All schools in England have a Governing Body. The Governors are the strategic leaders of our school and have a vital role to play in making sure all our children get the best possible opportunities to achieve their potential, thrive and be happy. As governors we are proud to be associated with Mawnan Church of England VA School and its high standards of education. Working together we will continue this tradition and move the school forward to even greater achievements.
The Governing Body has a strong focus on three core strategic functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
The Governing Body works in close partnership with the Head Teacher and staff, the Diocese of Truro and Cornwall Council. Whilst the Head Teacher is, of course, responsible for the day to day running of the school, the governors are involved in overseeing admissions, staffing, the curriculum, policies, finance and buildings. They ensure the school functions well and maintains the proper range of academic and social objectives.
The Governing Body of Mawnan Church of England VA School consists of seven Foundation Governors appointed by the Diocese of Truro, a Governor appointed by the Local Authority, two Governors elected by the parents, and a Governor elected by the Staff. The Head Teacher and Parish Priest are ex-officio members of the Governing Body.
The full Governing Body meets four times a year and appoints sub committees which also meet a minimum of four times a year.
The Governing Board of Mawnan Church of England Voluntary Aided School
More Information on our governors
Helen Hickman was born in Worcestershire where she spent her childhood and, in addition to Birmingham and Solihull, much of her adult life. She was awarded a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Birmingham in 1982.
Helen worked for 33 years with children from birth to 18 years and their families in Birmingham and Worcestershire, initially in Local Authority residential children’s homes and day nursery provision, and subsequently in primary schools. She has been privileged to have held the position of headteacher in three schools over a period of 15 years, her final headship being for 10 years at a highly regarded and successful 3-form entry Church of England Voluntary Aided Infant School in the south west of Birmingham.
Following retirement Helen and her husband Gary moved to Cornwall in April 2019. They live in the village of Gunwalloe. Prior to retirement Gary was the Director of Social Work Education at the University of Birmingham. Now enjoying living in ‘paradise’ they spend lots of time with family: their daughter Ruth, her partner Josh and their grandchildren Loke and Zennor. Loke joined Oppie class in September 2022 and Zennor is two years younger. As well as being Nanny and Gramps, Helen loves spending time at the beach, walking and gardening, and Gary is an avid triathlete.
Ruth Rawley moved to Cornwall from Hampshire in September 1993 when her husband’s career brought about the move. Ruth and Nick have two children, Hannah and Luke. Both children were educated at Mawnan School followed by Penryn College. Hannah then attended Truro College and Luke went to Camborne College.
Pre-children Ruth worked in banking in Torbay, Somerset and Hampshire, which she left when she had her first child. Later she became a registered child-minder before joining the school in September 2000 as a T/A with years 5 and 6. In March 2007 she then became the school administrator. Ruth was treasurer of the PTA from November 1994 until October 1998. She was then nominated as the Non-teaching Staff Governor in September 2001, moving to Foundation Governor in March 2015.
Ruth became a member of the Parents’ Forum at Penryn College in March 2002, later spending a number of years as Chair. In September 2008 she was appointment as a Parent Governor of the College where she remains as a Governor. Being a Governor of both Mawnan School and Penryn College enriches the links between both establishments.
In her leisure time she plays badminton each week, enjoys walking, travelling and spending time with the family.
Rachel Stevenson is our Chair of Governors. Rachel has four children currently at Mawnan School - Elizabeth, Kit, William and Tilly. They moved here in 2017 from London, and have been made to feel like part of the Mawnan family since the day they arrived.
Rachel is an award-winning news journalist and has spent the past 20 years working for major media organisations such as the BBC, the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Observer and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. She has reported on many subjects including business, politics, miscarriages of justice and human rights, as well as conflict and humanitarian crises in the Middle East and West Africa. She has won a Bar Council reporting award and an Amnesty International Media award.
She grew up in Durham, went to Manchester University and via London and Beirut, now lives near Maenporth. An experienced communicator, she likes to cut through complex issues to get to the heart of what really matters - at Mawnan, that means ensuring the best possible education and learning environment for all pupils.
With four children at the school, she has a long-term interest in seeing it thrive. Her children all have different needs and abilities, but all benefit from the special character, ethos and values that run through every aspect of Mawnan School life.
Her goal is to ensure that every single child at Manwan is encouraged to be the very best they can be.
Helen Trelease Todd has had the privilege of being a governor at Mawnan since 2010. It is a role she loves and takes immense pride in. Working full time makes it a challenge to go in and see the children as often as she would like but she does take every opportunity she can.
Professionally her background is in children’s social work. After working on the ‘front line’ for several years she went into a training and learning and development role. She now splits her time between her local authority role and working independently, primarily delivering safeguarding children training but also taking on some advisory work . Much of her work is with schools across the county. She currently has specific responsibility on the governing body for safeguarding, whistle blowing and is deputy early years governor.
She lives very locally and can often be seen on, or around, the Helford River with her husband and their two dogs.
Dr Matt Fox moved to Cornwall for the second time, this time to stay, in 2014 with his wife, Hannah and daughter, Rosemary. His son, Robert, was born in Cornwall in 2015.
He trained as an astrophysicist at Imperial College in London where he gained his PhD. He continued his research there for 8 years and used telescopes around the world and satellites to look at the very early universe. Matt then retrained as physics teacher and now brings his enthusiasm for science to the classroom. His ambition is to inspire the next generation of curious and questioning minds to become scientists.
He has lived and worked in London, North Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire and taught at various schools. Rosemary and Robert are thriving in the Mawnan School environment.
In any available time Matt is active; surfing, cycling, swimming, running, house destruction and construction, and assistant gardener to his wife.
Governor Pecuniary Interests & Record of Attendance