List of Governors
Welcome to the Governors’ section of the Sandringham School website which I hope you will find interesting and informative.
This section gives a broad outline of the role of the Governors, how we go about fulfilling our responsibilities and who we are.
Chair of Governors
Anna Cox (Chair of Governors)
Co-opted Governor Term: 08.10.2020 – 07.10.2024
I have been a co-opted governor at Sandringham since October 2012 and Chair of Governors since October 2018.
I am Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Vice Dean (Equality, Diversity & Inclusion) at University College London. My research examines the use of technology on work and wellbeing.
Vice-Chair of Governors
Clotilde Chohan (Vice-Chair of Governors)
Co-opted Governor Term: 05.11.2023 – 04.11.2027
I joined the Sandringham Governing body as a Parent Governor in 2015 when my son started in Year 7 with the aim to leverage my professional expertise in a community role. I am now a co-opted governor.
I have been working with organisations across public and private sectors as a Management Consultant for over 20 years, specialising in Business Transformation with a particular focus on Customer Experience and Digital Technology. Today I am a Director at KPMG.
I have a degree in Applied Languages (English, Spanish, Economics and Law) for which I studied in France where I come from originally, and at Aston University, Birmingham. I later studied for an MBA at Henley.
Co-opted Governors
Mike Anfield
Co-opted Governor Term: 23.10.2022 – 22.10.2026
I started as a parent Governor in November 2018, and now into my second term. I am the governor link for Safeguarding.
I live locally and have 3 children currently attending Sandringham across the year groups.
My career has largely been led by a passion for people development and leading large sales and training teams across well known businesses. After 12 years at Coca-Cola, I moved to Microsoft 10 years ago where I lead the Retail Readiness and Influence team, working closely with our main retailers to drive improvements to the customer experience, and helping bring technology into people’s lives.
Anne Garland
Co-opted Governor Term: 09.10.2021 – 08.10.2025
I became a governor at Sandringham in 2013, initially as a parent governor as I had 2 daughters at the school, and now as a co-opted governor. I am currently the link faculty governor for Geography and the Learning Resource Centre. I was previously a governor at a local primary school and am currently Chair of Governors at Ridgeway Academy in Welwyn Garden City which is one of the secondary schools in the AAT.
I grew up in North Yorkshire where I attended a mixed comprehensive school and then studied Ergonomics at Loughborough University after which I joined London Underground in their HR function. I worked for London Underground for the rest of my career in various roles including HR Manager for the Metropolitan and Circle Lines and Business Partner for Central Services.
I have lived in St Albans for over 25 years and enjoy outdoor activities such as cycling, canoeing and skiiing as well as walking my dog.
Isobel Griffiths
Co-opted Governor Term: 02.09.2023 – 01.09.2027
I am a co-opted governor living in Sandridge with two children who are currently studying at Sandringham School and at Wheatfields Junior Mixed School
I grew up in the East Midlands but have I have lived in St Albans for the last fourteen years. I am a solicitor and have a MA in History and an LLM in Intellectual Property Law. I have worked as an In-house Editorial Lawyer at Guardian News and Media Limited for fifteen years
Jon Pike
Co-opted Governor Term: 13.03.2023 – 12.03.2027
I became a co-opted governor at Sandringham in March 2023.
After starting my career as a Chemical Engineer, I changed focus after a few years and trained as a Chartered Accountant. Upon qualification I left to work in industry, initially in a finance role before moving into trading. Since 2013 I have worked at Blue Commodities, a commodity broker with operations in the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland, where I am the CEO.
In 2010 I took the well-trodden path and moved from central London to St Albans, where I live with my wife and two children who are at primary school. What remaining free time I have, I enjoy sports – albeit more from an armchair than a playing field!
Kevin Rackind
Co-opted Governor Term: 04.10.2022 – 03.10.2026
I have a daughter in Year 9 at Sandringham and am excited to join the team as a co-opted Governor.
Having spent the first 20 years of my career working as a Management Consultant in the Foodservice Industry, I changed career over 10 years ago to become a Primary School Teacher. For the last 5 years, I have focused on developing children’s coding and computational thinking skills and run a company delivering Coding workshops and extracurricular clubs for Primary aged children, as well as training for Teachers.
Christabel Tan
Co-opted Governor Term: 02.09.2023 – 01.09.2027
I joined the governing body at Sandringham as a community governor in Sep 2019. I am currently the link governor for the STEM subjects Math, Computer Science and D&T.
Professionally, I am a Chartered Engineer and having worked in higher education for over 13 years, I am currently a Principal Lecturer and Associate Professor in Engineering. Originally from Singapore, I came over to complete my degree at Manchester University and enjoyed the great British weather so much that I stayed on ever since.
Keith Thompson
Co-opted Governor Term: 10.11.2022 – 09.11.2026
I joined Sandringham’s Local Governing Board as a Co-opted Governor in Nov 2022. Previously, I have been a Governor at a local Primary School, supporting Finance & Resourcing oversight and also acting as the Data Protection Officer.
During my professional career, I worked for over 20 years as an independent Management Consultant on a variety of assignments mainly supporting major transformation and performance improvement programmes in large complex organisations, across both the public and private sectors.
I spent my early career in a range of financial, commercial, marketing and strategic management roles, in the Automotive and Telecommunications sectors, in the UK.
I have a degree in Economics (from London University) and I later studied for an MBA (at Manchester). I live in St Albans. My interests include current affairs, music, travel, playing chess, and watching sport (rugby, cricket and tennis).
Parent Governors
Mark Adams
Parent Governor Term: 09.11.2022 – 08.11.2026
I am a recently elected parent governor, a role that attracted me as all three of my children are currently attending Sandringham and I wanted to give something back to the school.
I previously served as a governor for several years at Wheatfields Infants’ and Nursery School.
My day job is in the computing field working on the behalf of the John Lewis Partnership. I particularly enjoy using technology to allow people to do their job more easily and collaborating with my colleagues to improve our effectiveness through a process of continual improvement.
To relax I enjoy walks in the countryside and completing cryptic crosswords.
Ben Wynn
Parent Governor Term: 09.11.2022 – 08.11.2026
I am a parent governor with a son and daughter both attending Sandringham.
I have spent my career leading and scaling technology focused start-ups. My area of professional expertise spans product development, digital transformation, marketing and technology. I currently work as a consultant advising a range of early stage businesses with innovative products and business models.
I grew up in Yorkshire but have lived in the south east throughout my working life and in Wheathampstead for the last 17 years.
I have a degree in Civil Engineering from Aston University.
I’m a lifelong learner and I love any kind of outdoor adventure sport.
Staff Governors
Liz Kelly
Staff Governor Term: 09.09.22 – 08.09.26
After graduating in Combined Arts from Plymouth University, I undertook my PGCE Art and Design training and progressed to complete a Masters in Teaching at Middlesex University. In my role as Director of Learning for Visual Arts at Sandringham, I aim to ensure that our students have the opportunity to enjoy the creative process whilst learning key skills to ensure that all of our students leave us with a love of Visual Arts as they progress to higher level study or other chosen pathways. I complete creative projects with local schools and promote art across the community by ensuring the Visual Arts Faculty participates and supports events such as The National Campaign for Drawing, St Albans Legacy project, The National Schools Photography Award and ARTiculation prize. I am a trained tutor for University of Arts London Future Creatives. In my spare time, I help to lead a local Brownie unit and enjoy visiting museums and galleries.
Eileen Kincaid
Staff Governor Term: 27.09.22 – 26.09.26
After graduating from Leeds University in 1992 with a degree in German and Italian language and literature, I had a brief spell in retail before becoming an MFL teacher in 1995. I have taught in three schools in the UK and also spent four years working in an International School in Wiesbaden teaching German. I have been at Sandringham School since 2004. I am very committed to our European Exchange Programmes and find it very rewarding to take students abroad to enhance their language skills.
I am a link governor for pupils who are looked after and pupils who are previously looked after.
I am a local resident. I have three children and two of them are in Year 9 at Sandringham. In my spare time, I play piano and tennis.
Ex-Officio Governor
Alan Gray
Headteacher: Ex-officio Governor
Headteacher of Sandringham School for 15 years and previously Headteacher at The Hemel Hempstead School. Alan is a National Leader of Education and has experience of working with a number of secondary schools in this capacity to support leadership. Alan has trained and served as an additional OFSTED inspector and chairs Hertfordshire Schools Forum, the Alban Federation (ITT provider) and the Alban Teaching School Alliance. He has previously chaired local and Hertfordshire Headteacher groups. He was a member of the DfE Secondary Headteacher Reference Group, supporting the DfE with guidance on education matters. Alan is also a trustee of the Saracens High School MAT, contributing to the development of a new school in North London and a Trustee of the Radio Communications Foundation, supporting students with an interest in electronics and communications. Alan has worked closely with governing bodies for over 25 years and has significant experience of school leadership and how to create an outstanding learning environment for all.
Types of Governor
Co-opted Local Governors are appointed by the Governing Body. They are recruited from within the community served by the school for the skills and knowledge that they can bring.
Parent Local Governors are elected by all parents at the school. They are representative of the parent body but the views they express at meetings are their own – they need not canvass parental opinion on every issue, or report back to parents on decisions taken: that is the responsibility of the whole of the Governing Body.
Staff Local Governors are elected by all other staff. Anyone who is paid to work at the school is eligible for election. Like Parent Governors they are representative of staff but the views they express at meetings are their own – they need not canvas staff opinion on every issue.
The Headteacher is also an ex-officio Governor.
Contact
Queries about the management of Sandringham School and the progress of any individual child should be directed in the first instance to the school through the prescribed channels as set out in the student planner. However, if you have any queries for the governors or wish to let us know your views on the school, please e-mail: governors@sandringham.herts.sch.uk
