St Neot's Governing Body.
Governing Body.
In conjunction with the Head and Senior Leadership Team, the Governors set and review policies, plans and procedures which are designed to ensure the best possible education for all pupils, both present and future. The Governing Body is also responsible for ensuring the proper control of the School’s finances.
David Hertzel - Chair of Governors
David was Managing Partner of city law firm DAC until 2006. He was appointed a Law Commissioner in 2007 until 2014. He chaired the UK Risk Managers Association (Airmic) Captive Insurance Focus Group for several years, was an Airmic Board member and a member of the BSI drafting committee on risk management. He remains a member of the Airmic finance and insurance committees. He is the past president of the British Insurance Law Association, past Chair of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) Professional Standards Committee and a CII Board member. He chaired the government Taskforce on insurance fraud and is chair of a pension fund trustee board. He also advises insurance governance specialists Mactavish and chairs their Claims Group. As Law Commissioner David was responsible for various commercial and common law reform projects, including the recent major reforms of insurance contract law, the law relating to the supply of goods and services, unjustified threats in intellectual property litigation and the fiduciary duties of investment intermediaries. David received the CII Claims Faculty Achievement award and the British Insurance Achievement award in 2015 and in 2016 the Insurance Fraud Achievement award. He is a visiting professor to Swansea University.
David was educated at George Abbot School, Guildford and Brasenose College, Oxford.
Barbara Stanley
Barbara is Chair of the Education Committee and a member of the Appointments and Governance Committee. She retired from her post as Head of The Abbey School, Reading, in 2014, following nineteen years as a Head. The Abbey School was her third Headship, preceded by Alexandra College, Dublin, and Bedford High School. Trained as a secondary Geography teacher, all the schools in which she has been a senior manager have included Junior or Prep Schools. She is the Independent Schools Specialist for the senior education leaders’ professional association ASCL (Association of School and College Leaders) and so sees national and independent sector education policy and politics from close quarters. Outside education, she is a churchwarden, closely involved in Swallowfield and other activities and appreciates being an active grandparent.
Danny Gowan
Danny was born and educated in New Zealand. He is married with 4 adult children and lives locally in North East Hampshire. From 1979 until 2016 he practiced law in London principally in the field of International Construction and Engineering Arbitration. From 2000 until 2011 he was his firm's Senior partner.
He has been Governor of LWC since 2015 and chairs the Campus & Estates Committee. He sits on the Finance Committee and is a Director of Stern Farms Ltd which oversees the Estate farming business on behalf of LWC.
He was part of the group of LWC Governors who were actively involved in the discussions with the St Neot’s Board leading to the Collaboration Agreement between the two schools.
Mark Scoggins
Graduate of Cambridge University (Law Tripos 1980). Solicitor Advocate based in the City of London since 1983. Principal practice is the defence of organizations and individuals in the construction, chemical, transport, waste, water and emergency services sectors in regulatory and civil claims, particularly health and safety, environmental and catastrophic personal injury or death. Represented Thames Trains at the public inquiry into the October 1999 collision near Ladbroke Grove. In 2003 handled the successful Old Bailey defence of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens and his predecessor Lord Condon on all ten charges brought against them by the HSE arising out of roof falls suffered by patrolling officers. Appointed by Balfour Beatty in the afternoon of the day of the October 2000 train derailment at Hatfield, in July 2005 helped win the acquittal of its rail division on all corporate manslaughter charges it faced over the incident, and in July 2006 succeed in its appeal against sentence for admitted health and safety failings. Represented the Metropolitan Police Service in the health and safety prosecution brought to trial in October 2007 over the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell station. Adviser to the police team which re-investigated the Hillsborough disaster from 2012: the Stoddart Inquiry (Operation Resolve).Visiting lecturer to the College of Policing 1992-2020 on major incident management, public order command and victim identification. Adviser to a senior officer of the London Fire Brigade in the Grenfell Tower public inquiry. Adviser to an involved police service on the manslaughter and health and safety aspects of the Fishmongers’ Hall fatalities of November 2019.
Wendy Berry
Wendy is mother to three children. Her two boys, both ex-pupils of St Neot’s, attend Reading Blue Coat and Wellington College and her daughter, also ex St Neot’s, attends Wellington College. In her working life she was a European Product Manager for Dell Computers. Wendy currently works in a voluntary role for British Eventing. Wendy is a member of the Risk Management & Compliance Committee and is the Governor responsible for the Pre-Prep and EYFS.
Madelaine Best
Maddie graduated from the University of Bath with a BSc in Politics and International Relations, before joining Bradfield College as a Teacher of History and Politics. Her main academic area of specialism is in Gender Politics and she has co-authored a paper on family friendly practices in the devolved legislatures, and continues to read widely in this field. Maddie - passionate about staying abreast with developments in pedagogy and pastoral care - is the Gifted & Talented Co-ordinator and a Deputy Housemistress at Bradfield. She lives with her husband, Chris, who works as a boarding Housemaster. She enjoys walking, skiing, reading and writing plays. Maddie sits on the Education and Safety & Wellbeing Committees.
Peter German
Pete is Director of Admissions & Marketing at Lord Wandsworth College, an 11-18 day and boarding school in Long Sutton, Hampshire, where he is part of the Senior Leadership Team.
Having studied at the University of the Arts, London, he began his career in education at Yateley School before moving to Frensham Heights where he managed Marketing & Admissions. Passionate about education and empowering young people, Pete has worked
with a number of charities within this field. He has spoken at conferences and delivered training for ISBI and EMCdigital and is part of a TEDx organising team which brings together a range of influential thinkers and innovators. Pete is married to Leah and they have two young sons.
Nigel Stoate
Nigel lives in Bramshill with Gemma and their son attends St Neot's. Nigel studied Mechanical Engineering at Southampton University and worked in industry before returning to college and qualifying as a solicitor in 1997. He is a partner in the London office of Taylor
Wessing where he heads the patent practice and typically acts for life sciences companies in European patent litigation. Born in Reading, Nigel grew up to farming parents in Eversley and Bramshill and has a keen interest in the local community. In his spare time he restores
wartime vehicles. Nigel is a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
Martin Todd
Martin held a number of senior global roles within ExxonMobil
Corporation in the last few years of a 36 year career with them:
main Board Director of the UK and Ireland companies, manager
of European Retail operations, Commercial Manager of the
Global Aviation unit, among them. His career in the
downstream business took him to positions in the USA (twice),
Brazil, Brussels and Chile where he was Lead Country manager.
His experiences included Sales, Advertising and Marketing,
operational roles, Supply Trading, coordination of South East
refining and supply, and several analytical roles. He also worked
on the small group charged with implementation of the merger
between Exxon and Mobil in 2000.
Since retiring in 2014, he has completed an MA at SOAS
(London University) in Chinese history: started up and operated
a Charity (JBVC Foundation) on behalf of Johnson Beharry (VC),
whose goal is to permanently assist youngsters to leave gangs
in London: chaired the Lancing College alumnus Society as well
as their Football Club, and currently remains on the Lancing
College Foundation Council, charged with fund raising for
bursaries and Projects.
Before joining ExxonMobil, Martin was born and received his
early education in Hong Kong, before prep school in East
Sussex, Lancing College and Brasenose College Oxford.
Graham Tongue
Recently retired following 41 years in Agri Business on landed Estates for private Clients in Cheshire, Lancashire, Devon Hampshire, Suffolk, Kent, South Wales. Diversifying agricultural assets, restoring heritage buildings, renovating and building residential property. Committee member of the Cheshire Country Landowners Association; former external examiner, Harper Adams University. Raised on family farms in Gloucestershire before qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor, Land Agent and Valuer from the Royal Agricultural University. Married to Alison, with two children both of whom boarded at St Neot’s and two grandchildren. Previous involvement as administrator of an educational charity. Now taking on charitable work assisting the local Church. A keen traveller and gardener.
In Summary.
Governors give their time and expertise freely. They meet collectively as a Board twice in the Autumn Term and once in each of the Spring and Summer Terms respectively. In addition, there are regular meetings of Board Committees, of which there are currently five - the Finance & General Purposes Committee, the Education Committee, the Safety & Wellbeing Committee, Appointments and Governance Committee and the Risk Management and Compliance Committee. The Bursar is Clerk to the Governors and any communication with the Governing Body may, in the first instance, be directed to him.