Who are Education Swanage?
Free School proposer groups must have a Governing Body in place in order to apply to the Department for Education to open a school.
Education Swanage is the proposer group behind The Swanage School. It was established in 2009 as a campaign group for those who wanted to work towards the return of secondary education to Swanage. To comply with the free school process, Education Swanage became a limited company last year and the Governing Body was elected from among its members. As a cooperative, Education Swanage is much broader than the Governing Body and is open to anyone to join. Members with voting rights are required to agree to the founding Vision and Ethos of the school, and will need to apply for an enhanced CRB check.
The Governing Body of The Swanage School will include parent and staff governors, as well as community governors, once the school is open, and to ensure openness and democracy all positions will be open for election on a regular basis.
The current Governing Body of The Swanage School comprises:
Tristram Hobson, Headteacher Designate. Joins us from the highly successful St Edmund's School in Salisbury, where he was previously Deputy Head. He lives in Wimborne with his wife and their two sons.
William Knight, Chair of Finance and Treasurer, has a background in IT and senior management and has been a school governor for 30 years, currently serving at St George’s. He lives in Langton.
Amanda Rowley, Governor and Secretary, runs an advertising and marketing company. She lives in Swanage with her husband and two children, who attend St Mary’s and Yarrells prep school.
Geoff Atkinson, Chair of People, worked at a senior level at ICL and Norwich Union and for 15 years has been a consultant in organisation development. He and his wife live in Swanage.
Nikki Harman, Governor, lives in Swanage with her husband and two children, moving back after a time in nursing. She is a volunteer at the SureStart centre and a trustee at Cygnets preschool.
Carl Styants, Chair of Communications, is a magazine editor and journalist. He is also a parent governor at Swanage First School. He lives in Swanage with his partner Elaine and their two children.
Isobel Tooley, Governor, is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and has used her finance skills to manage the project. She lives in Langton with husband Steve and their two children.
Dave Pratten, Governor, is head teacher at Swanage Middle School and has worked as a head teacher at secondary schools and as a School Improvement Partner. He lives in Swanage with his wife.
Liz Gilmour, Governor, is a solicitor and brings her legal knowledge to the Governing Body. She lives in Swanage with her husband John and two daughters, who attend St Mary's and Castle Court Prep School, where John is deputy head.
Stephen Parker, Governor, is the former Finance Director for Bournemouth Borough Council and has a wealth of financial experience. He lives in Swanage.
Helen O’Connor, Vice Chair and Chair of Curriculum, has been a senior secondary school teacher for 22 years and is a freelance educational consultant. She currently works part time at Highcliffe and Lytchett Minster schools. She lives in Knitson with her husband and three daughters.
Paul Angel, Chair of Governors, is a web developer and is well known locally as a photographer. He lives in Swanage with his wife Vicki and their two sons. He is a fully qualified adult education teacher, also working in schools and on social inclusion programmes in Bournemouth. He was a founding member of Education Swanage and has been the group’s spokesman since 2009.
Education Swanage also has a number of Associates:
Steve Tooley, Lead of Premises, is a former UK sales director for Kodak and Vice Chair of Governors at Swanage Middle School.
Jo Tatchell has a marketing and management background and is currently a full-time mum to four children. She lives in Langton.
Alison Stephens works in SEN and is a teaching assistant at Purbeck View. She is a Governor at Swanage First School.
Collette Drayson is a former TA at St George’s and a Langton Parish Councillor. She has three grown-up children.
Our Lead Advisers:
James Wetz has worked for over 30 years in state education, 16 of these as a secondary school Head teacher. He was appointed National Director of the Human Scale Education Movement in April 2011. He is a Fellow of the Centre for Social Policy (Dartington), a Fellow of the RSA, a lay member of council of Bristol University and serves on the Advisory Group of the National Children’s Bureau, which advises the trustees on strategy and policy.
Philip Lomax is a former Chief Inspector and Assistant Director of Education and Children’s Services and was start-up Headteacher for a UK Academy. He has extensive school and Local Authority experience, including the commissioning of high performing Headteachers and leading school improvement programmes. He is also an experienced OFSTED inspector and trainer.
Additional educational & project management advice is provided by PKF, Prospects, Human Scale Education, The Co-operative College, The Innovation Unit, and directly from the Department for Education and Education Funding Agency.
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