Governors
The role of the Governors is to support the Head and her team to deliver the goals of the School, namely to ensure our children are confident, happy and successful. This is achieved in a number of ways.
Firstly, the Governors set a clear vision and strategic plan for the School to provide the necessary facilities and environment to allow the children to succeed whilst ensuring that they remain happy, healthy and safe. This must be balanced with the need to ensure the ongoing financial viability of the School.
Secondly, as trustees of the charity, they are responsible for overseeing the performance of the School, to ensure not only are the goals for the pupils achieved but also the governance of the School is of the highest standard and that all legal and regulatory requirements are met.
Finally, they provide support and advice to the Head and her team in the role of a critical friend as and when required.
In order to deliver these responsibilities, governors are chosen with a wide range of skills and experience but the one attribute that is shared is a love of Godstowe and a determination and dedication to the School and its aim for all its pupils to be confident, happy and successful.
Click here to read a message from our Chair of Governors, Mrs Tara Leaver
Our Governors
Tara Leaver - Chair
Tara joined the School Council in 2016. She has two daughters, both of whom attended Godstowe. The youngest left Godstowe in 2015 and girls went on to study at Leeds and Oxford Universities, studying Maths and Economics and PPE respectively.
After leaving school, Tara joined Barclays in London, initially working in Corporate Lending before moving into the Human Resources field within the company and taking on a variety of roles. More recently, Tara was a member of Friends of Godstowe for seven years including two years as Chair.
Tara is a keen gardener and cook and also enjoys riding and walking her dogs.
Kate Allner
A former parent, Kate has three children, all of whom attended Godstowe at some point, including her son. All continued onto Haileybury as boarders and they now all work in London.
Having lived locally, Kate went to Wycombe High School and Bath University before pursuing a career in the City until the arrival of her children. Currently she is a committee member of the Chiltern branch of Action Medical Research. Kate enjoys sailing and tennis.
Tom Bunbury
Tom Bunbury joined the School Council in November 2008. He has been Headmaster of Papplewick School in Ascot since January 2004, a prep school for boys aged 6-13 which a number of Godstowe brothers attend. Prior to his teaching career, Tom was a solicitor in London working in criminal law.
Tom is married to Sallie and they have four children, Harry, Mollie, Lily and Archie. Fatherhood and Headmastership have restricted the time available for Tom’s former interests of tennis, golf, theatre and travel but he still harbours hopes of returning to them one day!
Dr Fiona Neale
Fiona qualified as a doctor from Nottingham University and following postgraduate training became a GP Partner in Buckinghamshire where she has worked for over 20 years. She has a particular interest in medical education having worked with Oxford undergraduates and mentored qualified Doctors training in General Practice.
Fiona's daughter was at Godstowe for eight years before moving on to Wellington College.
In her spare time she enjoys gardening, walking, and is a keen skier.
Stuart Nicholls
Stuart joined the School Council in September 2020 and chairs the Finance Committee, having previously spent a year as Interim Bursar in 2017/18 and assisting the school in a number of financial matters since.
He spent the majority of his career as a chartered accountant with KPMG, undertaking a number of senior roles, before spending five years as CFO of a major property investment business. He became semi-retired in 2015.
Stuart’s main interests are music, cycling, sailing, motorsport, and fixing things around the house.
Emma Perkins
A former parent, Emma has two children, her daughter attended Godstowe for six years then Wellington College and is now at Durham University. Her son attended Caldicott Preparatory School, then Uppingham and is now at Exeter University.
Emma has run her own Design Company in London since 1992 working on a wide range of projects with varied clients.
She lives near Thame with her husband, two children and two dogs. In her spare time Emma enjoys tennis, sailing, bridge and is a keen skier.
Andrew Logan
Andrew joined the Godstowe School Council in November 2020. He is currently Second Master at Bradfield College, having been appointed in 2017.
Andrews teaches Geography at Bradfield as well as being a cricket coach and a football referee. He has an interest in all sports but particularly cricket and rugby. Although his rugby days are long gone, he still plays occasional cricket for various wandering clubs and tries to hit a golf ball whenever he can.
He is married to Claire and they have three young children.
Sarah Stokes
Sarah joined the Godstowe School Council in November 2020.
Sarah has worked in education for over thirty years, most recently as Headmistress of Eton end Preparatory School in Datchet. She has always had a particular interest in the pastoral care of pupils and enjoyed developing this provision in all of the positions she held.
She lives near Windsor with her husband and has a daughter and a son.
Having retired in 2018, she now has time to pursue her many interests and also enjoys spending more time with her family and friends.
Geraldine Rogers
Born in California and moved to Ireland at the age of 12, Gerry understands the upheaval in education when moving countries. A former teacher at Godstowe, Gerry has four sons and 16+ years’ experience as a teacher, head of department, senior leader and digital lead. Gerry started out in the IT industry and has 12+ years’ experience in the Business Intelligence and Digital Learning sector.
Gerry is passionate about the role of technology in supporting learning across all ages. The opportunity to maximise the learning outcomes in every lesson is now more achievable than ever before and she is driven to ensure this is embedded in future plans at all levels.
When time allows, Gerry loves to spend time in West Cork, Ireland with her husband and dog, visiting family and friends and spending as much time on the water as possible.
Jack Murray
Jack Murray joined the School Council in November 2022. He has been a teacher of geography and Housemaster at Wellington College, a co-educational school in Berkshire for 13-18 year olds, since September 2016. Prior to his teaching career he worked in currency trading, living in Tokyo for a year.
Jack is married to Amy and live in the boarding house with Ruby their cockapoo and their 10 month old son Milo. Jack enjoys coaching rugby, Star Wars and Marvel films as well as cooking home made dim sum.
Geoff Parkin
Geoff joined the School Council in 2023, and is a former parent at the school. He and his wife chose Godstowe for their daughter and Papplewick for their son, to ensure they each experienced the best combination of traditional values and contemporary teaching in readiness for the move to senior schools aged 13. Their daughter subsequently attended Wellington College and is currently reading English with Arabic at Manchester University.
Geoff is a Partner with LEK Consulting, where he helps corporate and private equity clients with strategic planning and commercial due diligence on potential mergers and acquisitions.
In his free time, Geoff is a keen classic car mechanic, with a passion for 1930s British marques.
Nigel Garrett
Nigel joined the School Council in 2023.
He qualified as a Chartered Architect over 30 years ago and he gained his degree at the Oxford School of Architecture and his Postgraduate Honours Diploma at the North London School of Architecture.
Nigel has designed multiple award winning industrial, commercial and residential buildings. He has been a visiting lecturer at the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff and has lectured at various Construction Industry conferences. He currently runs at architectural practice based in Marlow.
Nigel is a regular golfer and has represented various sports at County and Regional level. He is a keen artist, DIYer, traveller and foodie. Nigel lives in the Oxfordshire countryside with his wife, two children and Ronnie, their dog.
Modupe Omonijo
Modupe, whose daughter attended Godstowe, joined the School Council in 2023. She is a passionate advocate for positive parenting.
A qualified dentist and Consultant in Public Health, Modupe has spent the bulk of her 25-year career improving population health and addressing inequalities both in the UK and abroad. She is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health.
Modupe devotes much of her spare time to mentoring and coaching others as well as volunteering for community or charitable causes. With a strong love for the outdoors, her hobbies include gardening, nature walks, cycling, reading, writing and listening to music.
Contact the Chair of Governors
In cases of need, the Chair of the Godstowe Council can be contacted through the school in writing:
Mrs Tara Leaver,
Chair of the School Council
Godstowe School
Shrubbery Road
High Wycombe
Bucks
HP13 6PR.
You may also contact the school office to arrange a meeting by telephoning 01494 529273.