Meet Our Governors

Michael Anderton
Chair of Governors
Co-opted Governor 

Michael was born and raised in South Africa. Michael studied Computer Programming at Durban University of Technology. His early career in South Africa was varied and colourful and he worked for the Durban City Police, a Property Developer and the IFP before coming to the UK in 1994.

He worked for a small software integration company in London that specialised in integrating complex electrical systems, such as lighting, CCTV, fire detection and heating and ventilation systems found in modern buildings. Michael is now a self employed electrician and has run his business since 2002. 

Michael finds the experience of being a Governor at Greatham very rewarding and feels his support and challenge has made a positive contribution to the school.

Joanna Goman
Headteacher

Jo is Headteacher of Greatham Primary School. Jo was appointed Headteacher in September 2013. Prior to this, she was the Deputy Headteacher in a large infant school in Basingstoke, she worked there for seven years. 

Jo trained to become a teacher at the University of Reading and began her teaching career in a junior school in Bracknell Forest. This was followed by an Infant School in Whitley, Reading. Jo left this outstanding setting to become a Literacy Advisor for Portsmouth Local Authority.

Carolyn Dyer
Co-opted Governor

Carolyn relocated to Hampshire from Bristol 14 years ago.  She is married with 1 grown up son.  

Carolyn has worked in Senior Leadership roles in the Financial Services industry for the past 20 years, most recently as an Underwriting Operations Manager for a leading Insurance company.  Having been accountable for the delivery of challenging financial results she has gained a broad range of business experience including strategic planning, measuring performance, people development, managing change and continuous improvement. 

While Carolyn’s son was at school she was an active member of the Parent Teacher Associations at the schools he attended.  She is interested in education and is very keen to see young people achieve their full potential having had first-hand experience of developing and leading mentoring programmes.  Carolyn is new to the Governor team and is very much looking forward to getting involved at Greatham School.

Diana Pont
Joint-Vice Chair of Governors 
Co-opted Governor

Diana has been a teacher in an FE College, a Comprehensive School and a Senior Independent School as well as teaching for a couple of years in a Junior Independent School.

She has had experience in working in strategic marketing for a medium sized relocation company and following further studies in Management Studies and Education Studies specialized in teaching Business Studies to HND and A-Level students.  She was fortunate to have been in charge of many overseas expeditions taking children to develop leadership and independent skills in countries such as Malawi, Iceland and Eastern Europe and supported families in order to raise funds.

Diana now lives in Liphook, has three adult children and very much enjoys being involved with Greatham School.

Mark Richmond
Staff Governor (& Deputy Headteacher)

Mark has been our Deputy Head Teacher since 2013.

After leaving university Mark worked as an IT consultant where he was responsible for coordinating many projects including implementing the Paperless Practises in GP surgeries. During this time Mark developed his love for teaching as he had to teach the staff at all the GP surgeries how to use the new computer systems. 

After deciding to become a teacher, Mark gained experience of both secondary and primary schools before making a decision to teach primary. 

Steve Clarke
Co-opted Governor (& Parent)

Steve is an educational consultant for a large education consultancy, working with primary and secondary schools across Surrey and Devon. His main role is supporting teachers with the Computing curriculum and facilitating senior leaders with developing a whole-school strategic vision for IT and mobile learning.  

Steve is also an online safety advisor and STEM ambassador.  Prior to this role, he was head of the Business Studies and Computing Department and a member of the senior leadership team at a school in Farnham.

Richard Thorn
Co-opted Governor
 

Richard is a self-employed Business Change and Communications Manager currently working in the Financial Services sector. Prior to that he had a career in consulting with PwC and KPMG and before that worked in television finance for the BBC and ITV. Richard lives in Liphook and has three grown up daughters.

Emma Wilkinson
Parent Governor

My employment history lies within the finance sector. Before I had the children, I spent 12 years working for HSBC Bank helping customers with their day to day financial requirements. During this time, I gained a wealth of knowledge in the sector and a good understanding of systems and processes. This helps me to better understand financial situations and make suggestions for improvement. More recently I have been working part-time as a bookkeeper for a small business where I am trusted to maintain accurate accounts, and I am also coming to the end of an AAT qualification in bookkeeping. I am very determined to make a positive contribution to the school by helping to ensure it has a very clear direction; and welcome the opportunity to have a constructive impact on the education of all children who attend it

Joint-Vice Chair of Governors
Co-opted Governor (& Parent)

 

I have a degree in Accountancy and Law and over 12 years experience in roles focussing on performance evaluation, strategic planning and data analysis. Additionally I have significant experience of pitch presentations, sales support and customer relations.

From a relationship perspective I have worked across a number of industries, in the context of relationship building and / or dispute resolution

My data analysis experience runs from database management (SQL, Access, Postgres), to commercial / financial analysis (profitability analysis, marketing / sales strategy), through to advanced analytics (price elasticity, promotional effectiveness, machine learning etc – Python, R)
 

Nicola Birchwood
Parent Governor

My whole career and background before having my children was in further and higher education working with young adults advising them on appropriate courses and choosing career paths. Since my children came along I have worked in local government in roles where I hope my involvement (however small) makes a positive difference to people.  

I lead a successful team based across several sites handling many types of enquiries from both internal and external customers.  In my role as a Team Leader I am required to be a strong decision maker and to analyse the potential impact of any change to our service.  I also regularly carry out HR functions required of me ie recruitment, performance management and have dealt confidently with having to have difficult conversations in challenging circumstances.