Meet our Dorney School Governors

A very warm welcome from the Governors here at Dorney School. The Governing Body has ten members varying from teachers, parents and members of the local community. We work as a team with the Headteacher for the benefit of all the pupils and staff at Dorney School.

We’re all volunteers and have a diverse background, from education, to safety, Law and I.T. We’re here to give the school a strategic direction and to act as ‘a critical friend’ - helping to guide the school to improving the standard of education for all our children.

We don’t get involved in the day-to-day operation of the school but set the criteria by which the school is managed by regularly challenging and questioning to ensure that everyone is working together, and every child has the opportunity, to be enriched, enhanced and excited.

We ensure that local and national government legislation and targets are met, that we spend our school budget wisely, that the safety of everyone is paramount, and that the curriculum is delivered to benefit all children.

Governors take an active role in the school, they are passionate about the school and are here to make sure that every child is given the best education, opportunities and experiences that the school can give.  Governors not only attend meetings, but also school functions, visits to classrooms and they help with school visits.

The decisions the Governors are involved in affect the school, from curriculum decisions, setting the annual budget, appointing staff and safeguarding and approving all the school policies, therefore the children are at the heart of these decisions.

If you are interested in a role with the Governors, and bring a useful skill set, please get in touch through the school office; we’d be happy to hear from you.

Who are we:

Headteacher: Sharifah Lee

Sharifah loves being a mum of four kids (five if you include her husband!) and she loves teaching. She likes to travel to far off places, eat lots of food and read as much as she can. Her whole family supports Manchester City Football Club and they love cricket too.

She has been teaching for many years in primary, secondary and high schools. She has had the opportunity to lead in various roles and has been a staff and community governor for different settings. Teaching is not just a vocation, it is her passion and she is passionate about promoting this worthwhile profession. Sharifah says, “it is a privilege to be a part of this Governing Body as the work we do ensures that all pupils get the education and care they are entitled to.”

Chair of Governors: Rachel Cross

With 33 years in primary education, starting as a new teacher in Slough and finishing after 13 years of headship, also in Slough, I have teaching and leadership experience in eight schools including special education and nursery provision and have taught in all primary year groups. During my first headship at Cippenham Infants in Slough, where we achieved two ‘outstanding’ Ofsted inspections, I oversaw the conversion to academy status as one of three schools in Slough’s first multi-academy trust. Before starting at my last school, St Mary’s CE Primary, it had been graded as ‘requires improvement’ when I was asked to lead this by the local authority. Six years later, I took early retirement after we had our second ‘good’ Ofsted and SIAMS (church schools) inspections.

Safeguarding Governor: Kate Mawdsley

Kate is an ethics, compliance and audit specialist. She is passionate about instilling a growth mentality in children and in driving Dorney's inclusion & diversity agenda. Professionally, Kate spent ten years working in audit and has audited financial management in schools and Ofsted as an organisation itself. Her career is now focussed on business integrity, ethics and compliance – helping to avoid problems occurring and fixing them if they do. A key part of this is supporting whistleblowers and corporate investigations. Kate is a strong advocate of the seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

Pupil welfare Governor: Stephen Baker - Appointed 20th November 2019

Stephen was educated at both Dorney School and Burnham Grammar School. He went on to a career in Human Resources where he has specialised in Employment Law, Organisational Change, Legislative Changes and HR policy, working for both large national and large multi-national businesses including Sainsbury’s, Ernst and Young, Balfour Beatty and ENGIE. Stephen is committed to the school in ensuring that all pupils receive the best education possible and that the team in place have the tools, knowledge and skills to deliver this.

Pupil Premium & Finance Governor: Kuldip Kainth - Appointed 20th November 2019

Health and Safety Governor - Simon Whitrod - Elected 17th December 2020

SEND Governor - Sinead O'Connor - Elected 6th April 2022

Curriculum Governor - Narinder Toor - Elected 6th April 2022

Staff Governor - Sarah Davies - Elected 1st September 2020

Staff Governor - Judith Barnard - Elected 12th May 2022

Thank you for taking the time to find out a little bit about our Governing Body.

* Governing boards are required to publish on their website a register of interests for each of their board members. These include (but are not limited to) relevant business interests, governance roles in other educational institutions and any material interests arising from relationships between board members or relationships between board members and school staff.

Governors who have left within the last 12 months