Governors
Surrey Square Primary School– governance of the Academy
The School is a member of a Multi Academy Trust known as Big Education Trust. You will find a statement on the Trust’s approach to governance on its website https://www.bigeducation.org/
At individual school level, our work is overseen by our Local Governing Body (LGB), which takes all the main decisions relating to the day-to-day operation of the school.
The key accountability for local governing bodies is to ensure that life at the school reflects the values and objectives of the school and Big Education Trust. The Local Governing Bodies are technically committees of the Board of Big Education Trust, but the Trust wishes there to be full local autonomy and oversight, so there are extensive delegated powers. The membership of each local governing body includes elected parents and staff, and co-opted governors. The headteacher of the school is an ex-officio member of the local governing body. They meet at least three times a year.
Local governing bodies support and strengthen their headteacher’s leadership through;
- robust challenge and support and by holding them to account for the performance of pupils and staff, in line with the individual vision of the school
- ensuring that local processes are in place for health, safety and compliance, including day to day financial monitoring, and that the Trust Board is kept informed of any risks or matters of concern.
Ways of working
The Trust expects all Governing Bodies within the Trust to sign up to some core principles, for example:
- A commitment to elected parental representation on LGBs
- Governors to be hands-on in supporting Headteachers in achieving their local mission as well as exercising their governance responsibilities
- Governing Bodies to be highly skilled and active in self-assessment, learning and peer-review – living the Trust’s values
- The Trust to provide or enable training in response to each LGB’s own and trust-wise priorities for development
- To prioritise effective communication between Trustees and local governors e.g. working together on cross-cutting projects
The Governing Body of Surrey Square Primary School consists of the following people:
The Clerk to the Governors is Octavo Clerking, who can be contacted by email at clerking@octavopartnership.org
They can be contacted via the School office or by email to Office@surreysquare.southwark.sch.uk
Surrey Square Primary School Governors
Our school Governors are:
Simona Tottoli
Parent Governor
Vice chair of LGB and chair of Ethos committee
I work as a Regeneration Programme Officer for a Local Authority. I love being a governor at Surrey Square where my daughter goes. I have discovered that there is quite a lots and complicated work behind the scenes in running a school. I am pleased to be part and support the school staff to make decisions about future directions while also challenging the school leadership. In the role of parent governor, I make sure that the point of view/feelings of parents/careers are always considered.
I am vegetarian and environmentally conscious at all times, during my spare time (which is not much) I volunteer for a local Vegan Coop (community group), I love family time, forests, dogs, yoga, swimming, running, cycling, travelling, reading biographies and everything organic, healthy and ethical.
Claire Gosnell
Chair of local governing body
I lead on branding and communications for a large international law firm. I live quite near to Surrey Square and was impressed by the school's ethos and inspired by the commitment of the staff and leadership team to make a difference to their children and their families. Being part of the governing body is very rewarding and a great way for me to feel more in touch with my local community; I highly recommend it!
Away from school and work, I love nothing more than to get lost in a good book.
Matt Morden
Headteacher
Matt is a keen musician and performer. You can often find him 'treading the boards' at the Bridewell Theatre.
Being a governor means that I have a deep understanding of all the mechanics that go on behind the scenes in order to keep a school running effectively. It is great to be part of a team that works together towards the same goal and vision - ensuring excellence for all children at Surrey Square.
Jacques Morris
I work on climate change in the Civil Service. Having previously worked closely with schools and local authorities in other Government roles, I wanted to get more involved with education in my community and was immediately drawn to the innovation, success and friendly atmosphere of Surrey Square. Outside of work I spend my time playing football, squash, cycling and rock climbing, and am big on all things green!
Matt Bowman
Vice chair of LGB and chair of Finance committee
My name is Matt Bowman and I am a finance and financial restructuring and insolvency lawyer who works for a large international bank in London. I first became aware of Surrey Square through my involvement with the bank’s charity steering committee and its current partnership with Magic Breakfast. I feel extremely lucky and proud to have the opportunity to join such a successful team who have already achieved so much but hope that my finance background and legal skills can help support the school as it continues its journey.
I believe that you only get out of life what you put in and we all have a duty to give back where we can. Outside of work I live in South West London with my wife and 2 primary school age children and I am passionate about sport and health and fitness generally. I also sing in a community choir.
Simon Ralph
Simon is a commercial property lawyer at Clarkslegal LLP with a specialism is food and restaurant work, which stems from his love of all things food related!
He first became aware of Surrey Square through Nicola and in the past has come into the school on his days off to help out. This is when he first saw for himself the great work and philosophy at the school, as well as the inspiring children.
Other than eating Simon also enjoys rugby, cooking and spending time with his family and friends.
Lauren Pemberton-Nelson
I am an ex Surrey Square Pupil.I am Senior Comms Coordinator at Glitch, and Communications and Marketing Officer at PurpleSpace. As an ex pupil, I was interested in becoming a Governor to support Surrey Square, as I am grateful to the support that the school provided me as a pupil, and wanted to be able to give back to the school in a positive way. I really enjoy being a governor because I get to hear about the amazing and hard work that the school is doing, and help. In my spare time, I like to read, jog, travel and play chess badly.
Parent governors
Simona Tottoli
Nikki Green
Community governors
Lauren Pemberton-Nelson
Jacques Morris
LA governors
Claire Gosnell
Partnership governors
Samantha Keen
Matt Bowman
Simon Ralph
Staff governors
Nicola Noble - Headteacher
Matt Morden - Headteacher
Kelly Rowles
Mel Irvine
Matt Dean
Every year all governors sign a register of business interests and at present there are no interests to be declared.
Details of the committees, attendances and appointment dates can be found here.
Ethos committee: Simona Tottoli, Jacques Morris, Matt Dean, Nicola Noble, Matt Morden, Lauren Pemberton-Nelson
Terms of Reference Ethos Committee
Operations committee: Matt Bowman, Simon Ralphs, Nicola Noble, Matt Morden, Kelly Rowles, Nikki Green, Samantha Keen, Mel Irvine
Terms of Reference Operations Committee