Governors
Governing Body
On the Dedworth Campus, our job as governors is to ensure the school delivers high standards of education for all children in the school. Governors work with the Headteachers and the Windsor Learning Partnership on shaping and delivering the strategic priorities of the school which include:
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
How do we work?
We meet as a full governing board at least once every short term and may attend other meetings as members of working groups or as individuals, linking with staff members.
We talk to staff, pupils and parents, we carry out monitoring visits, audits and surveys, all of which allow us to monitor how well the school is delivering its strategic priorities and what impact it has on the children’s education and personal development.
What’s important is our determination to work together to drive improvement and change for the benefit of all the children.
Who are we?
The Chair of Governors:
Louise Toulorge
Dedworth Middle School
Smiths Lane
Windsor
SL45PE
If you would like to contact The Chair of Governors or any other Governor, please send an email via the Clerk - clerk@dedworthmiddle.co.uk
Under the Windsor Learning Partnership Scheme of Delegation, the composition of the combined Dedworth Schools’ Local Governing Board shall be:
Headteacher
1 staff from DGFS
1 staff from DMS
2 parents from DGFS
2 parents from DMS
2 community governors appointed by the LGB.
We are in a period of transition following the merger of the two separate governing boards and are working towards this structure. Our current composition is detailed below.
Louise Toulorge - Chair of Governors
Louise has been a Governor at DMS since 2016 and Chair since September 2019. In 2021, she became chair of the Dedworth Campus governing board, supporting Dedworth Green First School, Dedworth Middle School and the Rainbow Centre. Louise finds it hugely rewarding to support the Dedworth Campus school leaders, and Windsor Learning Partnership, with improving the quality of education for the children of Windsor and she enjoys the challenges of the role. Louise worked in Human Resources and Recruitment in the financial services and compliance sector for a number of years before a career break. She now teaches French to primary school children in Windsor and is also a French Language Assistant at a 6th form in the Borough. Louise is a former DMS parent, with both children educated in the Windsor school system.
Carol Watkins - Community Governor
Carol has been a Governor on the Dedworth Campus since 2018, is Vice Chair of Governors and also a Governor at Windsor Girls School. She has had over 12 years of experience governing local schools and continues to enjoy the challenge of working with school leaders to drive improvements that benefit students. She is setting up a local charity to support youth mental health and is Chair of Windsor Netball Club. When she’s not providing a taxi service to one of her 3 teenage children, Carol enjoys gardening, paddle boarding, playing netball, theatre and walking the dog.
Mrs N Chandler - Executive Headteacher
Executive Headteacher of the Dedworth campus and substantive Headteacher of Dedworth Middle School. Mrs Chandler is really excited to work closely with you all to make all children flourish in their Dedworth experience. She feels very honoured to be managing the Dedworth Campus, having been a pupil in both schools herself in the 1980’s, and is therefore determined to secure an outstanding future for the schools and have every intention of ensuring they offer a top-class education for all the pupils they serve.
She absolutely loves her job and is passionate about education but outside of school loves spending time with her family. Mrs Chandler has 2 children who keep her busy and their favourite place in the world is Disney! She loves to keep herself fit and pound the pavements very early in the morning and also enjoys doing fitness classes, shopping and never says no to a Starbucks coffee! She is delighted to be here and look forward to working closely with you all in the many years to come.
Kerry-Ann Blandin - Parent Governor
Kerry-Ann has worked in the education sector for over 20 years with a specialism in curriculum. She has a daughter who attends DMS and so has a vested interest in ensuring the school works well for her family and a genuine interest in ensuring the same for other parents too.
Her aim is to use her experience to support the Executive Head Teacher and Head of School, and all other stakeholders, in developing new initiatives within our school to maintain and improve standards, including progress and achievement, ensuring our children have the best possible education.
Colin Bristow - Community Governor
Colin was born and bred in Windsor. He has two sons who went through the Windsor school system, and he was a parent governor at TWBS before becoming a co-opted governor at Dedworth as well as TWBS. He runs a local business with his wife and is passionate about schools in the Windsor Learning Partnership giving as many learning opportunities to young people as possible, as they navigate their way through growing up and fulfilling their potential as young adults.
Rachel Endacott - Community Governor
Rachel has been a Governor on the Dedworth Campus since January 2023. She has also been a Governor at another local first school for a number of years. Rachel works as an Inclusion Manager in a Maidenhead school and has over 25 year's experience in educational settings of different kinds. She currently has a daughter at DMS in Year 7 and her son, now in Year 9 left DMS last year. Rachel loves being involved in school improvement and is excited about the journey both schools are on under the current leadership team.
Tom Phipps - Parent Governor
Tom and his family have lived in Dedworth for over 15 years - his 2 daughters attend Windsor schools, one of whom is at DMS. Through running a successful family business, he has developed a range of skills, from HR and IT to sales and operations. Having joined the board of governors in March 2023, Tom hopes to use his experience to help support the school’s leadership team to improve the quality of education in Windsor. His interests include cycling and paddle boarding, walks with the dog, and watching rugby.
Natasha Wakefield - Governance Professional
Natasha joined the Dedworth Campus as Clerk to the Governors in June 2023. She previously worked in HR and took some time out after having her son. He attends a Windsor school, and this prompted Natasha to want to get to know the school system better and also to support as much as she can. Along with her Coaching, Natasha enjoys cooking, reading and is attempting to become a runner.
How are we constituted?
Dedworth Middle School is part of the Windsor Learning Partnership, along with Dedworth Green First School, Windsor Girls’ School, The Windsor Boys’ School, Clewer Green CE First School and Oakfield First School.
Under the WLP Scheme of Delegation, our Local Governing Board sets its own composition (with a maximum number of 13 members) and it must include the Headteacher (ex-officio), at least one and at most two staff Governors, at least three and at most five parent Governors and at least three and at most six community Governors.