Governance

Our Governing Body consists of  a range of professionals from the private and public sector and school parents. Full Governing Body meetings are held each half term. These meetings cover the full range of statutory agenda items and include a focus on either teaching and learning or policy and resources.

The statutory purpose of the Governing Body is to promote high standards of educational achievement at the school.

The day to day management of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher and staff, whereas the governors are responsible for the general direction of the school and providing a strategic overview.

The Governing Body acts as a critical friend to the school and ensures accountability, whilst considering the interests of children, parents and staff. It makes decisions about curriculum, finance, staffing and premises matters, to help raise standards of achievement and to make sure that the school provides a good quality education for all of our pupils.

Vacancy – Co-opted Governor

Theresa Ward – Parent Governor

Theresa joined the Governing Body in Autumn 2024, just after her son started in reception at Arunside. Her professional background includes being a Chartered Auditor, who has worked in the education and public sector in the past, so was very excited to get involved first hand as a governor. She now works on strategic projects in the Aviation industry and helps to manage the change involved. She uses this background to help to think through strategies, risks and policies with the governors.

Theresa has lived in Horsham since 2010 and now has two young children, who love swimming, rugby, dancing and anything else that involves being active and outdoors! She personally loves running outside, training for races and walks with her family.

As a parent governor she is looking forward to working with the school and staff, helping the school continue to grow with its already strong values.

Anna Hadden – Associate Governor

Anna joined the Governing Body in September as a Co-opted Governor.  She started teaching in 2007 and joined Arunside as SENCO in 2017.  Anna has since become the school’s Deputy Head and is now an Associate Governor.

Anna has had three children who attended Arunside and she has a keen interest in the theatre and amateur dramatics.

Glenn Thomas – Parent Governor

Glenn is a Finance Director working for a medical device company with a background in finance and science.  He has lived in Horsham for his entire life and attended Arunside as a boy during the 1990’s. Glenn is happy to see how far the school has come over the years and very keen to apply his finance and leadership skills to try to add value to the continued growth of the school.

Briony Uwins – Clerk to the Governors

Briony Uwins is a former Arunside pupil and lifelong Horsham resident. She has now returned to her roots and rejoined the school as Clerk to Governors in March 2025. 

In recent years she has been working behind the scenes for the family art business but is now returning to the education sector which she greatly enjoyed. 

Briony is a keen artist, with a special interest in portraiture. She is also working on a long-running renovation project at home which occupies the majority of her spare time.

Both she and her husband have two daughters who are currently studying at a local secondary school. 

Local Authority Governor – Nigel Cloutt

Nigel brings strategic leadership, technical expertise, and governance experience to the Arunside School governing body. Having grown up in the area and returned to raise a family, they are deeply committed to the local community. Although not an official parent governor, they have a child who has just started at the school.

Having previously served as a governor at a school in East Sussex, Nigel is eager to make a positive impact at Arunside School. They aim to leverage their experience as a strategic technical director to drive a holistic approach to education, fostering an environment where children’s knowledge and growth at all key stages are nurtured and celebrated. The chance to learn more about the education sector and witness the remarkable development of students is both fascinating and motivating.

In their professional career, Nigel has held various technical leadership roles, focusing on data and IT strategy, governance, and technical innovation. Currently, as the Global Data Platform Director at the world’s largest privately owned fast-moving consumer goods company, they lead the development of data platform strategy and AI enablement for data and analytics, which includes establishing technical governance frameworks and implementing technical data capabilities. Their experience spans multiple industries, where they have driven technical platform strategies, led software development teams, and ensured regulatory compliance.

In their spare time, Nigel enjoys spending time with family, travelling, and pursuing a passion for gardening. They are a keen tinkerer who loves to start (and sometimes finish!) various projects, from tech to cars to DIY.

Donna Jagger – Headteacher

Donna became part of the Arunside teaching family in September 2015 and as a governor in January 2017. During that time, she has seen the school go through a period of rapid change and improvement. 

Donna started out teaching in 2007, prior to this she worked in the private sector for a large pharmaceutical company as a compliance officer. She has found that working both within the private and public sector has enabled her to have a good balance between public sector duty and private sector responsibility.

Donna said, “being a School Governor and indeed a teacher is a privilege and should never be viewed as anything less! There are few occupations where you can genuinely make a difference to the future of our planet and the children who will look after it. This is why I wanted to be a Governor, working together to do the best for our children and our community”.

Mrs Gemma Hoult – Co-opted Governor, with lead responsibility for governor training and development, also vice-chair of governors.

Gemma joined the governing body in 2020 as a Parent Governor. She was then appointed as a Co-opted Governor in December 2023. Gemma has one son at Arunside now, but previously her older son also attended the school. Gemma and her family are long term residents of Horsham and she is proud to have seen the way Arunside has grown, and continues to do so, over the last few years. Gemma is a Chartered Accountant and a Partner at BDO, one of the largest professional services firms in the world.

Gemma enjoys watching her boys play football and rugby. She is a (keenish) runner and a (very keen) shopper.

Anna Conley – Parent Governor

Anna is a new parent governor, elected in 2023. She has two children currently at Arunside. 

Not originally from the area, with children embarking on their school journeys, Anna became actively engaged with the school to understand her children’s educational environment. She hopes to continue watching the school and its pupils flourish whilst contributing to this as a governor.  

Anna enjoys being active, travelling and spending time with her family and friends. Before starting a family Anna worked in the Finance sector as an event strategist and now supports her husband’s aviation business as an administrator. 

Danielle Mussellwhite – Co-opted Governor

Danielle joined as a co-opted governor in July 2023.   Her focus at university was social work but this evolved into working  at a school for children with SEN until she trained as a primary school teacher. She is now an established primary school teacher with leadership responsibility in a school in the Horsham District.  She is enjoying learning about Arunside and being part of the team of governors as new projects develop.

Shriya Patel – Co-opted Governor

Shriya joined the Governing Body in October 2023 as a Co-opted Governor. Shriya is Head of Classics at Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, where she has taught for over five years. She has a keen interest in staff development and equity, diversity and inclusion. She looks forward to working alongside staff and pupils at Arunside.

Xin Liang – Parent Governor and Chair of governors.

Xin was newly elected as a parent governor in 2023. She has two children attending Arunside. 

Xin and her family moved to Horsham recently from Surrey and commutes to work in London. She works as Head of Data and Insight at UNISON, the largest trade union representing public sector workers including teaching assistants and support workers in schools across the country. She is acutely aware of the pressure maintained schools and working parents are under. She is also keen to contribute more to work around equality and inclusivity. 

Xin and her children enjoy swimming and getting muddy in the woods with their dog Kiki.