Who Are We?

My husband and I live locally in Mayfield and all our children have gone to Heathfield Community College, two are still there and our eldest is now at University.

I have a Master’s Degree in Business, qualifications in Performance, Business and Executive coaching.  I have extensive experience in the corporate world in buying, systems training and providing personal learning and development at Arcadia and Crossrail. In 2013 I started a Business Coaching and Training company; providing business skills development as well as leadership and management training, we now have 7 people in the team.   In 2019 I went in to business with a client running networking groups for over 600 small businesses throughout Kent. As you can imagine the teams have many links with businesses and banks throughout Sussex and Kent. 

I enjoy spending time with family & friends, travel, baking and watching movies.

My hope is to strengthen the already strong team of parent governors using the business acumen and communication skills I have gained over the last 25+ years and open doors for our students to get some essential work experience.

I am passionate about supporting the college, helping our students reach their full potential and dream big!

I have lived in Heathfield since 1992. I studied history at the University of Lancaster in 1976-79, when there were no computers to be seen on campus, and then took the law conversion course at what was then the City of London Polytechnic.

I spent 34 years working in the City of London as a solicitor specialising in commercial litigation at Freshfields and latterly the US firm, Covington and Burling. I retired from law in 2015 and enrolled at the London School of Economics for a Masters in international history, and am now studying for a PhD on the 1947 resolution of the UN to partition Palestine.

I was educated in the State sector but sent my two now grown up daughters to Sevenoaks and Benenden. One is a teacher, the other works in insurance in Singapore.

I am involved with the charity IntoUniversity which is concerned with raising aspirations among educationally disadvantaged pupils, and at the last count 78% of free school meals pupils at IU go onto some form of further education against a national average of around 20%. I have a lifelong interest in education.

When I am not poring over history archives I play tennis and golf, walk my dog, labour in the garden and try to stay fit.

I have always lived in East Sussex and spent most this time in Eastbourne where I attended Cavendish School, and I currently live locally in Alfriston.

I have been a Police Officer for 20 years working in a number of policing roles at both tactical and strategic levels.

I am currently a Chief Inspector within Sussex Police and hope to bring my experience within policing to Heathfield Community College. 

Unlike the majority of the governors I am not a parent, and this will allow me to bring a view from a different lens to the governing team. 

In my spare time I enjoy country walks with my Beagle dog, I enjoy travel and consider myself a bit of a ‘foodie’, enjoying eating out with friends and family. 

I am retired after a career in local media. For the last few years, I ran my own consultancy firm focussed on change management and interim leadership. 

For twelve years prior to this I was Managing Director for Local World in the South East, which publishes newspapers and websites like the Kent and Sussex Courier/across Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire and Essex. 

I was brought up in Sussex and went to Uplands Community College in Wadhurst. Apart from seven years working in the East Midlands I have lived in the area all my life and currently live in Heathfield. I have one son who attended the College for his entire secondary education including sixth form and left in the summer of 2015. 

In my spare time I enjoy gardening and I play the organ at local churches in Ticehurst and Ewhurst. I am actively involved in the Heathfield Partnership Trust Limited as a director – which is a charitable trust focussed on improving the community for residents and businesses.

I currently have a daughter in Year 11 at Heathfield Community College and my son is in Year 9.  I have been impressed by how she is flourishing and what a great learning community it is. I know how important the Governors are to the school and want to offer my support, time and experience to the team.

I’ve worked in academia, publishing, online mapping and until 2016 I ran a small web company in London. I then took the opportunity to drop the commute and work primarily from home. I’ve not looked back.

I am a data scientist by trade but geography and science are my real passions. I also have experience of working with children through volunteering at a summer camp for many years.

I have been a director of both a commercial company and a residents’ association so have committee experience and understand the time commitments involved.

I believe that my experience of management of programmes and projects for central and local government, as well as non-departmental bodies gives me a unique insight into working within the constraints that are common across the public sector. Furthermore, with an extensive familial background in the education system and having been a qualified instructor of dangerous sports I understand many of the challenges faced by schools and educators.

As a result of this background I bring a wide range of skills from financial and risk management to strategic planning and problem solving as well as a knowledge of education that will help to support the school.

Furthermore, I have three children in the school so have a vested interest in the school’s on-going performance, student wellbeing and support of the staff in continuing and improving on the impressive success to date.

I have been a member of the Network Services Department providing IT support to Heathfield Community College since 2007; part of a team developing and implementing huge changes to the way technology is used within the school. Prior to joining the College I spent several years working in the charity and health care sectors, an insurance claims assessor, and varied industrial placements after leaving university.

My childhood was spent living in several different countries, although I attended secondary school in East Sussex and currently live locally with my family.

As a school Governor I hope to actively contribute to the school’s development and the well-being of students and staff.

My name is Jon (Jonathan) Reynard. I attended Heathfield Community College many years ago as a student and benefited greatly from the education I received. Having left school at 18, I went to study sports studies as a degree. This was quickly followed by a year training as a teacher, completing a PGCE qualification.

My teaching career has almost exclusively taken place in East Sussex. For the last 25 years I have been a primary Headteacher in a range of schools including junior, primary and for a short time as an Executive Head teacher at both a primary and a church school. I have specialised in leading schools in difficulties following inspections, usually those graded as inadequate. This role was immensely rewarding and very challenging.

In 2022 I left headship and became a Quality Assurance Advisor for a company called ‘The Aurora Group’. This company run independent special educational needs schools across the country. These schools range from primary schools to colleges. The pupils are mainly those with social and emotional needs although several cater for students with very complex physical needs. This is a very fulfilling role which I enjoy very much.

I am very much looking forward to using my experience to support Heathfield Community College as a Governor.

Originally from Essex (where I taught as an unqualified ‘instructor’ at my old secondary school for a year). I have taught at Heathfield Community College since 1993 and travel daily from Brighton as I moved there to attend Sussex University in 1988. My husband works as a freelance writer and our daughter is now taking A Levels at a local Sixth Form College.

As well as being a Sixth Form tutor I have been co-ordinating PSHE, which includes Citizenship, Careers Education and Work Related Learning since the summer of 2005. I have recently been heavily involved in Careers and Employability Events at the College. I lived in Barcelona for a year in 2001, but still felt the ‘call’ and returned to HCC in September 2002.

I joined the Governing Board at Heathfield Community College in 2019, as a Parent Governor and bought with me the experience of being both a parent and staff governor for 6 years at primary level. I work as a School Business Manager in a local primary school. I have also recently completed a Masters in School based Leadership and have a BA in Economics. I previously had a successful 18-year career in the banking sector, covering roles in operations management, customer services and human resources.
 
I am married and have three children, who have all attended Heathfield Community College, and we also host long term foreign student. In my spare time I very much enjoy being part of my local community. I am both a Cub Scout Leader In Herstmonceux and Safeguarding Officer for Herstmonceux Cricket Club.