Governor Overview

Vanessa Kingsley - Chair of Governors

Vanessa came to Suffolk in 1992. As a Key Stage 2 teacher, Vanessa worked in three large Ipswich schools. During this time Vanessa became a Leading Maths teacher and worked with many schools to improve maths provision in primary education.  In 2010 Vanessa became a Headteacher in Ipswich in a
deprivation school. Vanessa worked with the teachers and pupils to build their self-confidence, resilience and belief that they could succeed. In 2018 Vanessa retired and has continued to support schools through
her Governance work. Vanessa became a Governor at Springfield Junior School in 2019. She has completed the National Governors Chairs qualification. She is also a Parish Councillor at Bacton, Suffolk. Vanessa enjoys music and singing. She has four grandchildren which keeps her very busy!

Sam Green - Vice chair of governors and safeguarding governor

Sam has lived in Suffolk since 1997. Sam is a Primary School teacher and is experienced in leading pastoral
care teams within school settings.  Sam has taken leading roles in safeguarding and is committed to
ensuring all children have a high quality education and access to the support they need in order  to be
successful independent learners.  When not at school, Sam enjoys travelling in her campervan and can
often be found wandering the highlands of Scotland in search of adventure.

 

Victoria Gardner - trust governor

Victoria joined the Board of Governors at Springfield Junior School in 2010, when her son was in
Year 3. Victoria originally trained as a Primary school teacher, but has worked in business for the last 10 years. Being a Parent Governor has given Victoria the opportunity to utilise the skills and knowledge she
has gained in business, as well as enabling her to get involved with and support a fantastic local school.

Richard Smithson - Trust governor

Richard has worked in a variety of areas, initially for British Telecom, developing software and supporting
computer networks. In the mid-nineties an opportunity came about to support schools as they increasingly
wanted to use computers. Since that time Richard has been involved with schools: supporting, teaching and guiding them in the use and development of their computer systems. On reaching retirement age
Richard wanted to still be able to continue his involvement in education and thus became a governor for
Springfield.

Eddie King - trust governor

 

 

Sheridan Bliss - Parent Governor

Sheridan is a secondary school PE teacher, and has worked in education in different schools since 2010. He has strong links with PE, ICT and SEND from his work as a Teaching Assistant in the past. He became a Parent Governor in June 2024, while his daughter was in year 3. 

When not teaching, Sheridan can be found giving his time as the Vice-Chairman of the Suffolk Youth League, as well as being a local football referee. 

 

Leah Brown-Sawyer - parent Governor

 

Beth Taylor - Staff Governor

Beth has worked at Springfield Junior school for six years, and was appointed to the role of Deputy Head in January 2025.  Beth has worked in education for twelve years and is passionate about delivering a high-quality education and enriching children's personal development opportunities.

 

 

Governor Monitoring Plan 2024-2025

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Presentations at LGB meetings	SEF and SDP	Attendance	OPAL/Curriculum	SEND/Thrive	EAL	Reading
Vanessa	1.2 EAL Policy and resources	1.3. Maths Action plan and learning walk		1.2. EAL Pupil voice 1.3. Maths Action plan and learning walk		1.3 Maths Action plan and learning walk
Richard		Meeting with Online Safety Lead and ITT Lead Meeting with ECT Lead	Stakeholder voice	Website Review	Stakeholder voice
Eddie	2.2  Classroom environments	1.1.Reading review	Staff wellbeing	Classroom Environments		2.2 School refurbishment
Sheridan	Pupil premium	Sports Premium	OPAL Review			Sports premium Review Pupil premium strategy review
Victoria	Headteacher’s PMR	Meeting with finance Lead	Meeting with finance Lead		Meeting with finance Lead
Sam	Safeguarding, LAC and Attendance	2.1. Thrive monitoring Review	Safeguarding, LAC and Attendance		SEND Review	Safeguarding, LAC and Attendance
Beth T		Curriculum Overview		Curriculum Overview		Curriculum Overview
ALL/Trust Monitoring	CET SCR Compliance Check CET Safeguarding Deep Dive	3.1 Evidence of adaptive teaching strategies in lessons	3.2 Accuracy and consistency of assessments.	3.1 Evidence of adaptive teaching strategies in lessons		3.1 Evidence of adaptive teaching strategies in lessons