the School was the energy and excitement in learning that the children displayed. Being a parent with two sons now at University, I know how important school life is and how learning can ignite curiosity, interest and an appetite for life long growth, ambition and development.

I am a member of St Mary’s Church Denver which is part of the Ouse Valley Benefice. The majority of my career has been within the NHS as a nurse. I trained in Portsmouth and have held a number of different roles across the South East and in London, my last post being across the South East Region working for the NHS Regulator. In 2020, I joined the University of East Anglia in an academic role and work at UEA three days a week – I am working on a programme called the ‘Norfolk Initiative for Coastal and Rural Health Equalities’ known as ‘NICHE’. I also teach on undergraduate and post graduate programmes within ‘health’ and ‘care’ along with delivering bespoke commissioned programmes of learning and practice development across Norfolk and nationally.

As a family, moving to Norfolk has been (and continues to be) a great adventure! Exploring a new area and becoming part of a community provides a great opportunity to learn new things, meet different people and to see the World though a different lens. I very much enjoy gardening and have been able to rekindle my interest in ceramics (having studied it to A’ Level many years ago) – I now have a Pottery Studio in my back garden!

In my Governor role I very much enjoy working with the other Governors, teaching team, children and parents at Denver VC Primary School along with the wider community that supports the school. I believe that every opportunity is a learning opportunity (no matter how difficult it might be at the time). I am committed to the ongoing growth and development of Denver VC Primary School as an environment that nurtures and helps children to grow in which they find ‘joy’ and ‘ambition’  in their learning and education.