Governance
Guildford High School is a part of United Learning whose Trustees hold the ultimate responsibility for the governance of each United Learning school.
The Department for Education’s governance handbook 2019 identifies the essentials of effective governance as follows:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
The proprietor is the United Learning Church Schools Trust (UCST). The Chair of the UCST Board is Dr Rosalind Given-Wilson. She can be contacted at the United Learning Head Office:
United Learning, Worldwide House, Thorpe Wood, Peterborough, PE3 6SB
Telephone: 01832 864444
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.unitedlearning.org.uk
United Learning’s Trustees delegate certain key roles and responsibilities to the school’s Local Governing Body and these are set out clearly in our Scheme of Delegation which can be seen on the United Learning website.
Click here to view the Scheme of Delegation
Click here to view UL and UCST Board Members
Local Governing Body (LGB)
Guildford High School’s LGB deals with issues specific to the school in conjunction with the Executive Head and other members of staff. A list of current members of the LGB and their biographies can be found below.
Anyone wishing to contact the Chair of Governors should do so in writing. Please direct all communication to:
Chair of the Governors, c/o The LGB Clerk’s Office, Guilford High School, 25-29 London Road, Guildford Surrey GU1 1SJ
Ms Kate Richards
Chair of Governing Body
Ms Kate Richards
Chair of Governing Body
Founding director and CEO of Enrich Education Consultancy, Kate Richards, has extensive experience of both the state and the independent sectors in a variety of roles and, most recently, as Chief Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate, where she was responsible for the end-to-end inspection process. Her broad remit included strategic planning for excellence and innovation, for maintaining the quality of inspection and the inspector workforce, for providing evidence-based insight to develop practice, and for representing the professional expertise of ISI at national and international level.
As chief inspector, school improvement advisor, associate vice principal and teacher, Kate has had a wide range of roles and experiences in leading, developing and supporting children, adults and organisations. Currently she offers bespoke consultancy, working with MATs, individual schools, governing bodies, and charitable trusts.
Kate believes passionately in the right of every child and young person to an education which keeps them safe, nurtures, supports and inspires them and which enables each and every one to develop breadth and depth in their skills, knowledge and understanding as individuals and as members of diverse communities.
As chief inspector, school improvement advisor, associate vice principal and teacher, Kate has had a wide range of roles and experiences in leading, developing and supporting children, adults and organisations. Currently she offers bespoke consultancy, working with MATs, individual schools, governing bodies, and charitable trusts.
Kate believes passionately in the right of every child and young person to an education which keeps them safe, nurtures, supports and inspires them and which enables each and every one to develop breadth and depth in their skills, knowledge and understanding as individuals and as members of diverse communities.
Ms Karen Braganza
E-Safety Representative
Ms Karen Braganza
E-Safety Representative
Karen is an alumna of both the Junior School and Senior School, having spent 13 happy years attending GHS. After reading Law with European Studies at St John’s College, Cambridge University, she qualified as an intellectual property solicitor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Karen subsequently led the Legal team for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Home Entertainment business in EMEA. As Lead Counsel, Digital Content & IP, Europe, at TikTok, she now advises on some of the most exciting, challenging and diverse legal issues affecting the modern digital world - balancing that alongside being a mum!
Karen has been a governor since May 2015. She feels privileged to be able to give back to a school and community that gave her so much: a fantastic education, high aspirations and friends for life.
Karen has been a governor since May 2015. She feels privileged to be able to give back to a school and community that gave her so much: a fantastic education, high aspirations and friends for life.
Ms Anna Chalk
Education and SEND Junior Representative
Ms Anna Chalk
Education and SEND Junior Representative
Anna is the Deputy Headteacher at a local Primary School and has worked in education for twenty years.
She is passionate about supporting local children to achieve their very best, across the breadth of the curriculum.
Anna is an enthusiastic sportswoman and a regular volunteer/participant of Parkrun.
She is passionate about supporting local children to achieve their very best, across the breadth of the curriculum.
Anna is an enthusiastic sportswoman and a regular volunteer/participant of Parkrun.
Mrs Lisa Edwards
Education and SEND Senior Representative
Mrs Lisa Edwards
Education and SEND Senior Representative
Lisa is the Assistant Head Academic at an independent prep school. Qualifying as a teacher in 1996 with a specialism in English, Lisa has taught in both primary and secondary schools over the years and has a background in supporting children with Special Educational Needs. Previous roles have included Head of Learning Support and SENDCO both in the independent and the state sector, as well as being on the safeguarding team and Head of Year. Prior to this Lisa worked as a class teacher across the primary and secondary age range and had pastoral and Senior Leadership Team responsibilities as well as RE and EAL in addition to SEN.
Lisa is currently completing her training to become a Team Inspector with ISI.
Lisa lives in Guildford with her husband and loves it when her grown-up daughters come home to visit!
Lisa is currently completing her training to become a Team Inspector with ISI.
Lisa lives in Guildford with her husband and loves it when her grown-up daughters come home to visit!
Mrs Anna Lise Gordon
Safeguarding Representative
Mrs Anna Lise Gordon
Safeguarding Representative
Anna Lise is the Director of the Institute of Education at St Mary's University in Twickenham, London. Her role involves the training of over 800 new primary and secondary teachers each year as well as providing professional development and MA in Education and Professional Doctorate programmes for more experienced teachers. Her research interests focus on the resilience and wellbeing of students and teachers. Anna Lise is the designated safeguarding governor for GHS. Her two daughters attended the Senior School at GHS.
Mr Mandeep Gosal
Comms & Marketing Representative
Mr Mandeep Gosal
Comms & Marketing Representative
Mandeep gained a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Loughborough University in 2004, following which he has enjoyed a career spanning over 20 years in the Telecommunications and Cyber Security sectors within global enterprise and later stage start-up organisations.
Known as an outside the box thinker and innovator, Mandeep is a senior technology leader that builds teams that regularly advise on and implement high-value technology solutions that meet cyber security requirements and overall business strategy.
As a prior Chair of the Friends of Guildford High School, Mandeep played an active role in fundraising and carefully organising various events which contributed to a thriving school community, as there was an emergence from the coronavirus pandemic.
Mandeep lives with his wife and young son and daughter in Guildford. His daughter is a current pupil attending the Junior School at GHS.
Known as an outside the box thinker and innovator, Mandeep is a senior technology leader that builds teams that regularly advise on and implement high-value technology solutions that meet cyber security requirements and overall business strategy.
As a prior Chair of the Friends of Guildford High School, Mandeep played an active role in fundraising and carefully organising various events which contributed to a thriving school community, as there was an emergence from the coronavirus pandemic.
Mandeep lives with his wife and young son and daughter in Guildford. His daughter is a current pupil attending the Junior School at GHS.
Mr Oliver Greaves
Risk Representative
Mr Oliver Greaves
Risk Representative
Oli read Natural Sciences and then Management Studies at Pembroke College, Cambridge University. He worked for UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch for 17 years, advising FTSE and international companies. He subsequently set up and runs a boutique specialising in project managing major transactions in-house, including IPOs and M&A, and has also been involved in founding and managing start-ups over the last decade.
He lives in Albury and has two daughters at GHS, who both started in the Junior School and are currently in the Senior School.
He lives in Albury and has two daughters at GHS, who both started in the Junior School and are currently in the Senior School.
Ms Zip Jila
EYFS Representative
Ms Zip Jila
EYFS Representative
Zip spent 14 years as a pupil at GHS (1988 - 2002) before studying Law at St John’s Cambridge. After graduating with a double first she took a Masters at Harvard Law School and qualified as a solicitor in 2009. Zip spent eight years in private practice as a restructuring and insolvency solicitor before joining a special situations fund in London as their General Counsel, a role she tries to balance with spending two days a week with her young girls at home in Abinger Hammer. She is an enthusiastic and active GHS alumna, who is very proud of the school's (and its pupils’) achievements.
Dr Sian Jones
Health and Safety, Sustainability & Wellbeing Representative
Dr Sian Jones
Health and Safety, Sustainability & Wellbeing Representative
Born and brought up in West Wales, Sian qualified from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in 1985. Her post registration experience has been varied, including working in a rural surgery in Glastonbury, as a GP in Australia and a community paediatrician in Bristol and Guildford. Her particular interests are in children’s and women’s health. Sian is a GP in Wonersh, initially salaried and as a partner from 2002. Sian has been the school doctor at Guildford High School for nearly 20 years, one of her most rewarding roles, working closely with the nurses, headmistress and pastoral team. In 2018 Sian was appointed to be Clinical Chair at Guildford & Waverley CCG and Clinical Lead for Cancer and End of Life Care. Sian’s main link with GHS is as a parent of three daughters who all attended GHS from 4-18 years.
Mrs Katie Leah
Careers and Regulatory Compliance Representative
Mrs Katie Leah
Careers and Regulatory Compliance Representative
Katie read Social and Political Sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating with a first class degree before converting to Law and qualifying as a lawyer in the City. She subsequently read for a Masters in Law at UCL, whilst working as a lawyer. She has been practising for 16 years and is a partner in a City law firm, specialising in the tax aspects of private equity, technology and life sciences and real estate transactions. She is a keen musician and enjoys playing the flute and piano, as well as trail running and cycling in the Surrey Hills. She has three young children, the eldest of which is in the Junior School at GHS.
Mrs Siân McGrath
Complaints and HR Representative
Mrs Siân McGrath
Complaints and HR Representative
Siân is a solicitor, specialising in employment law. After reading law at London University, Siân worked in law firms in the City and then moved in-house where she advised Government Departments in all areas of employment law. She is currently a consultant at a law firm, where she advises a broad range of clients, from SMEs to large corporations. Siân is also a lay member of the Surrey & Sussex Recruitment Advisory Committee on Justices of the Peace, where she assists with the recruitment and selection of magistrates. She is also a freelance lecturer at BPP Law School.
Mr Robert Turnbull
Vice Chair & Finance Representative
Mr Robert Turnbull
Vice Chair & Finance Representative
A native of Scotland, Robert studied chemistry at Edinburgh University. He is a tax consultant and has spent most of his working life in the City, but lives in Guildford. Robert has a son and two daughters, both of whom are GHS pupils.
Mr Nigel Wickham
Health and Safety & Wellbeing Representative
Mr Nigel Wickham
Health and Safety & Wellbeing Representative
Nigel has lived in Guildford for 26 years and has been serving the community as an operational firefighter since 1994. He is currently a Crew Commander at Guildford Fire Station. Nigel has always been keen to help and promote the school. Through his role as chairperson of FoGHS, Nigel played an active part in fundraising and organising community events for the school. Nigel is married and has four children, two of which are currently at GHS.