Our Governors

What is the Governing Body?

This is a group of people from all walks of life but with one main goal and that is to make Houghton Primary the best school it can be!

We do not and must not become involved first-hand at delivering education – that remains the responsibility of the Head Teacher. We are an independent group that checks that things are being done well and supports the Head Teacher and his staff in achieving the highest standards they can.

Each governor serves a term of four years and can be re-elected or re-appointed at the end of their term of office for a further four years.

In order to be as effective as we can, each Governor is asked to be an advocate for, and take special interest in, an area of the school’s activities.

When do we meet?

This is usually twice a term, however we can also meet occasionally to develop what we as a governing body need to do to help the school. We are supported by a clerk who takes the minutes, and we have an agenda so that we can show that we are covering the right items for the school’s continued success.

What do we do?

Governors are the ‘critical friends’ that have a responsibility to make sure the school runs as well as possible under the guidance of Andrew Spencer, Head Teacher. We receive the training we need through the County Council and support each other.

We all bring something different to the meetings – enthusiasm, commitment, knowledge and skills. We are a group of people who have become a team of colleagues and friends so that, working together, we are able to make a positive difference to Houghton School.

Meet the Governors!

Briony Rice is one of our Co-Chairs. Briony is also a parent governor on the board and has two children attending Houghton Primary.  Briony works for Cambridgeshire County Council within the SEND team.  She previously held several operational and senior management positions at Anglian Water which has given her a breadth of skills and experience to bring to the Governing Board.

Advocate for: English, Phonics, Diversity

Our other Co-Chair is Chris Bower (Currently on sabbatical). Chris also has two children who attend Houghton Primary. He is a chartered accountant who works for a global accountancy practice auditing large businesses and brings this broad experience to support the school and education generally!
Advocate for: Finance.

Ella Waughman has lived locally for nearly 30 years and attended the village school herself. She works as a social worker for Cambridgeshire County Council. The village community is very important to her and she is an active member of the time bank and sporting societies. School governance is a new area for her, so is looking forward to embarking on a new challenge.
Advocate for: PE & Sports Premium, Parish Council

Nathan Wells has recently moved to Cambridgeshire following a lifetime of living in London. He has worked for over 20 years in education as a pastoral lead, deputy head and Headteacher for a large post-16 provider in South London. Following his move, he now works in school improvement with a primary Trust across Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, helping schools with the development of systems around inclusion, wellbeing and provision of SEND.
Advocate for: Children who are Looked After, Pupil Premium & Service Children

Niamh Lawton is a co-opted governor with a background in education. She moved to Cambridgeshire 8 years ago to complete her teacher training and stayed because she loved the area so much. She works as a primary school teacher in another Cambridgeshire school and hopes that her experiences and knowledge will be a useful addition to the board. She is looking forward to getting to know a school from a different perspective and learning more about the role of a governor and their support of the school.

Advocate for: Early Years, Beyond the Curriculum and Website Compliance

Stephen Hodgson is a parent governor with one girl at the school and one who has just left for secondary and two much older “children” now in work and at university.  He lives in the village and recognise the school as and our students as being the heart and future of our community. 

Stephen is a surveyor and Chartered Engineer. After many years at the head of an industry trade body, he is now in private practice. His work brings me into contact with complex and sometimes difficult issues around building failures, conveyancing, disrepair disputes, retrofit,  mould and dampness. As well as surveying he acts as advocate, independent specialist and expert witness. He teaches adults about dampness, rot and building adaptation as well as delivering tutorials at conferences and online. He is involved in setting and reviewing industry and British Standards. 

As well as his role with the school, he Chairs the community flood action group. Stephen has lots of hobbies and interests most of which involve him being outside with my girls and my dog. 

Advocate for: Health and Safety

Rebecca Williams moved to the village in 2022 and wants to be involved in the village community. She has experience as a secondary school teacher and in law enforcement. Her passion lies with safeguarding of children and is looking forward to supporting Houghton Primary through school governance.

Advocate for: Safeguarding, Wellbeing and Attendance

Nisha Mohamed has recently moved into the Huntingdon community just over 3 years ago. She has worked in education for over 10 years within various roles including leadership both in the UK and internationally. She is currently working as a Deputy Head of Science while completing her Master in Education with University of Cambridge. Her passion is to promote the love of learning particularly in STEM related subjects. 

 Advocate for: STEM

Agnes Gondor is a parent governor with one child currently attending Houghton Primary and another due to start soon. She is passionate about supporting children’s emotional wellbeing, confidence and resilience both within school and the wider community. 

Agi works as a transformational coach and is a Cosmic Kids Yoga instructor. She is currently training as a Mental Health Empowerment Mentor (MEM). She supports children and families to build confidence, manage emotions and strengthen their self-belief.  

Prior to moving to the UK, Agi held a role within the Hungarian Government’s Department of Social Care, working within the Budget Department and overseeing financial processes and payments. After relocating to the UK, she went on to hold a management role within a small business, further developing her leadership, organisational and strategic skills. 

She brings this combined experience in finance, management and wellbeing to the Governing Board and is deeply committed to creating environments where children feel supported not only academically, but emotionally too. 

Advocate for: Wellbeing, Mental Health & Personal Development 

Downloads

• Instrument of  Governance
• Register of Interests & Attendance

Minutes

Minutes are made at every meeting and remain in ‘draft’ form until they have been reviewed and approved by the governing body at the next committee meeting.

Please contact the Clerk to Governors, for copies of minutes. clerk@houghton.cambs.sch.uk