Meet the Governors

Welcome to the Governors' section! Our job is to help lead the school strategically and act as a 'critical friend'. Full meetings are held once every half term. Members of the Governing Body are also members of one or more of the following governor committees: Curriculum Committee, Personnel Committee or Finance/Premises Committee. Each committee gives a report to the full Governing Body at half-termly meetings. Minutes of meetings and further information are available from the school office. See below for details of Governor backgrounds.

Governor Membership for the Academic Year 2023/24

Mr P Culley-Barber (Chair) Local Authority

Mr S McDougall (Vice-Chair) Co-opted

Mrs S Barber Co-opted (Deputy Head)

Mr J Barker Co-opted

Mr T Cheongvee Parent

Mrs T J Doggett Headteacher

Mr K D’Rosario Co-opted

Mr J Merrill Parent

Mrs F Powell Co-opted

Mrs Claire Petley Co-opted

Miss A Srokowski Staff

Mrs H Paterson Clerk (From January 2019)

No member of our governing body governs at any other educational establishment.

Register of Business and Pecuniary Interests

Governor Committees:

Personnel: Paul Culley-Barber, Teresa Doggett, Ken D’Rosario, Simon McDougall.

Finance & Premises: Paul Culley-Barber, James Barker, Simon McDougall, Ken D’Rosario, Teresa Doggett.

Curriculum: Paul Culley-Barber, Tom Cheongvee, Teresa Doggett, Claire Petley.

Headteacher’s Performance Review Panel: Paul Culley-Barber, Simon McDougall.

Speciality Governors:

English: Staff liaison Abby Srokowski

Maths: Tom Cheongvee (Staff Liaison Lawrence Dibden)

SEND/Gifted & Talented: Claire Petley (Staff Liaison Rachel Prior)

Safeguarding/Child Protection/Bullying: Ken D’Rosario (Staff Liaison Lawrence Dibden)

Attendance: Paul Culley-Barber (Staff Liaison Teresa Doggett)

Pupil Outcomes: Claire Petley (Staff Liaison Teresa Doggett)

Pupil Premium: Paul Culley-Barber (Staff Liaison Teresa Doggett)

Modern Foreign Languages: James Barker (Staff Liaison Anita Pandit)

Health and Safety: Simon McDougall (Staff Liaison Teresa Doggett)

Early Years Foundation Stage: Staff Liaison Laura Tims

Science: (Staff Liaison Sarah Barber)

Physical Education: Tom Cheongvee (Staff Liaison Chris Stocker)

Computing: Paul Culley-Barber (Staff Liaison Sarah Barber)

GDPR: Simon McDougall (Staff Liaison Sarah D'Rosario)

Governor Profiles

Paul Culley-Barber (Chair of Governors) (Local Authority Governor)

I’m Paul Culley-Barber. I've been a Governor at Blofield Primary since 2014 when I had children at the school. I started off as a Parent Governor and am now a Local Authority Governor.

Blofield Primary is an outstanding school, having seen both my children flourish from Reception through to Year 6 and I am proud to be a governor here. My wife (Sarah) works at the school too, and we have had family connections going back to 1950 as several generations of Culley/Barber clan have passed through the school gates.

Outside of school related matters, I work at Aviva in the IT Automation department and am responsible for the running of a couple of our primary systems - it's a varied and quite exciting role - never a dull day that's for sure! I'm also a member of Blofield Parish Council, where I mainly look over various Planning Applications for the parish and assess the proposals against our Neighbourhood Plan and Material Considerations for the development proposals.

LA Governor (Previously Parent Governor) : Term of office ends 11 September 2026

Business & Pecuniary Interests: No Business interests / Wife Teacher Assistant/Learning Support Assistant/Senior Mid-day Supervisory Assistant at Blofield Primary

Simon McDougall - (Vice-Chair) (Co-opted Governor)

Hello, I'm Simon. My family have lived in Blofield for the last 33 years so I feel a great affinity with this lovely village and its community. I retired from work in 2015 at which time I joined the governing body as a co-opted governor. I am currently Chair of the Finance Committee where my background of banking and school administration proves to be extremely useful. In addition, I am link governor for Health & Safety and Data Protection (GDPR) and in September was elected as Vice-Chair of governors.

It is a privilege to be able to help support this great school, its staff and pupils.

Co-opted Governor : Term of office ends 31/03/2027

Business & Pecuniary Interests: None

Teresa Doggett (Headteacher)

I am proud to be Headteacher of this exceptional and caring school,

a post I’ve held since September 2016.

Before moving into education I worked as a buyer for Lotus Cars, during which time I studied for an HNC in Business Studies followed by an HNC in Computing. I then studied for my degree and Post Graduate Certificate in Education at U.E.A.

During my career in education, I have taught every age group from nursery to Year 7 and have been a school leader for almost all curriculum subjects. I have worked in a wide range of schools, including Primary, Infant Schools, a Junior and a Middle School. I completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship at the same time as the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination – a very busy year!

I am fortunate in having a wonderful family; a daughter, son-in-law, two sons and now a grandson too. As well as spending time with my family I enjoy church bell-ringing, reading (I belong to two book clubs) and going to the theatre.

Headteacher Governor : Term of office on-going

Business & Pecuniary Interests: None

Ken D'Rosario

I’ve been involved as a member of Blofield School Governors for a good few years (18 on the last count!) and was the Chair of Governors for many years. My involvement began with my two children attending the school. Both my children are now adults but I have never once considered not being involved with a wonderful, vibrant, inspiring, children focused environment, such as Blofield Primary.

Away from Blofield Primary I am husband to Sarah, Mrs D School Secretary. In recent years I have run my own sport coaching business delivering a range of sports such as Fencing, Archery, Football, Basketball and Gymnastics into primary schools; now work as the Norfolk County Football Association Welfare Officer providing welfare and safeguarding support, guidance and management to all grassroots football clubs across Norfolk; Tutor Safeguarding and Welfare training to professional and volunteer sports coaches; Manage Youth and Adult Football teams for Blofield United; and support Chelsea! In my spare time I sleep, cycle, enjoy the theatre, cinema and sleep some more!

Please contact me on 07777 607567 if you want to know anything about the governing body or indeed if you have something you wish to know about the school. I may not be able to answer your enquiry directly but I can make sure it receives appropriate attention.

Co-opted Governor : Term of office ends 31/03/2027

Business & Pecuniary Interests: Football Association. Wife School Secretary at Blofield Primary

Tom Cheongvee

I have grown up in Norfolk (attending Freethorpe Primary School & Acle High School) and after completing my Maths degree at Cambridge University and teacher training in Saffron Walden moved back to Blofield in 2009.

I have two children at the school, Isaac and Betsy, so have a great interest in helping to ensure that Blofield Primary School is governed as well as possible. I have enjoyed immensely watching how well Isaac has developed in such a short time at Blofield and do my best as a parent to help support with his reading, writing, maths and general encouragement of curiosity! I work in education; I am the Curriculum Team Leader at East Norfolk Sixth Form College in charge of Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, IT and Financial Studies.

Parent Governor : Term of office ends 16/05/2025

Business & Pecuniary Interests: None

James Barker (Co-opted Governor)

Term of office ends 20 May 2026 Business and pecuniary interests: None

Profile to follow

Claire Petley (Parent Governor)

Term of office ends 9 October 2026 Business and pecuniary interests: None

Hi, I'm Claire and I am delighted to be a parent governor at Blofield School. I'm originally from Kent but moved up to Norfolk to study for a degree at UEA. Myself and my husband moved to Blofield in 2013 and our eldest son is in year three at the school. We love living in the village and have been so impressed with the school and it's community. I am keen to be involved with supporting the school to continue to deliver an excellent and supportive education for our children.

I currently work for the UEA, heading up the team that encourages young people into Higher Education. We work with students from Primary through to Mature, aiming to widen participation through showcasing all the brilliant teaching and research taking place at University.

I'm usually in the playground on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so please do say hello!

Parent Governor: Term of office ends 9 October 2026 Business & Pecuniary Interests: NONE

Kira Salami (Parent Governor)

Term of office ends: 26 March 2024 Business and pecuniary interests: None

I am Kira Salami and have been a parent governor since 2020. I moved back to

Norfolk with my family in 2017 after having grown up in the area.

We chose Blofield mainly for the school’s great reputation and we haven’t been disappointed.

I am mum to three with our two oldest attending the school.

I have worked as an Educational Psychologist for over ten years and so can bring this experience to my role as a parent governor.

Helen Paterson Clerk to the Governors (From January 2019)

Governance Professional

As a Governance Professional I provide advice and guidance on governance, constitutional and procedural matters to ensure Boards discharge their statutory responsibilities and operate both effectively and efficiently. I have experience in a variety of different school settings including maintained, MAT and independent schools. My experience also includes supporting exclusions, disciplinaries, grievances and complaint investigations.

I have worked in Education for over 10 years, firstly in the set-up of Educate Norfolk and have been a Clerk since 2017. Previously I have worked in both the public and private sectors in a wide variety of administrative roles, including working on local and European based projects.

I have lived in Norwich since the age of 10 and moved to Brundall in December 2019. I am married with no children and have adopted 2 elderly “rather chunky” cats.

Wendy Gitsham Clerk (Resigned December 2018)

Andrew Proctor LA Governor (Resigned March 2018)

Emma Covington Parent Governor (Resigned 4th December 2017)

Paul Myhill Parent Governor (Resigned November 2017)

Roles & Governor Types

Chair of Governors

A chair of governors works with the headteacher to promote and maintain high standards of educational achievement, ensures that the governing body sets a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction for the school, with the governing body holds the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and for the performance management of staff and ensures oversight of the financial performance of the school and effective use of the schools resources

Vice Chair

The chair, with support from the vice chair, is responsible for ensuring the effective functioning of the board. Where the chair is absent from any meeting or there is at the time a vacancy in the office of the chair, the vice-chair is to act as chair for all purposes

Co-opted Governors

Co-opted Governors are people invited to join a governing body by the other governors. They usually live or work in the community served by the school or they are people committed to good governance and the success of the school.

Staff Governors

Staff Governors are in a unique position on a governing body. By definition staff governors are involved in the day to day running of the school and yet are asked, as governors, to put this to one side and participate in the governing body’s work as ‘strategic managers’. This is not always easy to do! However, the role of the staff governor offers an opportunity to make a real contribution to the strategic management of the school, providing an interesting and rewarding dimension to work.

Parent Governors

A Parent Governor is a representative and not a delegate of parents. Parent governors do not have to vote in a particular way because of pressure to do so by parents. Objectivity, however, is essential. Parent governors are elected by other parents and it is important to establish a rapport with the parental body that elected them, whilst continuing to maintain a strategic approach to school governance. Parent Governors are not there to promote the interests of their own children but all children in the setting.