School Governors
SARAH RICE
(Foundation)
Sarah started as a Local Authority School Governor in October 2011 and changed her Governor status to that of Foundation Governor in 2015. She and her husband Phil have lived in Surrey for 30 years. They have two children, who both attended Cardinal Newman School and Salesian school, Chertsey. Sarah is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and works for Air Products PLC, in their Engineering department in the European Head Office in Hersham. Sarah is an active member of All Saints Parish, has led the Confirmation programme there, organises the altar servers team and also plays the flute for the 9am mass each Sunday. Sarah volunteered as a parent helper in her children's classes when they were at Cardinal Newman, her youngest child left Cardinal Newman in 2015.
HELEN AGNEW
(Parent)
Helen has 1 child at Cardinal Newman and 2 children at Salesian Catholic school in Chertsey. She has been a parent governor for several years and enjoys contributing to the school. She has worked in the NHS for over 20 years and has experience of trying to work effectively with the available resources and dealing with rapidly changing environments during the pandemic. The school has a wonderful caring ethos alongside its academic achievements and she would like to continue to help in any way she can.
CHRIS BROOME
(Foundation)
Chris became a School Governor in April 2012. He has lived in Hersham for 29 years and attends All Saints Parish Church where he has previously assisted with the Children’s Liturgy group and leads the men’s advent and Lenten group. He has 3 children; all have attended Cardinal Newman School and Salesian Catholic School in Chertsey.
Chris spent 31 years with the Metropolitan Police Service in a variety of roles and was also seconded to the Home Office as Assistant Director of the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit. He also worked for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) leading on security and safety of the public and athletes at the football competition.
He currently works in the travel industry as a tour manager and also guides/manages tours for schools and colleges visiting London.
CATHERINE BURNHAM (Executive Headteacher)
Catherine Burnham had been Headteacher at Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary School since September 2017 and was appointed Executive Headteacher by the Xavier Catholic Education Trust in September 2023. Prior to Cardinal Newman, she had worked in Surrey schools as a teacher and senior leader and she has also worked overseas in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education settings in Germany, Poland and China.
In addition to school-to-school support work for Schools Alliance for Excellence, Catherine is currently seconded to the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in the role of Catholic Schools Inspection Co-ordinator. Catherine and her husband have three grown-up daughters and are active members of their local parish.
FR BILL MUIR (Foundation)
Fr Bill, a retired priest and a member of the Josephite Congregation, joined the Governing Body in 2017. He celebrates Mass most days either in local parishes or at St Augustine’s convent in Addlestone and twice monthly in one of the local prisons. Prior to that he was asked by the Bishop to take on pastoral responsibility for the parishes of All Saints Hersham and for St Erconwald’s Walton-on-Thames after his return from Bournemouth where, as a member of the Plymouth Diocese, he was parish priest and for a time Catholic Chaplain at Bournemouth University.
He joined the Governing Body of Cardinal Newman School in 2017 and takes an interest in the teaching of English in the school and in the provision for SEND pupils. In addition to this he listens to children reading once a week as time and commitments permit.
MAUREEN DODDS (Foundation)
Maureen Dodds was appointed as a Foundation Governor in November 2020. Educated in the Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne, Maureen has a B.A. Hons. from Durham University, an M.A. in Education Management from the University of Reading and a professional life spent in teaching and senior management roles in Grammar, Comprehensive and Independent Schools, retiring as Headmistress of St Maur’s School, Weybridge, after its successful merger with St George’s College. She also has a wide experience of serving on diverse Governing Bodies, including many years as Vice Chair of Governors at the Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith.
Maureen is an active member of the Catholic Communities of Walton and Hersham and worked for several years after retirement in the Catholic Chaplaincy Team of St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey. She is very active in the Elmbridge Liberal Democrat Party and the European Movement and, for relaxation, is studying Spanish and doing her best to keep up with her two grandchildren who live in Weybridge.
GERRY FLOWER (Head of School)
Gerry Flower was appointed Head of School by the Xavier Catholic Education Trust in September 2023. Previously he was Deputy Headteacher at Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary School since January 2012 and Prior to Cardinal Newman, he had worked in Catholic Primary schools in Ealing and Hounslow boroughs. Having taught across all primary key stages he became Assistant Headteacher at St Lawrence’s Catholic Primary School in Feltham.
With his wife Lorraine and their three children they are active parishioners at St Erconwald’s Church, Walton-on-Thames.
FELICITY SPENCER (Parent)
Felicity Spencer and her husband have lived in Walton-on-Thames for 14 years. She was appointed as a parent governor in September 2021 and enjoys a broad knowledge of the school community as her 3 children have all attended Cardinal Newman (1 of whom are still current pupils).
In her professional life as a City solicitor working for an international law firm, Felicity helped clients meet the corporate and commercial challenges involved in realising complex renewable energy projects.
She is a keen road and trail runner and an active member of her local running club.
MIKE MILLS (Foundation)
Mike started as a Foundation Governor at the beginning of 2022. His 2 daughters currently are pupils at the school, and it holds a special place in his family as he also attended the school when he was a child as did most of his immediate and extended family. He loves both how different the school is now in terms of facilities and teaching practices, but also how familiar it feels being back there and the core values remain the same. He is married with two daughters, and he is a parishioner at All Saints in Hersham. He was keen to join the board of Governors as he is passionate that we continue to make Cardinal Newman such a high performing, lovely and caring school for all the children. He looks forward to doing all he can to help over the coming years.
EMMA WHITEHEAD (Foundation)
Emma Whitehead was co-opted as a governor in January 2023 before becoming a Foundation governor in summer 2023. She lives in Walton on Thames with her husband and 2 boys, the eldest of which joined Reception in September 2023. She plays an active part in St Erconwald’s Parish life where she volunteers as the Parish Treasurer and is on the Parish’s Pastoral Committee.
She is a Chartered Accountant that works as the Finance Director of a local charity that supports adults with enduring mental health and learning disabilities to live independently. She previously spent over 10 years working for a West End accountancy practice.