In this section
Who We Are
Paul Childs, Chairman: I first became a parent governor at Warlingham School in 1993 and became a LEA governor approximately 7/8 years ago when I became deputy chair of governors. I took over the position of chair of governors approximately 6 years ago. For 30 years I ran my own construction Company in Oxted having initially trained as a Quantity Surveyor. The Company ceased trading in January 2004 and in May 2004 I became a School Business Manager. I am married to Carolyn who is a retired Head Teacher who now works as a freelance Education Consultant and I have 2 grown up children. I am a keen golfer and horse rider, I have been Captain of Purley Downs Golf Club and I also have my own horse which takes much of my leisure time.
Joan Pageot: I have lived in Warlingham since 1980. I am married with one daughter and two young grandchildren. Throughout my working life I have been involved in Education, spending most of the time in Primary Schools. During this time I have taught children of various ages in Bristol, Middlesex, East Africa, Scotland and Croydon. My interests include walking, reading and music. We are supporters of a local amateur dramatic group. I enjoy foreign travel and visiting places of natural and historic interest in the Britain.
Stuart Thompson: I have recently been appointed as one of the Local Authority governors at Warlingham School. I am so impressed by all that I have seen and heard when I have been at the school.
I am currently Director of Music at Caterham School, where I have been for the last six years, having previously been Director of Music at Leeds Cathedral. I have for the last few years really wanted to play an active role in the life of a local school as a way of giving something back to local community and was very pleased to hear of the governor vacancy at Warlingham, a school whose excellent reputation had already preceded it! I live in Old Coulsdon, although I currently spend a lot of time on planes, trains and the M1 as my girlfriend lives in Leeds and I still perform quite regularly with a jazz band called ‘Something Else’ in the city (many of my current pupils find some of the clips on ‘YouTube’ particularly amusing) and also work closer to home with the local choral group ‘Downland Chorale’.
I am currently a part-time student at the Institute of Education in London, studying an MBA in School Leadership. Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying the course, having to write five thousand word essays when in your thirties does come as a bit of a shock to the system! Whilst all the above does not leave much time for hobbies, I am very pleased to have lowered my golf handicap to twelve this year!
Jane Sillitto: I became a Local Authority Governor at Warlingham in Dec 2009 and was really pleased to be able to have the chance to work more closely with the school. My daughter joined year 7 in Sept 2009. Volunteering is one way I can put something back into the community I have lived in since 2000. My career has been in Human Resources and Training & Development for a good few years. I enjoy this as a lot of it focuses on ensuring people reach their potential in their career and work environment. Being part of a team that wants pupils to fulfil their potential from their school experience is a real motivation for me and I know I will learn from it too.
When not at work I enjoy days out with my daughter and our friends, keeping fit, watching rugby, reading all sorts of books, visiting National Trust venues or even the odd charity challenge like tandem skydiving, bike rides or runs (well, jog-walks in my case!).
Community Governors
Robert Adams: Two of my three children have attended Warlingham School. My first involvement with the school was as the Treasurer of the Warlingham School Association some thirty years ago. I was elected as a parent governor in 1983 and have remained on the Governing Body to date. I initiated the setting up of the Warlingham School Educational Trust, of which I am still a trustee. I retired from my post as Assistant District Surveyor for a London Borough in 1996. My interests now include looking after our grand daughters on two afternoons a week, travel, photography, chess and Warlingham School.
Gordon Bull, Vice-Chairman: I first became a parent governor in 1995. I have served on the Finance, Curriculum Assessment, Catering (when we had one) and Specialist School committees. I chaired Curriculum and Assessment for two years and was Deputy Chairman of Governors for the same period. All of my children have attended the school. The youngest is in Year 11, the older three have left.
I am 51 years old, married to Diana and we live locally in Sanderstead. I am a Chartered Accountant by training and run an accounting practice in South Croydon. I have recently taken up Business Coaching as a career development for myself.
Janet Kelly: A former pupil of Warlingham School, I joined as a governor when the elder of my two daughters started in September 2000. I own and run two media businesses and therefore have a specific interest in the specialist aspect of the school, as well as the related marketing and PR activity. Recently I have been appointed as a magistrate serving at Redhill – with a view to working in the youth courts so I can consolidate my experience of working with organisations dealing with young people. On a personal level I enjoy cooking, travel, writing, reading, music (playing the saxophone – badly), Ceroc dancing and spending time with my friends and family (including husband, two teenage daughters, German Shepherd dog - who thinks she is a poodle - and five cats).
Ann Shepherd: I live in Sanderstead with my husband, Paul. I have four children who all attended Warlingham School. My youngest is currently in his last year of Sixth Form. I am a Biomedical Scientist by Profession although I am now retired. I became a Parent Governor in 1994 and I am now a Community governor. I became a governor because I wanted to do something useful in the local community and with children going through the school system I thought would be able to bring a parents perspective to school policies. Since then I have gained an insight into the difficulties of running and maintaining a school. Government policies and initiatives have widened the role of governors and their influence has become greater over the years. My focus has always been on the student experience of school and I am Chair of the Student Welfare Support and Discipline Committee. I am Child Protection and Looked-After Children governor and I also attend the Young Chamber meetings when possible.
Parent Governors
Liz Dawe: I became a governor of Warlingham School in the spring of 2003 and began a second term of office in autumn 2006. I have chaired the Premises, Health and Safety Committee for about a year now. I have been involved in education in various roles since returning to work once both daughters had started school. The girls now attend Warlingham School and are both taller than me! I have worked as a Special Needs Assistant, School Administrator at special schools and am now an Exams Officer at de Stafford School. When I find some spare time I enjoy pottering in the garden, sewing and planning the next holiday.
Jeremy Kite: I'm a parent with two boys, one of whom has recently joined the school. I was a governor at a local church school for 9 years. I work with the public sector, am a company director and committed to the education of our children as a way for them to fulfil their potential. I recognise that a child's path is not easy and they need tolerance, support and guidance from their parents, carers and teachers to help them learn. I enjoy family times.
Sarah Berke: My son has recently started at Warlingham in Year 7. I have been involved with education for most of my working life. I am currently a school teacher at a local primary school. Prior to re-training as a teacher, I worked as a University administrator, managing and designing admissions and enrolment systems, both in this country, and in New Zealand where I lived for 10 years. I am really interested in all aspects of education especially life long learning.
Nicola Adekoya: My son recently started at Warlingham in Year 7 and I have had four other children who have also attended Warlingham. I have raised 7 children and have 2 grandchildren. I am interested in all aspects of education and home educate one of my sons. I am an active member of my church and enjoy reading and enjoying time with my family. I am especially interested in the application of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) techniques, particularly as they apply to education and children who have difficulty adapting to the school environment and the education system.
Tim Pinkney: I am married with two children, my wife and son are both at the school, and live in Warlingham. I am a manager with Metrobus and have been in Public Transport for 36 years. My interests include news and current affairs, transport and related issues. Family time, reading, and professional ballsports (or something similar in the case of Newcastle United), make non-work time enjoyable and varied.
Paul Collard-Odle: Working in the field of crime and youth crime, and having children of the age exposed to trends of youth crime, I felt it necessary to learn more about the education sytem and share my experience and skills wtih the education system. I have witnessed the long, hard, battle that teachers have to cope with on a day-to-day basis and I felt it was my duty as a parent and a member of the community to volunteer my services.
Karen Greenwood-Hone: As a parent governor, part of my role is to act as a link between parents and the school and I am eager to support parents in making a positive contribution to their children’s education. All members of the governing body share responsibility for various aspects of supporting the running of the school and I am a member of the Finance and Staffing committees. Having held similar responsibilities in my previous role as a parent governor I feel I can make a valuable contribution in these areas. I recently made my first ‘official’ visit to the school during when I was able to meet and talk to some of the children. I look forward to meeting many more during my future visits as well as some of the parents during my term of office. On a personal note, I have been working in Education for 12 years and for the past 6 as a primary teaching assistant. During this time I have gained extensive training in Education and the National Curriculum, graduating in 2008 with a BA Hons in Early Childhood Studies. I hope to complete my Teacher Training in the near future.
Staff Governors
Alison Woodhouse – Headteacher: I have recently clocked up 25 years at Warlingham having joined in 1982 as Head of Geography and taking on other senior posts in the school before my appointment to the headship in 2000. This means that I have known many of our current parents (and, indeed, some of our staff) as pupils here! Previously, I worked in a brand new school in Kent. I am vice-chair of the Surrey Secondary Heads’ Council, a body that represents the 53 11-16/11-18 schools in the local authority and as such meet regularly with the Head of Schools and Learning and other officers and members. In a weak moment I volunteered to sit on the Management Committee (similar to a Governing Body) of a Pupil Referral Unit in Reigate which was in special measures and it has been an interesting experience going through the LEA intervention programme and numerous inspections to the point where it is now functioning well. I enjoy spending many of my holidays at my house in France but am still highly embarrassed at my poor school-girl French – a personal target for me is to learn the language so that I can converse as an adult rather than as a 2-year-old. I love travelling and have a particular passion for southern Africa.
Peter Jones: One of the few people left to be born within the city walls of Chester I still follow my home football team. Living close to Liverpool and Manchester there were a large number of teams to chose from but no my father took me to see Chester City. I think it may have set the tone for the rest of my life! I live in Kenley with my wife and four cats. What spare time I have is devoted to my passions of travel, entertaining and design. As far as work-life is concerned, I graduated in Management Sciences from Manchester University and then followed a career in Accountancy with Price Waterhouse, Coopers (PWC) and in banking. Five years ago I made a career move into teaching which apart from marrying Marilyn was probably the best decision I have made in my life.
Sue Pay: I was a Teaching Assistant at a Croydon School. I worked there for nearly five years, during which time I was on the board of governors for four years. I have now worked at Warlingham for four years and recently I have been interviewing prospective candidates for teaching posts, alongside other colleagues. Since I started at Warlingham School I have successfully passed NVQ Level 3 Teaching Assistant and I am now in the process of training as an Assessor. I am married with three children. My hobbies are reading, socialising, dining out and the theatre.
Clerk to the Governors
Jane Pocock: I have been a Clerk for five years. My role is to minute all governor meetings ensuring that information, agendas and minutes are sent to governors and actions are followed up. In addition, I also research information and educational law for the governors. To contact me please email: jpocock@warlingham.surrey.sch.uk.
