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Governors

We are fortunate to have a highly professional and committed Board of Governors, responsible for determining the strategic direction of the School and for appointing the Head and Bursar. The Board is also responsible for ensuring the School complies with its obligations as laid down by company and charities law and in accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association. The Governors are unpaid trustees of the charity.

The Board of Governors meets termly and holds an annual strategy day. In addition, the Board has a number of sub-committees made up of governors and staff, which meet regularly in accordance with their terms of reference and report back to the Full Board each term. Governors visit the school on a regular basis including attendance at school events.

Abbot’s Hill School Limited is a non-profit making charitable trust that uses any surplus it makes from its operation for the benefit of the School. The Board of Abbot’s Hill School Limited acts as the Board of Governors of the School.

To contact the Chair of Governors, please address correspondence to:

Mrs J Mark, c/o The Bursar, Clerk to the Governors
Abbot’s Hill School
Bunkers Lane
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
HP3 8RP

Mrs Janet Mark

Position:

Chair of Governors

Mrs Janet Mark BA is a former headmistress of two GSA schools. She was educated at a Grammar School in Sheffield and Bedford College, University of London where she read German. As a teacher of German and French she worked...

Mr Martin Hart

Position:

Chairman of Strategy Committee

Martin lives near the school in Apsley and had a daughter at Abbot’s Hill until 2020. He studied at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and has an MBA from Warwick University. Martin has worked in broadcasting and media regulation and is a...

Mr Jonathan Gillespie MA (Cantab) FRSA

Position:

Governor

Mr Jonathan Gillespie MA (Cantab) FRSA is Headmaster of St Albans School. After Cambridge University he taught French and German at Highgate School before moving to Fettes College, Edinburgh where he was Head of Modern Languages and then a Housemaster....

Mr Martin Sims BA MBA

Position:

Chair of Finance and Audit Committee

Educated at Tonbridge School and Royal Holloway College (London) with a BA in History and subsequently an MBA in International Business from City University Business School. Martin brings over 15 years’ experience as School Bursar and as Clerk to the...

Mr Neil James MA (Oxon)

Position:

Vice Chair of Governors

Neil James MA (Oxon) is a solicitor and a consultant at a leading City law firm. He specialises in finance and banking law and has practiced in the United States as well as England. Both Neil’s daughters attended Abbot’s Hill....

Mrs Nicola Hopkins

Position:

Inclusivity Governor

Nicola is an investment funds partner in an international law firm. She has worked as a lawyer in London since 1998, having been educated at a state school in North Staffordshire before reading jurisprudence at Oxford University and then attending...

Mr Nigel Chadwick

Position:

Governor

Nigel is a semi-retired Managing Director of a North West London-based building company, where he has worked for 40 years. His two daughters were both educated at Abbot’s Hill from Nursery until the end of Year 11. Nigel is a...

Dr Shori Thakur PhD, FHEA

Position:

Member of Education Committee

Shori studied Pharmacology between 1996 and 2000 and subsequently went on to complete a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Hertfordshire. This was followed by a GlaxoSmithKline-funded postdoctoral fellowship, before Shori took up a position as a Senior...

Mrs Jill Myers BTEC HND

Position:

Governor

Mrs Jill Myers BTEC HND is a former Abbot’s Hill parent and has worked for the British Diabetic Association. With a background in Home Economics, Jill has produced two cook books for the Diabetic Association. She has previously worked for...

Mrs Christine Edmundson BMus, MBA, PGCE, LRAM, ARCM

Position:

Chair of Education Committee

Christine has over 30 years’ experience in independent school leadership as a Head and Deputy Head in girls’ schools. As a musician and educationalist, she was educated at Royal Holloway College (London) and Emmanuel College (Cambridge), subsequently gaining an MBA...

Dr Linda Summerton MA (Cantab), PhD

Position:

Member of Finance & Audit Committee/Education Committee/Strategy Committee

Linda studied at King’s College, Cambridge and then pursued postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. She has worked in a variety of scientific and management roles in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and abroad, and became...