Governors

Laura Cowan – Chair

My role as Governor at Queen’s Hills Primary School started when I joined the board in November 2015. I am currently Chair of Governors and monitor KS2, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance. Whenever I have the privilege to visit Queen’s Hill and speak to the Headteacher, staff and children I am always impressed with the energy, motivation and resilience to be the amazing school that it is.

After a long career in teaching I retired in 2018. My working life focussed on secondary education and in helping Norfolk schools to improve and be the best they can. I currently assess school improvement projects for Middle and Senior leaders from national Primary and Secondary schools through NPQonline. 

I am supported by my husband Colin; I have two grown up married sons who have settled with their lovely wives in Norfolk. I love reading, walking, undertaking creative projects and travelling to exotic places. We live in the small village of Seething which is south of Norwich and have a black and white cat called Lennon and following in with the Queen’s hill tradition, a dalmatian called Molly.

Hannah Clark – Vice Chair

I am a co-opted governor and joined the board in June 2017.

I work as a software developer as part of the team at Governor Hub, the website for school governors. Having worked as a teaching assistant at Queen’s Hill in 2015, and after seeing the amazing work that governors do across the country, I became a governor at Queen’s Hill to offer my time and skills to support the school as it continues to grow. And I missed being part of such a unique and brilliant school!

Outside of work I enjoy reading, music, and visiting my family (and pets) in Spain as often as I can.

Rachel Gray

I am a Co-opted Governor and joined the board in January 2019.

I became a member of the board in order to be part of an environment that encourages young people to become engaged and excited about learning and finding ways to ensure this motivation continues as they move through their educational journey.

I moved onto the housing estate in 2016 with my son now attending Queen’s Hill Primary School and I felt this would be a constructive avenue to support not only his progress and learning but the community we live in. The impact the early years have on a student’s progression route and aspirations can never be underestimated and feel my experience would support the Board with this.

Outside of my role as a Governor, I work at the UEA as the Data and Systems Manager within the Universities Admissions, Recruitment and Marketing Department working to ensure the data accuracy of student records and implementing process improvements. Prior to this I worked at City College Norwich as the Examination and Achievements Team Leader responsible for ensuring 4000+ students undertake exams and assessments, and achievements are accurately recorded and reported.

Rachael Howard

I am a parent Governor and chair of the School Development Committee. Having been a teacher for 20 years, I became a Governor with the belief that I could use this experience to guide, assist and support Queen’s Hill Primary School to continue to provide a quality education that excites and engages every child.

I am a mum to four children, three of whom attend Queen’s Hill while my eldest has now moved on to High School. I enjoy spending time with my family and walking our two dogs, Poppy and Willow.

Lyn Lawrence

I wish to support Queen’s Hills Primary as local authority governor as I have a passion for education for our young people.  I am committed to ensuring every child has access to education that allows for growth and achievement.  I am a champion for the marginalized children in our society, but equally support every child, celebrating differences.  I wish to be involved in taking the school into the future, providing a safe environment with excellent learning opportunities for all children, including my own grandchildren.

I have worked in industry and then for 20 years in education as a college lecturer where I taught Food Studies, Hospitality & Life skills to mainstream students and learners with additional needs.

I am familiar with the school as I have voluntarily supported classes in food preparation and cooking as part of the Technology curriculum.

Andrew Ridgway

I have over 20 years’ experience in various roles within the public sector, where I have developed skills in understanding and interpreting complex data and working with teams to deliver results. I started a new career in October 2018 as a “Governance Support and Development officer” at Educator Solutions (Part of Norfolk County Council). Through this employment I am building a degree of expertise in the school governance role, and now I want to use that experience to help make a positive difference at Queen’s Hill Primary School