Governors
MEET OUR GOVERNORS
Peter Hebden (Chair of Governors)
Peter is a County Councillor in Hatfield and is a member of the Children and Young Persons Cabinet Panel, amongst others. He is a former Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and is involved with local charities as well as being the Chair of Trustees for Resolve and the current President of Rotary International (Hatfield). Peter’s experience of working with a local charity for children with special needs and the most vulnerable in society gave him the inspiration to support the children, parents and staff at Southfield.
Peter served for 32 years in the Metropolitan Police Service, prior to working in the NHS for 6 years before retiring.
Amrit Jandu (Vice Chair of Governors)
Amrit has always placed immense importance in the role that a school plays in the foundational years of a young person’s life and he feels privileged to be able to offer his support to Southfield as a Parent Governor.
Being a parent of a child at Southfield provides him with the motivation to help ensure that every child with additional needs can reach their full potential, thrive and that the children receive the best educational experience.
Jan Liversage (Local Authority Governor)
Jan is a retired Headteacher of a Hertfordshire Special School for children with Severe Learning Difficulties, which received 4 judgements of Outstanding by Ofsted. Over the years her skills and knowledge were used in many projects, work streams and innovations to assist in the development of special education in Hertfordshire. Jan has been a part-time tutor for Birmingham University and was instrumental in establishing new specialist ways of working with multi-sensory impaired children in Hertfordshire Special Schools. Currently she is a Chair of Governors at a small Primary VA school.
Andrea Lane (Parent Governor)
Andrea is an experienced I.T HR project manager working with large scale organisations for over 20 years, managing international HR transformation deployments as well as the programme management of complex projects.
Andrea became a parent governor just over a year ago. Her son joined Southfield in 2019 and she wanted to take on a more active role in the school. This is Andrea’s first governor role and she is keen to support Southfield School in meeting their aims to provide the best care and education for all their children and bring a parent’s perspective to every meeting. Andrea feels it is important that every child at Southfield is happy, safe, confident and strive to become the very best they can be.
Toby Perrett (Co-Opted Governor)
Toby Perrett is an experienced Senior service engineer within the medical diagnostic field. Based around the UK and Europe he manages installations of Pathology equipment for healthcare providers including the NHS. Previous to this, Toby worked within the NHS for 10 years in the Blood Transfusion department.
Toby has strong links to Southfield school as his son has recently joined as a pupil.
Toby believes education plays a massive part in children’s futures and wants to support the school, pupils and staff in order that everyone in the Southfield community thrives.
Karen Woolfenden (Co-Opted Governor)
Karen Hemmings’ has had countless years’ experience in the childcare sector, including teaching in pupil referral unit, social care support, careers advice guidance and governor support. Her dedication to meeting children’s needs has led to her ambition to continue to develop her skill set in children welfare and education, while ensuring they meet their full potential.
In current years her focus has been dedicated to meeting the needs of her son, constantly learning to readapt previous childcare knowledge to understand the needs of those with special needs, leading to her to develop a position of parent governor.
Karen will continue to support the school with her skill set and passion.
Angela Gaughan (Co-Opted Governor)
Angela is founder of a local charity that support neurodivergent children/young people and their families. The charity has now been running for over five years and was started as there was nothing locally to support social activities for her autistic son. In addition to being autistic, her son, also has sensory processing disorder and has been attending a specialist LD school for the last 7 years.
Angela understands the daily struggles which parents have, whether its juggling family life, or trying to get all the support possible to ensure that your child has the best opportunities and outcomes for their future.
Angela has a good understanding of the SEN world through her own experiences, the charity and by being a HPCI representative for the last 5 years.
She worked in the finance sector for over 23 years and has been treasurer of the PTA at two schools.
Clarissa Walsh (Staff Governor)
Clarissa joined the Southfield team in 2016 as a Teaching Assistant. She went on to study a PGCE and returned to Southfield in September 2018 as a Class Teacher. Clarissa has worked with a range of learners across a number of phases whilst at Southfield and contributed to developing the curriculum.
Previously Clarissa worked a variety of roles as support staff in a number of primary schools and Early Years settings in the London Borough of Croydon. During this period, she worked as part of a team within an Enhanced Provision in a mainstream school and supported children with Special Educational Needs on a 1:1 basis. Clarissa is passionate about supporting the children and young people at Southfield and ensuring that every child meets their full potential.
To contact the Governors please use the following email address or telephone number: admin@southfield.herts.sch.uk 01707 276 504