Governors

Welcome to the Governors page

HEADTEACHER	Mr Matthew Ashdown
LA GOVERNOR	Mr John Godfrey
ELECTED STAFF GOVERNOR	Ms Sam Kashmiri
ELECTED PARENT GOVERNOR	Mrs Kimberly Nelson
ELECTED PARENT GOVERNOR	Mr Jake Terrill
ELECTED PARENT GOVERNOR	Ms Jennifer Barker
ELECTED PARENT GOVERNOR	Mrs Viv Aloy
Co-opted	Mrs Linda Anderson (Co Chair)
Co-opted	Mrs Nicci Lorusso (Co Chair)
Co-opted	Mr Colin Brace
Co-opted	Mrs Eva Field (Vice Chair)
Co-opted	Mrs Alison Burholt
Co-opted	Mr Andrew Hunter
Co-opted	Mrs Sue Hatton
Co-opted	Mr Paul Parker
Co-opted	Mr Rich Shakleton
Co-opted	VACANT
ELECTED PARENT GOVERNOR	VACANT
Clerk to the Governors	VACANT

All governors are elected/co-opted or appointed for a 4 year term of office apart from the Headteacher who is in office whilst he is Headteacher at Downlands.

The Governing Board has three primary functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its students, and the performance management of staff
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Each member brings to the board both personal and professional skills and knowledge. These qualities enable board members to function as part of a team and contribute to effective governance.

Each governor should also fulfil their duties in line with the seven principles of public life (the Nolan principles).

The majority of governors’ work is done by various committees who have delegated powers and report back to all governors at the full business meetings. These committees co-opt other members of staff who have the relevant responsibilities within school (e.g. Members of the Senior Leadership Team).

More information about the structure of the Governing Body Committees can be found here:

Membership & Structure of Downlands Governing Body

Minutes of the full Governing Board meetings are available on request from the Clerk to the Governors c/o the School.

We hope you find the above information useful and should you wish to contact the governors, please email the Clerk – ctog@downlands.org.

Mrs Linda Anderson and Mrs Nicci Lorusso, Co Chairs of Governors

Governor Vacancy

Governor Code of Conduct 2025

Governors Access

Our Communities

All students at Downlands belong to one of 4 Communities, all named after areas of natural beauty in Sussex

Beacon
South Downs
Weald
Wolstonbury

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