Chair: Bob Bullivant – Co-opted Governor

Bob is married with two daughters and four grandchildren, one of whom is at Haylands. Bob has taken an interest in their education which sparked an interest in becoming more involved resulting in him becoming a governor. Bob lives locally and retired from a career in pensions, including running the awarding body of the professional Chartered body and he has extensive board experience in both the private and charity sectors. He became Chair of Governors in June 2024. 

Vice-chair: Alexandra Nestor-Powell – Parent Governor 

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Lexie is a parent governor; her eldest daughter left Haylands in September for Ryde Academy and her youngest daughter is in Year 5. Lexie qualified as a teacher in 2006 and worked in senior management in schools across the country, including Cheltenham Ladies’ College and The Royal Ballet School. As a family, they moved to the island in January 2017 and are very happy and settled here. Lexie is now training to be a social worker; working to support families across the island. Lexie is passionate about ensuring all children have equal access to education and a wide range of extra-curricular activities and hopes to raise attainment and aspiration for pupils in Haylands and ensure the school is a valued and vital part of the community.

Vanessa Churchman – Local Authority Governor

As the County Councillor for Haylands and Swanmore Vanessa is very proud to be a Governor at our local primary school. It is just one part of Vanessa’s work in representing the local community. Vanessa has been a Governor since 2012 and was involved in the building of the current school.

Jo Clarke – Staff Governor 

Jo is currently the Assistant Headteacher and staff governor at Haylands Primary School and has the responsibility for leading the quality of teaching and learning in addition to being the Designated Safeguarding Lead and Designated Teacher for Looked After Children. Jo has worked at Haylands since 2010 but first started teaching in 1991 – a very long time ago! The role on the Governing body allows Jo to have a thorough overview of all areas of our school and the strategic decisions that are needed to ensure that we provide our children with the very best learning opportunities and experiences.

Simon Richards - Co-opted Governor

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Simon joined the Governing Board in March 2021 as a co-opted governor.  He has experience of governing in several other island schools over the past 12 years and chaired a primary school in Birmingham for 4 years.  Simon worked for the National Governance Association for 5 years, running a programme to support governing boards in England with succession planning and recruiting new board chairs.  He also led on governance development for the South East, London and East of England regions.  Simon currently works as a recruitment consultant in the not-for-profit sector, recruiting trustees and non-executive directors for charities and other non-profit organisations.  He is committed to supporting Haylands Primary School to provide the best quality education in a safe and happy school environment.

Katrina Shaer – Headteacher 

I am the Headteacher at Haylands and took up this position in January 2023. I am so pleased to be able to continue to support the young people in Ryde, prior to this I was the Deputy Head & Inclusion Lead at Dover Park Primary School for 10 years. I am very excited to be working at Haylands alongside the staff team to provide the best possible school experience for our pupils. Outside of school life, I am the mother of two teenage sons who both attend Ryde Academy and we are all very proud to be part of the Ryde schools community.

Matt Snelling – Co-opted Governor 

I am currently the Head of Maths at Ryde Academy and am passionate about supporting our next generations to succeed for the future. Before becoming a teacher, I worked in the electronic engineering sector, mostly for the Ministry of Defence. I have two daughters; one is currently in primary and the other is in secondary school.

Natasha Taplin - Co-opted Governor

Natasha joined as a co-opted governor in 2024 and is keen to support Haylands to raise  standards of attainment and aspiration for local pupils through delivering the best quality education. Natasha moved to the Island in September 2021 with her family and has two daughters in education - one in primary on Island, one in secondary on the mainland. 

Natasha has worked for the NHS for 20 years in senior roles with significant experience of managing financial performance, operational delivery, successfully implementing improvement plans and supporting team development.

Mandy Wharfe - Co-opted Governor

I am a newly appointed Governor (June 2024) so I still have a lot to learn                                    about Haylands School and its community. My previous experience, however, is over 15 years in a school office within the Finance team. Having worked with an amazing Head, the SLT team, teachers, support staff, Governors, parents and of course pupils, I know how demanding but also very rewarding school life can be. Speech day was always the highlight of the year, hearing how all of the pupils had progressed and developed from all abilities during the school year. It never fails to amaze me how our younger generation adapts with the changing world and its challenges.

I have two grown up sons, who from an early age had very different interests. Most weekends, my husband and I would go in opposite directions so both could enjoy their pursuits. They have also chosen very different career paths and I am very proud of the people they have become today. As they do not live at home, I look forward to visiting them regularly as family is still the most important thing to me. My hobbies are long walks, yoga (relaxing not strenuous!) and am an avid reader, mainly of crime fiction.