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St. Felix Catholic School

St. Felix
Catholic School

Governors

A message from the Chair of Governors

Welcome on behalf of the Governing Body for St Felix RC Primary School. The school is part of Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Multi Academy Trust.

We are delighted to welcome you to our website which we hope provides all the necessary information to parents and visitors about how our school is run and the aims and expectations we set ourselves.

As a part of the Trust, our Local Governing Body is made up of Foundation Governors (who are appointed by the Diocese), Staff Governors, and Parent Governors. We are entrusted with ensuring the school is well run and promotes the best outcomes for each child.

The Governing Body’s key duties include: setting and reviewing the curriculum, responsibility for standards, receiving the school budget and reviewing progress against it and setting and implementing the admissions policy. The Governors also act as a critical friend to the school by supporting and challenging Mrs Dodds and the staff to ensure that the teaching and learning standards are high and that all pupils make good progress in a safe, engaging and rich learning environment.

In addition, the Foundation Governors on the Governing Body have a legal duty to preserve and develop the Catholic character of the school and to ensure that the school is conducted in accordance with the vision and values of the Multi Academy Trust.

We hope our website answers many if not all of your questions, but the school is always happy and willing to answer any additional concerns or queries you may have.

The Governing Body is made up of 6 foundation governors, 2 parent governors, 1 staff governor, and the headteacher. The information below gives a brief description of the background and skills of our current members of the St Felix Governing Body.

The Chair of Governors can be contacted via the school address and letters should be marked for the attention of the Chair of Governors

Andrea Dodds

Headteacher

Appointed: 1st September 2018

Term of Office: Ongoing

Other Responsibilities: None

Register of Interests:
Member of staff

Former member of staff at St. Louis Catholic Academy

My career in teaching began in 2009. I have worked exclusively in the Catholic education system, successfully fulfilling roles as Class Teacher, Subject Leader, Senior Leader, Deputy Headteacher and currently as Headteacher.

Prior to teaching I worked clinically as a midwife but chose to train as a teacher once I had my own children and have found this much more fulfilling, particularly in a Catholic setting. I have worked in the Diocese of East Anglia and Diocese of Westminster.

I have had subject responsibility for a variety of subjects but my real passion is Religious Education which I have led successfully in both of my previous settings.

I became Head of School at St Felix in September 2018 and Headteacher in September 2021.

Tracy Anderson

Staff Governor

Appointed: 1992

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:

None

Register of Interests:
Member of staff

I am the Staff Governor for St Felix School. I have served on the governing body for nearly twenty years and I enjoy representing the staff views. I have been a teacher at St Felix since 1992 and have seen many changes in the school and education.  I am also responsible for leading Science in the school.

I am married with one daughter who attended St. Felix, St. Louis Middle and St. Benedict’s Upper School. Having completed university, she now works as a speech therapist.

Victoria Eccleston

Parent Governor

 

Appointed:
January 2020

 

Term of Office:
4 years 

Other Responsibilities: Pupil Premium and Sports Premium

Register of Interests:
None

I have been working as an Internal Auditor for Local Government for 12 years. I have experience of auditing schools, as well as Local Authority financial and operational systems.  I have lived in Haverhill for seven years and enjoy being part of the local community. My two daughters were born in 2014 and 2016 and by being a Parent Governor I hope to help the school continue to teach and develop all pupils to reach their full potential.

Lesley Moore

Parent Governor

Appointed: April 2021

End of Governance: 27/4/25

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:  Safeguarding

Register of Interests: 

 

 

I have one child at St Felix

My background is in retail management

Wendy Lashmar

Foundation Governor

Chair of Governors

Appointed: November 2019

End of Governance: 31/10/2023

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:  Pupil Premium, Sports Premium

Register of Interests: 

Previous Headteacher of St Felix School

 

I was a teacher for thirty-three years in West Suffolk schools, fifteen of those were in leadership as headteacher. I have an education degree and an advanced diploma in children’s language and literacy. I am now retired but am still keen to be involved in education.

I play the organ at St. Felix church and am interested in music and children’s literacy learning.

I have a long history with St. Felix School as a teacher, headteacher, parent and now grandparent and it is a real privilege to serve this community in my role as governor.

Fr John Warrington

Foundation Governor

School Chaplain

Appointed: October 2020

Term of Office: Ongoing

Other Responsibilities: RE and Wellbeing

Register of Interests: Foundation Governor at St Benedict’s Catholic High School, Bury St Edmunds Parish Priest of St Felix Catholic Parish, Haverhill

I am the local Parish priest of St Felix Catholic Parish in Haverhill and the school chaplain to St Felix Catholic School.

I am a Catholic priest of the Diocese of East Anglia and was ordained a priest in 1993. As a priest I have worked in parishes and schools in Bury St Edmunds, Peterborough, Ipswich and now Haverhill. I also worked in Poringland as Bishops Secretary to Bishops Peter Smith and Michael Evans.

I have many years of experience as a Foundation Governor and school chaplain in many of our Catholic schools in the diocese.

Before I trained for the priesthood I worked as a trainee Quantity Surveyor in Norwich and for Sainsbury’s before that.

I was born in Cambridge and grew up mainly in Norwich where my parents still live.

I was appointed as Parish Priest of St Felix Catholic Parish in October 2020

Frances Massey

Foundation Governor

Appointed: 2022

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:

None

Register of Interests:
None

 

Julie Wood

Foundation Governor

Vice Chair

Appointed: 2022

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:

None

Register of Interests: None

 

Andy Stone

Foundation Governor

 

Appointed: 2023

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:

None

Register of Interests: Director of Schools Service in Diocese of East Anglia, Director of MAT in Waltham Forest (Exceptional Education Trust), Chair of Governors Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

 

Cassandra Bergin

Foundation Governor

 

Appointed: 2023

Term of Office: 4 years

Other Responsibilities:

None

Register of Interests: Married to Chair of Trust Board

 

Governor Meeting Attendance 2022-23

Governor Meeting Attendance 2021-22

Governor Meeting Attendance 2020-21

Governor Meeting Attendance 2019-20

Governor Meeting Attendance 2018-19

Governor Meeting Attendance 2017-18