School Governors

Management Team

Picture	Name	Position
	Mrs D Stryzyk	Deborah is clerk to the governors and has worked in various departments within Education for over thirty years. She currently works with the governing bodies of a number of schools in the Swale area. Deborah has a daughter who attended the school.
	Mr S Way - Headteacher	Mr Way took on the role of headteacher at Boughton under Blean and Dunkirk Methodist school in September 2015. Previously he was Headteacher at Victoria Road school, during which time the school’s Ofsted grading moved from Inadequate to Good. He has previously been an Executive headteacher across Bougton and St Peters Methodist school in Canterbury and is currently a Regional Leader of Education for Methodist schools in the South East of England.
	Mr D Warner - staff governor	Left as staff governor September 2024
	Mrs B Feast - Foundation Governor	Brenda is a Member at St. John’s Methodist Church in Whitstable. She worked in the NHS as a Clinical Nurse Specialist for over 38 years, before becoming a Funeral Director and Bereavement Counsellor. She was appointed as a Foundation Governor by the Canterbury and East Kent Circuit of the Methodist Church in September 2019.
	Mr M Baybutt (ex- Chair)	Ex-governor, resigned May 2023
	Mr J Bennett - Co opted governor	John teaches part-time as a lecturer at University of Kent having moved to Boughton fairly recently. Previously he has worked as a specialist Ofsted inspector in the further education sector, worked on quality and compliance in education and has extensive experience as a governor at schools in other parts of the country. Amongst other volunteering ventures he has run a children's gardening club. John is a keen cyclist and had success recently completing a Land's End to John O'Groats challenge.
	Mrs J Mayer (Chair of Governors) - Co opted governor	Jenny is a proud parent to 2 daughters at Boughton School and also the Treasurer of the PTFA. Jenny has worked in the Commercial Banking industry for over 20 years and has extensive experience in all aspects of client and colleague management, strategy and change implementation, as well as financial planning and appraisal. Jenny lives in the village and can often be found walking her Dalmatian with her family in the beautiful woodlands and surroundings
	Mrs C Clayson - Local Authority governor	Carol was a Prison Education Manager and has overseen several Ofsted inspections. Alongside this position, Carol worked with a consultant Ofsted Inspector to facilitate pre-inspection reviews. Carol is now a director of a not-for-profit social enterprise that she set up to work with those that have experienced disadvantage of opportunity to find sustainable, positive changes to their lives.
	Mr A Cummins - Co opted governor	Ex-governor, left July 2024
	Mr D Munro - Co opted governor	Ex-governor, resigned January 2024
	Mrs K Petts (Vice Chair) - Co opted governor	Kerry works for Folkestone and Hythe District Council as a Private Sector Housing Manager. She has 25 years experience working in local government. She is a fully qualified and Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and manages a team of enforcement officers dealing with poor conditions and health and safety concerns in private homes. She is also responsible for Disabled Adaptations, Empty Homes, Winter Warmth and other financial assistance for vulnerable home owners and working in partnership with other stakeholders to help alleviate delayed hospital discharge.
	Reverend R Bending - ex officio governor	Rosemary grew up in Dartford and has taught German in Lancashire and South Wales. She’s been a Methodist minister since 1997 and has served in Buckinghamshire and South Essex, where she was a governor at a Thurrock infant school for over 10 years. In 2014 the Methodist church gave permission for her to apply to Wycliffe Bible Translators and she had the privilege of working in a village in Burkina Faso, West Africa, working in French with a dedicated team of translators and literacy specialists to bring the Bible to a minority people group. She is now the minister of St John’s Methodist Church in Whitstable, the United Church in Faversham and is delighted to be Chaplain at Boughton as well as ex-officio governor. She loves the outdoors and is fascinated by words and their histories, in multiple languages!
	Dr K Gee - Parent governor	Kate is parent to an enthusiastic four-year-old at Boughton Under Blean. As a Chartered Psychologist specialising in wellbeing within and using the arts, she has extensive teaching, research, and grant development experience within the Higher Education system. Kate is currently Programme Manager and Research Adviser for the University of Kent Centre for Health Services Studies. A former Research Fellow at the Royal College of Music and Imperial College, Kate was previously Programme Director for Postgraduate Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University. She lives in Canterbury and spends any spare time playing music, tending a rambling allotment, or reading chick lit.
	Mrs Carol Goatham - Foundation governor	Carol has a daughter who attended Boughton under Blean Primary School and the breakfast and after school clubs. Carol worked as an Occupational Therapist and Specialist Driving Advisor for Kent Community Foundation Trust. She has been appointed as a Foundation Governor through membership of the United Reformed Church in Faversham, where she is currently also co-Secretary of The Guild, a group for adults which hosts talks and entertainment, primarily for the retired community. Carol is interested in local politics, especially where it influences housing provision, infrastructure, nature and our environment.
	Mr G Sample - Co-opted Governor	Graham has lived in Boughton for almost 40 years and is the proud father of two daughters who attended Boughton School, both are now teachers, one working in China and the other in Canterbury. Now retired, Graham was a Teacher for 40 years finishing as a Head of a Post 16 provision. He has worked across all phases of education much of which was focused on Special Educational Needs, including a Teacher of the Deaf, in Surrey, Kent and Medway. He has previous experience of being on school governing bodies and involvement in Ofsted Inspections. Included in his many interests, Graham is an active member of the Faversham Society, being a guide for the town walks and a Steward at the Faversham Charters Exhibition.
	Mrs H Gardner - Parent Governor	Helen is a parent of a child at Boughton School. She lives in Boughton and loves having the countryside on her doorstep. Helen works in an analytical role within the emergency services. Whilst working full time and looking after a toddler she completed a degree in physics and a postgraduate diploma in engineering. Helen is particularly passionate about diversity, inclusion and wellbeing.
	Dr J Perkins	Ex-governor, left July 2024
	Miss A Jordan - Staff governor	.Miss Jordan joined Boughton school in June 2021 in a teaching assistant position. Prior to joining Boughton, she worked within early years at a local nursery. During her time at Boughton, Miss Jordan has started a university degree within primary education. When she achieves this, she is aiming to gain her qualified teacher status. In September 2024 Miss Jordan took on the role of staff governor.
	Mrs T North - Co opted governor	.

The Governing Body at Boughton & Dunkirk Methodist Primary school reconstituted in June 2014 and comprises the following positions (and terms of office):

2 Foundation Governors (4 years) – appointed by the Methodist Church

2 Parent Governors (3 years) – elected by the parents of the school

1 Ex-officio Governor (ongoing) – appointed by the Methodist Church

1 Staff Governor (3 years) – elected by staff of the school

5 Co-opted Governors (3 years) – appointed by the Governing Body

1 Local Authority Governor (4 years)

Head Teacher

Our Governors are responsible for overseeing the management side of the school: strategy, policy, budgeting and staffing. They enable the school to run as effectively as possible, working alongside senior leaders and supporting teachers to provide excellent education to children. Being a school governor is a commitment to attending governing body meetings which consider issues such as setting the school vision, mitigating financial risk and scrutinising educational outcomes. They are also involved in the school community, acting as critical friends to the headteacher and senior leaders. Governors bring a wide range of skills and expertise from their professional lives to the governing board and schools benefit greatly from working with skilled volunteer. Governors work together to provide independent oversight of the management and operation of a school, with the aim of improving the quality of education provided and raising standards. A school’s governing body does not run the school on a day-to-day basis; this is the job of the Head Teacher and other senior staff.

Our work is supported by the Clerk to the Governing Body. Our Governing Body operates the Circle Model of Governance thus governors pair-up to take areas of monitoring responsibility, with particular focus on designated areas of the School Plan or school budget. You will find non-confidential minutes from the past 12 months of Full Governing Body meetings below. Within these minutes is recorded the annual review of the Governing Body’s Terms of Reference and Standing Orders (usually Term 1) as well regular recording of individual governors’ attendance to meetings, and discussion of their monitoring visit and training reports. Copies of older meeting minutes are available upon request to the Clerk.

Correspondance to the governing body should be addressed to the Chair (Jenny Mayer) who is contactable through the school office. Should you have any questions about, or wish to discuss informally your interest in becoming a member of this Governing Body, please contact the Chair via the school office.