Grove House School was founded by a group of local teachers and special needs professionals who presented a vision for a new, specialist provision for pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties to Government.

Following approval from the DfE, the members of the steering group became the school’s first Governors and are now working alongside a number of talented new recruits to offer a range of skills and experience to the school.

The Governors serve on the “Local Governance Group” which meets at least once a term and on a number of committees which look at particular issues (such as pay and teaching and learning).

The Governors work to support the school’s leaders in their realisation of the vision for Grove House School and ensure the highest possible standards for its pupils.

The Local Governance Group

Sally Lockyer, Chair

admin@grovehouse.essex.sch.uk

Sally is a former fast-track teacher and has worked in a number of secondary schools in the area. She has designed and implemented curriculum plans in her subject area from Key Stage 3 to A level and IB, as well as running extra-curricular activities in music. More recently she has gained deep and direct experience of implementing programmes of speech and language therapy, sensory integration therapy and physiotherapy. Sally has served as Chair of a local school’s Parent and Friends’ Association, leading a large committee of volunteers in significant fund-raising activities. Sally’s in-depth knowledge of the complex educational requirements of the SLCN child and the local availability of appropriate aspirational educational opportunities, led her to initiate and steer the Grove House School project. She now brings this wealth of experience and commitment to the school’s Local Academy Committee and the SEAX Board of Trustees.

Melanie Willson

Melanie is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW). In her 18 years’ experience as a chartered accountant Melanie has investigated many financial disputes and financial regulatory and compliance failures.  For PriceWaterHouseCoopers she has researched and written a technical manual on Forensic Accounting. This has built on her work as Director in Forensic Services, leading large teams and working with external regulatory bodies to investigate and resolve complex global financial disputes. This work has given her insight into the importance of setting robust governance structures and having effective compliance and financial controls. Additionally, as a Director at PwC she gained extensive senior leadership experience and as a result has significant experience appraising, mentoring and interviewing staff, along with dealing with disciplinary and pay related issues. Melanie has brought these attributes into the educational sector through her work as Vice Chair and trustee of a local school’s PFA for which she has been responsible for producing accounts for submission to the charities commission. She has applied these skills to Grove House through her work developing the budget and financial procedures for the school.

Tim O’Hara, Vice Chair

Tim has worked as a solicitor since his gaining admittance to the Supreme Court of Judicature in October 1987. He has worked for a number of City of London law firms, including Clifford Chance. His areas of expertise cover commercial property development, construction and engineering contracts and he has advised property companies, banks and more recently, charities on a range of legal issues relating to the design and construction process. In his professional life, he has been a partner at a City of London law firm with a number of managerial tasks including recruitment, monitoring of assistant and trainee solicitors, financial management and marketing. Tim has already brought his wealth of experience into the education sector as a member of a Governing Body at a local primary school. In this role he provided guidance and advice on school building developments, chaired the Admissions Committee and played an active part in ensuring that the school’s SEN children were very well-supported. He now brings his expertise to the Board of the Local Academy Committee.

Michael Southgate

(Info to follow)

Lisa Christodoulides
Headteacher/Staff LAC member

Contact Details

The chair of governors can be contacted via the school office - admin@grovehouse.essex.sch.uk