School information
Meet the Governors
The school has a very active board of 12 governors under the stewardship of Chair of Governors Dame Angela Rumbold. The governors are drawn from a range of backgrounds, both academic – including four ex-senior school heads – as well as business and other. The full governing board – known as Council – meets once a term to discuss and endorse major issues. In addition there are regular meetings of the Finance & General Purpose and Academic committees.
The Governing Body
Chair of Governors
Rt Hon Dame Angela Rumbold
Governors
Mr Anthony Beadles
Mrs Rita Bellamy-James
Mr Richard Green
Mr Graham Harvey-Browne
Mr Michael Levene
Mr Robert Mansfield
Mr Hugh Monro
Dr Heather Patel
Mr Bob Stewart
Mr Christopher Tongue
Mr Geoffrey Toms
Mrs Rosie Wood
Governor Biographies
Rt Hon Dame Angela Rumbold
Dame Angela enjoyed a long career in politics as a Conservative both in local government and Parliament. Elected to the House of Commons in 1982, she served in government as Minister in the Departments of Transport, Environment, Education and the Home Office. Since leaving Parliament in 1997 Dame Angela has been a Director of the United Church Schools Trust and Chair of the subsidiary United Learning Trust which is the largest provider of Academies in the country, with 15 now open. She was also until recently Chair of the Independent Schools Council.
Married with three children and seven grandchildren, two of whom are Danes Hill educated, Dame Angela lists amongst her interests swimming, gardening, theatre and reading.
Mr Anthony Beadles
Tony Beadles was born during an air-raid in West Hartlepool, and was brought up in Malaya. Following his education at Epsom College, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Modern History, he became Head of History at Ellesmere College, Shropshire in 1963. In 1967 he moved to Harrow School where he was Head of History and a housemaster. In 1985 he was appointed Headmaster of King’s School, Bruton, and in 1992 Headmaster of Epsom College, Surrey, the which position he held until his retirement from the post in 2000.
Tony was a reporting inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate for six years, leading fourteen inspections of senior schools. He is involved in educational consultancy, including the appraising of heads, senior management teams and governing bodies. He is also a governor of King’s College, Taunton and of Port Regis School, Dorset.
He lives in Compton Pauncefoot, Somerset and has been a governor of Danes Hill School since 2000. His passions are history, art appreciation, architecture, antique glass, mountains, cricket and golf.
Mrs Rita Bellamy-James
Having qualified as a social worker Rita Bellamy-James went on to become the Deputy General Secretary of the British Association of Social Workers. In the course of sabbatical leave Rita studied for the Bar exams and was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Grays Inn. Following a number of years in practice as a barrister she became the first Head of Specialist Advisers to the Consular Directorate of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Rita currently acts as an independent consultant. She has been twice nominated as one of the UK Women of the Year, and is currently a governor of the University of Westminster. She is married with one daughter, who was herself educated at Danes Hill.
Mr Richard Green
Having qualified as a chartered accountant in 1972, Richard then spent two years working in Paris, before returning to the UK to work with Ernst & Young, where he became a partner at the age of 29, handling one of the largest client portfolios. Eight years later he moved into the corporate world, since when he has held appointments as finance director, CEO and chairman. He has extensive experience in luxury goods, first at Dunhill and then at Breguet, where he led a turnround. He was then appointed chairman of Stapletons Tyres, the largest UK tyre wholesaler, leading a programme of change management. In the course of his career he has negotiated over 30 acquisitions and disposals.
Richard Green has also held positions in the services sector in professional businesses and financial services; he is currently a non-executive director of Chelsea Building Society, and chairman of an entrepreneurially-led group developing new businesses in financial services globally. In the not-for-profit sector, he is a director of one of the largest housing associations in South-East England, as well as deputy chairman of AGBIS (the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools) and a director of the Independent Schools Council.
Mr Graham Harvey-Browne
A chartered surveyor for 28 years, specialising for 25 years in educational buildings, Graham is currently Executive Chairman of Synergy Construction and property consultants LLP.
Graham is a governor of Paddington Academy, and Chairman of Trustees of the Cabrini Children’s Society. A resident of Guildford, he is married to Carmen, currently head teacher of Northease Manor School, Lewes, and has three grown up children.
A Charlton Athletic season ticket holder and bass guitar player in a function band, Graham lists amongst his other interests swimming, walking, mountain biking and golf.
Mr Michael Levene
A Londoner by birth, Michael Levene was educated at Eastbourne College and the College of Law, Guildford. Having been admitted as a Solicitor in 1967, he chose to begin his career in London, becoming a partner in a commercial practice in the West End. After ten years of commuting he opted to move to the country, joining Tuck & Mann (now known as TWM Solicitors LLP) as a partner in their Epsom office.
Over the course of his career Michael has gained considerable experience in all aspects of commercial property and built up a substantial practice. He retired from his partnership in July 07 after forty years in practice, but continues to work two days a week for the firm as a Consultant, in addition to which he is also a Consultant to a substantial property group.
Michael is married with three children. Both boys were educated at Danes Hill and St John’s School, Leatherhead. He is a member of the MCC, and his other interests include golf, Roman history, food, wine, music and ballet.
Mr Robert Mansfield
Robert Mansfield has thirty years experience in the field of healthcare, ten of which have been as CEO of LSE listed companies. He has worked at managing director level and has wide board-level experience in organisations in the UK, Germany and Australia. He was Chairman of the BioIndustry Association in 1999/2000 and currently chairs several companies.
Robert has served as a trustee of three senior independent schools, and has been a Danes Hill governor for the past eight years. He is currently chairman of the governing body’s F&GP (Finance and General Purposes) committee.
Robert is married with two daughters, both of whom attended Danes Hill. Natalie was both head of school at Danes Hill and head girl at Roedean, whilst Stephanie went on to become head girl at Charterhouse.
Mr Hugh Monro
Hugh Monro read Economics and History at Cambridge, winning a rugby blue. After a year as a ‘captain of industry, making paint tins in Mansfield, Hull and Neath’ he trained as a teacher, opening his career with spells at Haileybury in Hertfordshire and Noble and Greenough in Massachusetts.
Appointment as housemaster and head of history and politics at Loretto in Musselburgh was followed by three successive headships: five years at Worksop College in Nottinghamshire, ten years as head of Clifton College in Bristol, and then five years as master at Wellington College in Berkshire.
In 2007, following two years as an educational consultant and head hunter, Hugh was appointed Head and now Principal of Bristol Cathedral Choir School, the first choir school and only the fourth independent school in the country to become a non fee-charging Academy.
Hugh Monro has been a governor of several independent and maintained schools and chairman of a prep school board of governors.
Dr Heather Patel
Educated at Guildford County Grammar School for Girls and Southampton University, Heather Patel graduated in medicine and trained for general practice. She has now been in practice for 22 years, and is currently in partnership at Capelfield Surgery in Claygate. She has extensive board and chairmanship experience in a variety of healthcare organisations, including Vice Chair East Elmbridge PCG (Primary Care Group) 1999-2002, and Chair of The Professional Executive Committee of East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT (Primary Care Trust) 2002-2006. She is currently involved with Surrey PCT Exceptions Panels and High Cost Drugs Panels (both decision-making bodies for individual patient requests for funding).
Heather is a resident of Stoke D’Abernon, and her two daughters were both educated at Danes Hill. Her interests include hiking, travel, gardening, and personal fitness. Heather is delighted to be a governor and to put 'my personal skills, experience, local knowledge and enthusiasm to use for the exceptional local school which gave my daughters an excellent launch pad for greater things’.
Mr Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, and educated in Westmorland and St Bee’s School, Cumberland. Having graduated from Pembroke College, Cambridge he taught at the Royal Masonic School, Bushey, from 1952 to 1970, becoming a Housemaster. In 1970 he was appointed Headmaster of Lyndhurst House School, Hampstead, at that time a part of Davies’s Educational Services, an Educational Charity responsible for six independent schools and sixth-form colleges. In 1979 he became Chairman of the Finance Committee and in 1984 Executive Principal of the Charity. During this period he was responsible for the proposal that Danes Hill should be incorporated into the group.
Bob Stewart was Chairman of The IAPS (Independent Association of Preparatory Schools) Finance Committee for eight years, and a member of a number of other IAPS committees, as well as chairing the London District grouping of some 120 schools.
Bob has been the Vice-Chairman of the Vernon Educational Trust since its metamorphosis from Davies’s, and in addition has been a governor of a number of other independent schools, including Mill Hill, Shrewsbury House and Eagle House. For some years he was a Director of Waterstone’s, and has been a member of Sunningdale Golf Club for over fifty years.
Mrs Rosie Wood
Having qualified as a speech and language therapist at University College London, Rosie worked initially in hospital settings before studying for a post graduate qualification in dyslexia/specific learning difficulties.
Running a private practice in Richmond and gradually increasing her hours assessing and teaching children, Rosie’s special interest has been the interaction between spoken and written language problems. She worked for over twenty years with the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, firstly as a therapist and tutor, co-authoring two books, and finally as chief executive.
A governor at Danes Hill School for over a decade, Rosie enjoys close links with staff, pupils and parents as consultant to the Learning Support Centre.
Since ‘retirement’ in 2006 Rosie continues active involvement in SpLD with consultations, clinical supervision, training in the UK and overseas and working on a Government funded project. She is Honorary Consultant to the Village Education Centre, Bangkok and has recently accepted a post as governor at Ripley Court School.
Married with three children and eight grandchildren, Rosie’s other interests include theatre, contemporary decorative art, travel, modest exercise and creative crafts.