Who’s Who : The Board of Governors - February 2011
Mr David Letheren
(Chairman)
David Letheren has been a governor at WHS for 7 years and
Chairman of Governors since 2007.
He is a member of the Buckinghamshire Schools Forum,
representing the Grammar schools. David graduated from University College
London with a degree in physics and has spent his career in the electronics and
IT industries, principally in European management at Motorola Semiconductors
and more recently with Hewlett Packard.
David is a committee member of the High Wycombe Town
Twinning Association.
Mr Colin Baker (Deputy
Chairman)
Colin
Baker has been a Governor at WHS since 1999 and is currently vice chairman.
His daughters, Lucy and Bindy, both attended the school. Colin originally
trained as a solicitor but has worked as an actor and writer for forty years.
He chairs the Facilities Committee and is Link Governor for Drama and
Languages. For eight years he was chairman of the cot death charity, The
Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and is currently chairman of the
Wycombe CCTV Lay Panel, the scrutinising body that monitors the CCTV operation
in Wycombe. He has written a weekly column for the Bucks Free Press since 1995.
Mr Robert Bean
Robert Bean is the Facilities Manager at Wycombe High
School. Robert joined the Royal Navy at fifteen, spending twenty two years in
the submarine service. Leaving the Navy as a Chief Engineer, and taking up the
position of Production / Manufacturing Engineer with Jungheinrich of Germany.
He also worked for several years as General Manager of a large waste disposal
company before joining Wycombe High. Robert studied with the Open University
before gaining a City and Guilds senior award in management; he is also a
Founder Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Mr Mike Dollin
After an international career with
BP spanning 33 years, Michael Dollin retired in 1994 and decided
that he would like to include school governorship in his activities
portfolio, having had active involvement with schools in a variety of
countries. When one of his daughters went to WHS in 1998 he was elected as
a Parent Governor and just over a year later was elected Chairman of Governors.
At the end of his 4 year term of office he stood down and was then
appointed as a Community Governor and also asked to be Chairman of the Learn2
Fundraising Campaign.
Following the
recent change of status of the school, Michael is now a Partnership Governor
and serves on the Finance and Premises Committees. He is the Link Governor for
Music and for Head of Upper School.
Ms Charlotte Fell
Charlotte Fell teaches Mathematics at Wycombe
High School and is Head of the Department. Charlotte graduated with a
First Class degree in Maths and Computing and worked for Panasonic before
training to become a teacher. She has also worked for several years at St
Clare’s in Oxford, a college teaching the International Baccalaureate to
students from around the world.
Mrs
Sheila Featherstone-Clark
Mrs Elizabeth Firth
Elizabeth Firth has been a governor at the High School for
over 13 years serving both on the Curriculum and PSC committees in the past and
now she is Chairman of the Learning and Teaching Committee and the liaison
governor for Individual Needs. She
moved to High Wycombe about 40 years ago and her sons went to local grammar
schools. She and her husband are
frequently busy with grandchildren. She
is a solicitor and notary public and practiced in the town where she has also
been involved with various charities, is a trustee of The Fremantle Trust and
Director of South Bucks Association for Disabled (SBAD).
Mr Nick George
Joined the governing board as parent governor
in January 2010 and is the Vice Chair of the Specialism & Community
Committee. His background as a product and business leader
in IT and Communications allow a business perspective to be brought
to the governor role and as link governor for Business Studies &
Economics. Nick has a daughter in year 13 and a son currently at
university who studied at RGS. He is an active member of the community, running
an Explorer Scout group based in Naphill and working with the National Trust on
the Hughenden estate.
Mrs Gilly Hewlett
Gilly Hewlett has been a Parent Governor at Wycombe High
School since November 2003. She is vice-chair of the Learning and
Teaching Committee, a member of the Specialism and Community Committee and Liaison
Governor for the Lower School, Middle School and Leadership Group. She
has over twelve years’ varied governing experience as both Parent Governor and
Staff Governor at two local primary schools, including roles as SEN Governor
and Child Protection Governor.
Gilly’s eldest daughter has just left WHS and has started
university, her younger daughter is in Year 11. B.C. (before children!)
Gilly was Marketing Manager at Twentieth Century Fox. She then became a
free-lance marketing consultant and is now completing her training to become a
counsellor, working currently at a local secondary school and youth advisory service.
Mr Steve Jordan
Steve Jordan has been a member of the governing board since
1992 when he was appointed as a parent governor. His two daughters have both
been educated at the High School and he is currently a LEA appointed
governor. As a Finance Director he has
been a member of the Finance Committee for several years and is currently the
chairman of this committee.
Steve has lived in High Wycombe for nearly 20 years and is
delighted to be able to help in supporting such a marvellous school. Of the school,
Steve says “It is a delight to see the
quality of education and the commitment of the Head and her team to educating
our daughters to be the leaders and professionals of tomorrow”
Mrs Branwen Kelly
Branwen Kelly was a student at WHS in the 1950s and is a
member of the School Guild. She specialised in Modern Languages and taught in
the London area before retiring back to Buckinghamshire. In 2001 she joined the
governing body of WHS and was chairman of the Curriculum committee for two
years. She served as the elected Chairman of Governors from 2004 – 7 and is a
Partnership governor. Currently she is studying Welsh with the University of
Wales (Lampeter) in her spare time.
Mrs Andrea Jacobson
Mrs Ifath Nawaz
Ifath was elected as a parent governor in 2010 and her
daughter is currently in Year 11 at the school. She is the liaison
governor for PSHE and Citizenship and PE RT and Sports Sciences. She is a
solicitor by profession and works as a consultant on community affairs.
As part of her experiences, including being a governor at a local primary
school for the last 10 years and working with students to motivate them
to achieve their ambitions, she has joined the school to contribute to its high
standard of excellence.
Mr Henry O’Callaghan
Mrs Pam Priestley
Pam Priestley has been a governor at Wycombe High School
since 1983. She is a Foundation Governor and chairs the Specialism and
Community Committee. Pam is a retired teacher, who for a number of years was
Head of German at a private girls school. She is a long serving member of
Wycombe District Council and a member of the Oxford Diocesan Board of
Education, which looks after Church of England schools in Buckinghamshire,
Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Pam is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Mrs Rachel Sutcliffe
Rachel Sutcliffe was a student at WHS in the 1950s and has
been a member of WHS Guild (the association for past pupils, and present and
past staff) ever since. She was Secretary for 10 years and elected
Vice-President in 2005. A Parent Governor for 4 years, when her daughter
attended WHS, she was elected a Foundation Governor in 2002 and a Partnership
Governor after the school achieved Foundation Status. As designated governor
for the WHS Archive, she is linked with the Wainwright Learning Centre and ICT
subject area. She was also a governor at a local primary school for 18
years. A graduate of the London School of Economics, she is now retired,
after teaching abroad and in further education. In addition to being a
WHS governor and Vice-President of the Guild, she is secretary of the
Buckinghamshire Association of School Governors (BASG).
Her other interests are family and friends; reading; walking her dogs; theatre
and music. She is a member of the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology
Mrs Sue
West