Governance of the Academy
Members
Academy trusts are set up as charitable companies and as such have members. Members have a have a similar role to shareholders of a company limited by shares. The members of an academy trust are the guardians of the governance of the trust. They hold the trust board to account for the effective governance of the trust but have minimal involvement in running the trust. Members’ ensure that the academy trust’s charitable objectives are being met; maintain an overview of the effectiveness of the trust structure and have the power to appoint and remove trustees. It is the trustee board, not the members, who are the organisation’s key decision makers. There are, however, some critical decisions that sit with the members, especially if the trust is failing.
The Board of Trustees
The purpose of the Board of Trustees is to provide:
- Strategic leadership.
- Accountability and assurance.
- Strategic engagement.
Cleves' board has collective accountability and strategic responsibility for the trust. It has a focus on ensuring the trust delivers an excellent education to pupils while maintaining effective financial management and must ensure compliance with:
- The trust's charitable objects.
- Regulatory, contractual and statutory requirements.
- Their funding agreement.
The board also has:
- Strategic and statutory responsibility for safeguarding and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) arrangements within (and across) the academy trust ensuring the promotion of pupil welfare and for keeping their estates safe and well-maintained.
- A role in making sure that it delivers its commitment to other schools and academies, however it is done.
Governance Structure
All Trustees are directors and Trustees of the Academy Trust. The Trust’s five Members are Susan Foster, Doris Neville-Davies, Kate Jackson, Jim Graham and Emma Calow. Four committees meet regularly. The Children’s Achievement and Well-being committee (Chair, Amelia Au Yeung); the Resources committee (Chair, Elaine Jones); the Admissions committee and the Personnel, Performance and Pay committee (Chair, Doris Neville-Davies). Below is a brief profile of each Trustee:
Please click the link below for Trustees Roles and Responsibilities.
Trustees Roles and Responsibilities
Susan Foster - Chair of the Board of Trustees, c/o School (chair@cleves.co.uk)
Susan joined the Board of Trustees in January 2012 and became Chair in November 2012. She has two children, who previously attended Cleves. Susan worked for over 25 years as a policy civil servant in several Government Departments, including the Department for Education, before taking early retirement.
Elaine Jones
Elaine Jones joined the Board of Trustees in December 2013, and has two sons who previously attended Cleves. Elaine has been a qualified accountant for more than 25 years and worked in the City as an accountant and project manager before starting a small accountancy practice locally in 2002.
Doris Neville-Davies MBE
Doris Neville-Davies joined the Board of Trustees in October 2013 having previously been a governor in seven schools over a period of 27 years. She was a National Leader of Governance and one of Surrey's Additional Skills Governors, both of which involved supporting governing bodies according to their particular needs.
Pete Matthew
Pete joined the Board of Trustees in February 2021. He moved to the area in 2020 to be one of the ministers at King’s Church, Walton. He is married to a teacher and has twin children. He has been involved in schools over many years in governance and chaplaincy roles. He is particularly interested in helping schools develop a pastoral mindset and to ensure they encourage all children, of all abilities, to do their best.
Dr Amelia Au-Yeung
Amelia was elected by the parent body to join the Board of Trustees in March 2022. Her daughter is a former pupil at Cleves and is now in secondary school. Her son studies at Cleves currently. Amelia is a university academic specialising in international business and has been the Deputy Dean at Claude Littner Business School of the University of West London for the last seven years. She is passionate about developing people and creating an inclusive environment and opportunities where learners, regardless of their background, could achieve beyond their perceived limit through nurture and challenge. She believes there could be cross fertilisation between the higher education sector and the primary school sector, and the different stages in our education system could be better joined up. She also serves on the Children's Achievement and Well-Being committee.
Natalie Holland
Natalie joined the Board of Trustees in July 2024. She is a mother of three children, one in college, another in secondary school and her youngest in Year 6 at Cleves. Having worked at Cleves for six years across all KS2 year groups, Natalie is passionate about fostering children's growth and success through high-quality teaching that enriches their learning and prepares them for the next phase of their education. Her commitment to the school community and her belief in the transformative power of education drive her work.
Mark Jacoby
Mark joined the Board of Trustees in November 2024. His journey at Cleves started in 2007 as a pupil. Since then, he has worked at the school in a variety of different roles such as Learning Support Assistant and GAP Playworker and is now in his second year as a Class Teacher. He is passionate about driving positive change at Cleves to help enhance the knowledge and development of all pupils throughout the community.
Adam Abbott-Watkins
Adam joined the Board of Trustees in October 2023 and is a member of the Children's Achievement and Well-being Committee (CAWB). Adam has lived in Elmbridge all of his life, attending school and college locally before obtaining an MA from the University of Oxford. Having held senior posts in an acute hospital trust and in NHS England, predominantly focused on improving experience and quality, he currently works as a senior manager in the NHS, within the integrated health and care system in Surrey, with responsibility for Long Term Planning Delivery. Adam has a keen interest in education and working with people and communities. He has volunteered in local primary schools for a number of years, and is keen to help ensure that all children have access to high quality education and are able to thrive in an environment that encourages them to be the best that they can be.
Terence Ngai
Terence joined the Board of Trustees in October 2023. Terence moved to the area almost four years ago and has two young children expecting to start infant school in 2024. He is a professional in the aviation industry with a background in the field of Air Traffic Management, regulation and policy development. Terence has a strong interest in STEM and is keen to contribute to the local community and Cleves with his experience and skillset.
Moya Tytherleigh
Moya became Clerk to the Board of Trustees in December 2013. She has two daughters, one at 6th Form college and one at University. Moya has over 30 years of admin experience and provides advice to the Board of Trustees on governance, constitutional and procedural matters as well as helping support and organise the Trustees with their busy timetable. She also supports the administration of partnership working with the infant schools and is Clerk to the Governing Body of Oatlands School.
Adam Fox-Rumley
Adam joined the Board of Trustees in October 2024. He has lived in Walton-on-Thames for seven years and is married with three children. His twin boys are at Cleves and his daughter is at Manby Lodge. Adam is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has worked in the city for almost twenty years.
Katie Fawcett
Katie joined the Board of Trustees in October 2024 and is a member of the Resources Committee. She grew up in Weybridge, returning to the area in 2020 with her family. She has two children, one in secondary school and they youngest in Year 5 at Cleves. Katie qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG before working in commercial finance at Sky and Virgin Media. While taking a career break to raise her family, she has volunteered in various roles at local schools, while also working on a contract basis at Heathside Weybridge.
Gurpreet Kumar
Gurpreet joined the Board of Trustees in April 2025, bringing a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to the community. A resident of Weybridge for over 10 years, Gurpreet is a dedicated parent of two children - one attending Oatlands and the other in Year 3 at Cleves. Professionally, Gurpreet is a Risk and Compliance expert at Ernst & Young, where he leverages his expertise to champion best practices and uphold high standards. Passionate about education and community engagement, Gurpreet looks forward to contributing positively to the school environment and supporting the needs of all students and families.
Reverend Mark Ashworth
Mark joined the Board of Trustees in May 2025. 29 years ago he began as a secondary school teacher only to shift into church based teaching and chaplaincy work with local schools in Eastbourne. He has been a school governor at two schools in East Sussex and is excited about a new chapter with Cleves School. Mark and his wife have three grown up children who have a passion for rugby.
Associate Governors
We have Pupil Associate Governors who have half termly meetings with the Chair of the Board of Trustees and attend full Board of Trustee meetings for the first hour. Their job is to reflect on strategic issues for the school and to give the pupil perspective. Pupil Associate Governors are invited to serve at Cleves for their first year at Secondary School.
Trustee Information - Autumn 2024
Please click the link for Trustee Information 2024
Please click the link for Trustee Pecuniary Interests
Our Board of Trustees meetings are open to the public. Members of the public are therefore welcome to attend and observe but cannot take part in meetings. We would ask members of the public who wish to attend, to give 14 days notice to the Clerk to the Board of Trustees: mtytherleigh@cleves.co.uk
All Trustees have signed and adhere to their Code of Conduct, and conduct business in accordance with their Operating Statement.
All Trustees have signed a conflict of interest disclaimer
All Trustees follow the following professional negligence and confidentiality statements:
Professional Negligence Statement - advice given by Trustees at the school is incidental to their professional expertise and is not given in their professional capacity.
Confidentiality Statement - Trustees will respect the confidence of those items of business which a board of trustees decides and not disclose what individual trustees have said or how they voted within a meeting.