Governance

Board of Governors

The Westgate School’s board of governors consists of fifteen members drawn from the school’s parents, colleagues and local community. The board has three core functions:

Ensures clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
Holds the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff;
Oversees the financial performance of the school and makes sure its money is well spent.

Governors at The Westgate School are all members of either the Curriculum Committee, which monitors educational progress at all stages from nursery to KS4, learning environment and pastoral support system, or the Resources Committee, which is concerned with finance, staffing matters and facilities.

Safeguarding is a constant priority and appears on every committee and Full Governing Body meeting agenda.

As well as committee work, governors may have additional monitoring responsibility for aspects such as health and safety, SEND or safeguarding. Finally, governors are also linked with different aspects of strategic school functions and undertake regular monitoring visits.

Chair and Vice Chair of Board of Governors and Committee Chairs

Penelope Catchpole - Chair

Responsibilities - Link Governor for SEND inc LAC, Primary Phase & Nursery link governor

Penny has been a governor at The Westgate School since 2010, initially as a parent Governor and currently as a co-opted Governor. Her three children all attended the school and all have now graduated from university.

Penny has lived all over the UK and settled in Winchester in 2001. She ran her own legal practice for 10 years and then spent nearly 6 years working in Children's Services at Hampshire County Council. Penny is a member of the Curriculum committee having been a past Chair.

Christopher Sermon - Vice chair

Responsibilities - Chair of Resources Committee, SFVS/FMSIS Auditing

Chris has been a governor at The Westgate School since 2014, initially as a parent Governor and currently as a co-opted Governor; having previously served for eight years as parent governor at Western Primary School. He became Chair of the Resources Committee in 2018, and vice-Chair of Governors in 2021.

Now retired, Chris is a Chartered Accountant specialising in financial regulation and customer protection. Born and brought up in Winchester, Chris trained initially in London (including a year at the Bank of England) moved to Hungary for five years, then worked throughout Central and Eastern Europe before settling down back in Winchester.

He has two children, both of whom have now left the school and are currently studying at university.

Claire Woodcock - Chair of the Curriculum Committee

Claire has been a governor at The Westgate School since January 2024, as a parent governor, having previously served for seven years as a governor at Western Primary School, and as Chair of Governors for 3 years. Claire became Chair of the Curriculum Committee in July 2024.

Born and brought up in Winchester, Claire left in 1990 to complete her university education in London. She has since worked and travelled all over the world as a Management Consultant. Most recently, Claire works with Hampshire County Council to improve and transform the journey of the child through social care. Claire has also spent 10 years of her career as a teacher of French and Spanish and head of KS4 in a south London secondary school.

Claire has one daughter, currently enjoying The Westgate School and all it has to offer.

Simon Wilson - Curriculum, Rotherly Day Nursery Committee, Pay Committee

Simon has been a Governor since 2019 and currently chairs the Nursery committee as well as sitting on the Curriculum committee. He is a co-opted Governor but is also a Westgate parent having had three daughters pass through the school.

Simon worked overseas as a senior journalist and editor for BBC foreign news for more than twenty years including postings as Bureau Chief in Washington, Brussels and Jerusalem. He returned to the UK in 2018 to work as a senior manager with the BBC World Service and settled in Winchester with his wife and daughters.

Please contact the school office if you would like to contact one of our Governors.