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- Cantell Governors
- Governors Meeting Report
Governors
Currently, Cantell has a Governing Body as listed below.
Ms Ruth Evans (Headteacher)
Two key messages in my family were that the greatest gift any child can have is “a good education” and when possible to take advantage of all opportunities that come your way.
These have greatly influenced my life and it is now my privilege to be able to positively influence lives of the students and staff in our community. I consider it my key responsibility to ensure that students at Cantell, have the best possible educational experiences and the opportunity to reach their potential. I am supported in achieving this by a wonderful team of dedicated staff and the commitment and effort of our harmonious and happy students. Our shared values, encapsulated in our Cantell Cs, are lived out in our daily lives.
Ours is a community where the drive for challenge, creativity and commitment, is underpinned by co-operation and courtesy.
Mr Richard Harris (chair)
A trained teacher and first ever graduate of the Open University Richard took up a career in youth work and adult education retiring from Southampton City College as Senior Manager for Adult Education. For seven years he served as a City Councillor, two of which were as the Cabinet Member responsible for Education. He has been a Governor in the City for nearly 30 years covering all phases of education from Infant School to Solent University. However he has been connected to Cantell for all of its existence and previously served as Vice Chair. Both of his sons are former pupils, both being head boy in their turn. Richard is a Trustee of a number of charities and an active member of Avenue St. Andrews United Reformed Church in the Avenue. He states that he has always been proud of being connected to Cantell and is extremely honoured to be elected the Chair of Governors and share in its ambition to become an Outstanding School.
Mrs Elizabeth Hale (vice chair)
I have four boys - three at Cantell now and one to follow soon. I enjoy being a Governor because it's a good opportunity to understand more about Cantell, and it's important to help where I can. I live in Highfield and work as a freelance consultant supporting businesses and the public sector improve their performance and value for money.
I'm passionate about good use of information, and have seen the difference this is making to the performance of Cantell. It's a pleasure to be a part of such a dynamic school.
Mr Peter Atkinson
I work as an Outreach and Development Worker for Fairbridge which is a charity that supports Young People aged 13 – 25 on their Personal and Social Development. I have been involved with Cantell for a number of years having previously worked for Southampton City Council’s School Attendance and Safeguarding Team. I am passionate about Southampton as a city and in particular about supporting Young People to reach their full potential. I have been involved with governing bodies for a number of years having previously served as Chair of Governors at a Primary School within the City. I am also a Special Constable with Hampshire Constabulary.
Mr Phil Hand
Phil Hand is in his second spell as a Governor at Cantell. His three sons came through the school, so in his own words he 'owes this school a lot'. He was Chair of Governors during the 2008-09 year, and is also a long standing Chair of Governors at a primary school in the city. He works professionally in the governance field, for Warwickshire County Council.
Dr Alan Hunt
I work as a scientist at the University of Southampton. I have been a Governor at Cantell since the late 90s, first as a Parent Governor when both my sons were students here, then as an appointed member of the Interim Executive Board during the period of Special Measures and latterly as a Community Governor on the reconstituted Cantell Board. As an experienced Governor in the City I have served both as vice-Chair and Chair of Governors at Cantell and also served a 4 year period as Secondary Parent Governor Representative to the Local Authority elected from among all Secondary Parent Governors. Cantell is keen to strengthen links with our feeder Primary Schools and I have recently been appointed a Foundation Governor at Highfield C of E Primary School which I hope will help contribute to effective co-operation between all schools in our cluster.
Prof Hazel Inskip
I have been a governor at Cantell since 2000 and have seen the school go through many changes. It is a privilege to be working with such a dynamic school that is improving so fast. I started as a Governor when my step-son was in Year 9 but stayed on after he left as I wanted to support the work that was being done at the school. At various times I have been vice-chair of the governing body but currently I chair the Southampton Governors' Forum which enables governors across the City to meet each other and to liaise with the Local Authority. My job is as a statistician and researcher for the Medical Research Council, based within the University of Southampton. I run a study called the Southampton Women's Survey for which we interviewed 12,500 young women when they were not pregnant and then studied over 3,000 of them through pregnancy and are following up the children. Our findings have led us to develop projects to improve the health of young people and their children, aiming to ensure that children get the best start in life. Some of these projects involve schools, as good education and good health are closely linked. Insights from my work have helped me as a Governor and vice versa.
Mrs Jane Marker
I work as an Admin Manager at Mansbridge Primary School which is one of the local schools for which Cantell is the catchment secondary school. Therefore I have an understanding of the pupils in the area, I take an interest in children making a successful transition from primary to secondary school I have previously served as a Governor in local primary schools from 1981 to 85 and then with secondary schools since 1994. I was a Chair of Governors at another local secondary school for six years. I have been a governor at Cantell since 2006.
On a personal note I am married with two grown up married daughters.
Dr Avan Sayer
I started as a Parent Governor in 2008 and currently have 2 children at Cantell. There is undoubtedly a powerful air of improvement at the school and my aim is to contribute to the exciting changes that are occurring by working with the other governors, staff, students and parents. I believe that a major part of my role is to feedback the experience of parents and carers to the governing body and would welcome your comments, thoughts and ideas.
Dr Birendra Shrestha
I have been a Parent Governor at Cantell since 2008. I have one child currently studying at the school. I am very happy to be a part of this vibrant school which is making rapid progress. By profession, I am a civil engineer and work as a Researcher in the Transportation Research Group at the University of Southampton. My research focuses on the applications of Intelligent Transport Systems such as traffic signals and bus operation.
Mrs Margret Maddocks
My name is Margaret Maddocks and I was born in Liverpool.
I have lived locally for 30 years and have worked at Cantell for 9 years in a variety of positions, including, cleaning, corridor patrol and isolation room. I am now the Lead Mediator and supervise the school bus. My work in these areas has given me a great understanding of our students and the way Cantell works. My children and grandchildren have attended Cantell and I have always supported the school during their time here.
Mrs Pauline Brandt
Pauline has worked in a professional and voluntary capacity, in a wide number of creative, cultural and business environments. Her background is broadcasting, as a BBC reporter and presenter on TV and Radio. She now freelances in the Theatre as an Audio Describer and as a PR consultant. Pauline is working with a range of clients, including Hampshire Police Authority. She’s originally from South London…but kept moving south!
Pauline hosts events and is a Trustee of the Southampton Cultural Development Trust raising funds for the new Cultural Quarter. She’s a school governor and has always mentored young people.
Pauline recently returned to university to do a post graduate degree, part-time. She says this is a great leveller: her teenage daughter is doing her GCSE’s – the plea to ‘get on with your homework’ now works both ways.
Mr Martin Boorman
I have always believed in supporting local education and through the experience of my two daughters who attend Cantell have come to believe strongly in how good a school Cantell is. This school has fantastic resources; the buildings and facilities but most importantly the teaching staff who care about the success of the school and development of our children. As a governor I hope to support the dedicated people who work here and help the school become outstanding. I have previously been a parent governor in a local primary school and work locally for a company that many of you will remember as Pirelli, in a Sales and Marketing role.
Mr Stephen Kent
Ms Claire Herridge
Mr Matthew Stevens (Councillor)
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All correspondence for members of the Governing Body should be forwarded to the Clerk to Governors at the address shown below:
The Governors
c/o Miss M. Burt
Clerk to Governors
Cantell Maths & Computing College
Violet Road
Southampton
SO16 3GJAlternatively contact the Clerk through E-Mail
Governors Meeting - 31 October 2011
Our meeting last night focused on just one thing – deciding whether or not we should find out more about becoming an academy. So, it was an unusual meeting in two ways – normally we have lots of different things to discuss, and it’s not often we formally vote on a decision either.
Last night we decided we will start in a formal way to explore what becoming an academy would mean for Cantell. We have already received lots of information about this and heard views for and against this change. At some point in the future we will take the important decision of whether or not to become an academy. As part of our process of finding out more, we will ask the views of parents, staff, other schools in the area and any others who might be affected by the change.
We also agreed a small group of governors will work with the school business manager, the head teacher and other staff on the process to decide if Cantell should become an academy. We usually meet once every half term, but for a number of reasons we have had three meetings already this term, and our next meeting is not until the end of January. So this smaller working group will make sure all governors are kept up to date with information about this academy process.
Elizabeth Hale – Parent Governor
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Governors Meeting - 19 October 2011
It is a rare treat to see our students at governors’ meetings, and on this occasion we were delighted to hear from Ella Peebles and Casey Keenan, who with their teacher Claire Herridge used a DVD, some talking, and answers to questions to tell us about the college trip to Tanzania in the summer. We heard about the project to develop a school, the climb up Mt Kilimanjaro, and a change in attitude to eating vegetables.
The meeting then went on to discuss ways our College is improving. Our School Improvement Committee reported back on Languages and Music, and we were pleased also to hear that attendance had risen and recently peaked at 96% - a real improvement
The Resources Committee reported how staff levels are being carefully managed in a time of very tight budgets. There will be reductions in staffing and we hope that they will be achieved through voluntary means.
Finally we discussed the pros and cons of academy status for Cantell, with a decision whether to go forward in ‘expressing an interest’ to be made on 31 October. If this is agreed, parents and staff can expect a consultation process to follow. No final decision about academy status will be made until after that.Phil Hand – Parent Governor
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Governors Meeting – 14 September 2011
We had our first full governors’ meeting of the new school year last night. These meetings usually take place between 6pm and 8pm, though sometimes they overrun a little. The turnout last night was excellent turnout, with 3 members of the senior leadership team as well. They came along for the main agenda item which was to update us on the GCSE results. We see how hard all the staff work to help our students achieve the best possible results. And last night it was very good to find just how well this has paid off. The results are the best the school has ever had - which is just fantastic. Some highlights for me are:
- the improvement can be seen year on year
- there are very strong results for all our students and
- girls are now closing the gap on boys.
And one thing to keep an eye on this year is attendance – if students have good attendance they are so much more likely to get good results.
It was an unusual meeting because we didn’t have many other items on the agenda – just election of the chair and sorting out the membership for our committees. We also discussed training, thinking about the possible move to an academy, and making sure governors have key dates in our diaries for the term ahead.
Elizabeth Hale – Parent Governor
