Welcome to our Governors’ section.

Please find below details of how our Governing body is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

The Board of Governors is a legally required group of volunteers, from the Community, Parents and Staff of the school, whose responsibility is:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

Contact: admin@thaxted.essex.sch.uk

Headteacher	Mrs C Crompton
LA Governor	Mr A Frater (Chair)
Co-opted Governors	Mrs M Griffiths
	Mr Scott Baker
Partnership Governors	Mr I Finn	Vacancy
Parent Governors	Mr S Velamakanni
	Mr P Boorman	Mrs C Michael
	Mrs G Bramley
Staff Governors	Mrs E Dymond
Clerk to the Governors	Mrs C Kitchin

Caroline Crompton

Caroline has lived locally in Saffron Walden for over 20 years, she is married to a retired teacher and has two children aged 20 & 21. She has had an extensive teaching career in London; teaching children from nursery to Year 6 age. She has been a Headteacher in two other Primary schools in Newham, London and has been a Science and Maths Advisor to over 70 Primary schools.

She has a passion for working with children and all the amazing things they can do. She has a strong sense of community and as the new Thaxted Headteacher in September 2022 she hopes to further enhance the community links the school has.

Favourite book: The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks

Person to a dinner party: Coco Chanel

Superpower: travel through time

Favourite song / band: Jacob Collier

Andy Frater

I have had a passion for education for as long as I can remember. I firmly believe only through education can we improve

ourselves, our understanding of others and the world we live in. I have held board level positions in commerce and finance as HR

Director before joining the commercial arm of Plymouth University, then Assistant Principal at a Sixth Form College and now, I am

the Chief Operating Officer at a Multi – Academy Trust of 6 schools, 3 primary and 3 secondary, in the London Borough of

Havering where we educate over 4000 pupils with 700 staff. I live in Thaxted and am also the current Chair of the Parish Council.

I'm delighted to be part of the Thaxted Primary family!

Favourite book - Stig of the Dump - ignited my love for reading at a very early age!

The person I would like to invite to a dinner party: Tom Sharpe, the satirical novelist.

Superpower: I would like to be omnilingual, so I could speak to and understand anyone in the world, and maybe beyond! 

Favourite Music: George Benson, star of a story.

 

 

Saroj Kiran

Saroj has a PhD in Pharmacology from Cambridge University and is currently the Director of a management consultancy company, SKV consultants Ltd. He has strong leadership and motivational skills with expertise in delivering strategic projects within the Biotechnology/Pharmacology industry. He also has extensive experience of coordinating and teaching at international summer schools for secondary school students in Cambridge. He is married with two children who are both attending Thaxted Primary School.

Favourite book: To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee

Person I would most like to invite to a dinner party: J.K.Rowling

Superpower I would choose: Ability to fly

Favourite Music/song: South Indian classical music

 

Emma Dymond

 

Emma lives in Hempstead with her husband, two teenage daughters and a rather large menagerie of animals. She is Deputy Head at Thaxted Primary School and has had a long association with the school, which her own children attended. Having previously been a Parent Governor here, she is looking forward to working with the Governing Body again. Emma's initial degree was in Media Studies, Film and Television, following which she joined Sussex Police working her way up to Detective Sergeant in The Criminal Investigation Department. Having completed 13 years service, she left to look after her young family and completed the Common Professional Examination and Legal Practice Course to further educate herself in all aspects of law. After a brief spell at a regional law firm, teaching called and she began her teaching career, first at Felsted Primary School before moving to Thaxted. Having experienced a number of careers, her skillset is varied. 

Her hobbies all revolve around horses! 

Favourite book: Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae (child's) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (adult's)

Favourite song: Rise Up

Wished for superpower: (None really - but would like to look good in a superhero costume)

Would like to have supper with: Miranda Hart - Such fun!

Maggi Griffiths

Maggi has lived in Saffron Walden for over 20 years. She lives with her husband and has three grown up children and three grandchildren. Maggi studied Music and Education at Coventry College of Education/Warwick University and began her teaching career as a primary school teacher in Coventry. Since then she has taught extensively both as a classroom teacher and Music specialist in the state and private sector in Suffolk, Essex, Dubai and Qatar. Her most recent post was as Music Coordinator for 15 years at Thaxted Primary School before retiring in 2020. Maggi’s passion is Music and in particular singing. She is an active committee member with the Saffron Walden Choral Society and co-founded Thaxted Singers in 2018 with her husband, Steve. Maggi’s other interests are reading, crocheting and travelling, in particular to Italy for an annual singing week. Maggi is delighted to be appointed as a governor at Thaxted Primary School and looks forward to continuing her association with the school, where she spent many happy years.

Favourite Book: Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

Superpower: time travel

Person I would most like to invite to a dinner party: Sir Simon Rattle

Favourite music/song: Over The Rainbow sung by Eva Cassidy

Peter Boorman

Peter has lived a couple of miles outside Thaxted for about 25 years; he has one daughter who attends Thaxted Primary school.  Peter has an MA in Archæology and Anthropology from Cambridge and has worked on excavations in the UK and from South America to Iraq.  His first big career change was from archæology to finance, working for a global bank in The City specialising in risk management, quantitative risk measurement and the direction of very large projects.  In 1997, after ten years in such rôles, Peter switched to doing the same things but as a freelance consultant and then, after another five years and a spell of ill health decided to switch careers again and change pace completely.  He is now a fine-art photographer and artist-printmaker (collographs, wood engravings and other media) and teaches both art forms.

Peter is chair of a London based charity providing enrichment activities in STEM subjects to school age children, and treasurer of a local pre-school, among other charitable activities.  At various times he has received, amongst others, Associateship of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, and Fellowships of both the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Royal Society of Arts.

Peter enjoys visual arts, music, fresh air, books and cooking; and sharing awful dad jokes with his daughter.  

Favourite Book:  I read so many and so varied books that it's hard to choose; today I'll say A Fish Dinner in Memison by E.R. Edison.  Ask me again tomorrow and I'll say something else.

Person I would like to invite to a dinner party:  the anthropologist Dr. Alice Roberts. 

Superpower I would choose:  the ability to speak and understand any language. 

Favourite music/song:  I think my tastes, from '80s heavy rock through blues, soul, jazz and classical to early music, are far too varied to let me choose just one!

 

Carly Michael

 

I have lived in Thaxted since 2017 with my husband Colin, and children Mia and Aria who are both at Thaxted Primary.  We moved from London for a better way of life for our children.

I work full time in the Global Investor Access team at HSBC Investment Bank, working on global conferences, local insights and corporate events.  My team are responsible for content, for the clients of Global Banking and Markets, as well as budgeting and marketing these events.  I have been there for over 19 years.

I love to travel and am lucky that I get to travel a lot with my job but also with my family.  We have a number of bucket list destinations that we are aiming for once the children are a little older.

I enjoy cooking and baking (not always successfully) and am trying to get back into running but fear it will be more long walks for me as I get older!

Favourite Book:  From my childhood, it has to be “Are you there God?  It’s me, Margaret”.  From now, the Harry Potter series and To Kill a Mockingbird which I am ashamed to admit, I only read for the first time about 5 years ago.

Person I would like to invite to a dinner party:    Walt Disney or Stan Lee

Superpower: The ability to speak any language, fluently

Favourite Music: 80s, cheese and 80s cheese.  Bonnie Tyler is my hero (that I’m holding on for……!)

 

Scott Baker

Gillian Bramley

 

I have lived in Thaxted for almost nine years now, with my son Jamie who attends Thaxted Primary School. Jamie is happy at the school, and I am keen that it will continue to provide an exciting learning experience whilst embedding firm social values for him and his peers.

Before embarking on my career, I gained a BScHons in Maths with Music, then worked abroad for 18 months. I continued to travel to some wonderful places up until setting up home in Thaxted. There are many more places I want to add to that list when the time is right.

For the past 17 years, I have been working as an Air Traffic Controller at Stansted Airport, with a couple of years out in Spain to assist in setting up an air traffic service over there. I have recently taken on an additional role “for fun” at Duxford airfield. It’s a pleasure to see the warbirds doing all kinds of tricks!

Outside of work, I’m a lover of musical theatre, a power ballad, and a pie and a pint (true to my northern roots).

Favourite Book:  The Owl and the Pussycat (I know this is cheating)

Person I would like to invite to a dinner party:  Freddie Mercury

Superpower: Sadly, to clean the house in a click of my fingers

Favourite song: Never Forget You, Noisettes