What does the governing body do?

Our main role is to support the Head teacher and the staff – the phrase often used to describe this role is ‘a critical friend’. We help them to set and reach targets and to strive for excellence across the whole spectrum of school life. The key document used for this is the School Development Plan (SDP). The SDP sets out a three year strategic plan for the school, with targets that everyone works towards.

Governors also regularly visit the school, especially during special weeks such as writing week or science week. Along with some parents and carers, governors also come in to school to do reading with pupils. If you would also be interested in doing some volunteer reading with pupils please contact the head teacher.

We have some specific legal duties, including:

• setting strategic direction, policies and objectives
• approving the school budget
• reviewing progress against the school's budget and objectives
• appointing, challenging and supporting the Head teacher

As a voluntary-aided Church of England school, governors are also responsible for ensuring the school develops and maintains a christian ethos.

What's the structure of the governing body?

The Governing Body meets at least once every term. We also have two permanent committees that look at particular issues. These are:

• Curriculum and Standards Committee
• Resources and Wellbeing Committee

These committees usually meet at least once a term and all governors are informed about what happens at these meetings. You can read the non-confidential minutes of our recent meetings by asking at the school office.

Who are the governors?

There are several categories of governor, appointed by different groups that have aninterest in the school. These are Foundation governors (appointed by the Church of England), Local Authority (appointed by Islington Council), Parents (elected by parents) and Staff (elected by staff members). All governors have equal status however they are appointed. We are all volunteers and do not receive any payment for the role. Our instrument of government sets this out in more detail and can be seen here.

David Price joined the governing body as a foundation governor in February 2013. As a former student of the school David has extremely fond memories of his time there and was delighted to join the governing body, where he hopes to contribute to the growth and development of the school. He works as a Data Consultant within the private sector and has experience of training and personnel issues, and he is also a trade union work rep. He is a member of the Resources Committee, link governor to Year 4 and his subject link is Humanities. His favourite subject at school was English and one of his favourite memories from his schooldays was a celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. This included a trip to see a copy of the Bayeux Tapestry and a re-enactment of the battle in the school playground where the Normans and the English charged at each other with cardboard swords.

Marion Cullen joined the governing body as a foundation governor in November 2015. She is a retired social worker with immense experience gained predominately here in London as well as in her native Australia. She worked mainly in Child Protection often working very closely with teachers in supporting and protecting pupils.She is a member of the Children, Families and Community Committee, and is the link governor for Year 3. Her own school days were spent in post war Australia with 45 pupils in each class, often housed in temporary buildings including Nissen huts. Her fondest memory is of an inspirational 4^th grade teacher who despite the large class size taught her about the cultures and customs of “new Australians” by cooking foreign food on a camping gas stove in the classroom (no health and safety then!) and eating together whilst discussing and learning about the previously unknown ingredients and tastes, including the proper Italian way to eat spaghetti involving lots of winding around forks and splashing on huge napkins!

Henrietta White: I have been a member of St John’s Church Upper Holloway for a long time. I have called it “My family Church” as every member of my immediate family has had a significant church service during their lives there. The Rev. Karowei Dorgu, now Bishop of Woolwich, recommended I should become School Governor at St John’s School. I am a parent to my (grown-up) daughter who attended there.
I have worked in a corporate environment doing Accounts for Solicitors for many years and for the last 3 years as an Office Co-ordinator between the office in London and Head Office in Philadelphia, USA.  As I am on the Resources Committee, I would like to think that my experience in the corporate world may be useful in the Education Community.
I have always enjoyed school and my best achievements have been in English, Maths and being awarded at the end of term a certificate for 100% attendance. I have been one of the “eight maids a milking” wearing a crepe costume, and since then I was always chosen to read out aloud at school plays and school church services. I guess this was training in advance as I am on the rota for the bible readings at St John’s.
I consider it an honour to be a School Governor and going “back to school” has been a learning process.  I am interested in seeing what education and the social community is like in the 21^st Century in the digital age, engaging with the teachers and children and how they progress.

Suraj Bali joined the governing body as a Foundation Governor in September 2020. Originally from the United States, he moved to the UK to pursue post-graduate education at Royal Holloway, University of London. Having completed a Master’s degree in Business Administration, he continues there as a volunteer coach to final year students. At St. John’s, he is a member of the Resources and Wellbeing Committee, focusing on the school’s Computing curriculum. He works in financial services in the City of London, and became a school governor with the objective of utilising work experience to improve career prospects of the next generation. Amongst his Primary School memories, Suraj recalls his Year 2 teacher being very pretty, and his favourite subject was history.

Michael Conry joined the Governing Body as a Parent Governor in 2022. Michael has worked 20 years in the energy industry in Switzerland, Ireland and the UK, across a range of activities from electrical field simulation, to wind-farm development, to human resources. Following his undergraduate training in mechanical engineering, Michael pursued a PhD and later a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship and MBA. Beyond having 2 children in the school, he has a strong interest in education and training. He has lectured and tutored students at university level. For four years he managed the largest electrical apprenticeship programme in Ireland (with 300 trainees) leading to it winning the European Commission Alliance for Apprenticeships (large companies) award in 2018. At school Michael's favourite subjects were science and mathematics, though he enjoyed the full curriculum and believes strongly in the importance of giving children broad access to discover and explore the diversity of their interests.

Lindsey Hodgson joined the governing body as a Foundation Governor in July 2021. Lindsey moved to London from the North East of England as a primary school teacher and her first teaching position was at St John's Upper Holloway. Fourteen years later she has returned to St John's as a governor. Over the years, Lindsey has developed in her career and is now the Head of School at another local Islington primary. Having years of experience in education, she is able to bring this to the governing board to help support the future development of the school.  ​

Nick Turpin is Head Teacher at St John’s and has been a staff member of the governing body since he joined the school in 2017. As head teacher he is a member of both committees. When he was at school he enjoyed learning about animals, history and loved reading. 

Frances Tomlinson joined the Governing Body in April 2023.  Frances has been a close neighbour of St John's School for a long time. Before retiring she was a lecturer at the Business School, London Metropolitan University, where she taught management and organisation studies. Her research and teaching interests focused on equality and diversity issues, and on the role of voluntary and community organisations (including refugee organisations). During her time at London Met, she served as an elected staff member on the Academic Board and on the Board of Governors. Currently, she is a committee member of the Patient Participation Group at St John's Way Medical Practice. She is also involved in community gardening projects in Islington, volunteering for Sunnyside Community Gardens and Islington Community Plant Nursery.

When does the governing body meet?

Our Governing Body meetings are usually held in the evening. We attend training sessions and seminars to help us keep up to date with changes in schools and education and to help us do our job effectively. We also go into school to meet with the head teacher, other members of staff and pupils to help us find out how the school is progressing towards its targets. You can click here to see which meetings our governors attended in 2024-25 

You can click on the link below to see further details of our governing body, including their terms, committee membership and roles. 

Governor Summary

Register of interests

Governors are required to disclose any interests they may have that could conflict with their role as a governor. You can click here to see this information for 2022.

Further financial information about the school

You can find out more about our school's financial data by visiting the schools' financial benchmarking website.