Jim Rouncefield (Board of Trustees Appointed Governor and Interim Chair)

Mr Rouncefield has lived in Dartford for over 30 years and has over 45 years of working experience in education, including leadership at all levels through to headship [16 years in two secondary schools – Kent and Bexley before taking up his role as Deputy Director School Improvement & Quality Assurance in Bexley. In that role he was responsible for 84 schools in as well as all forms of quality assurance, Early Years provision, including Child Care Centres, and Adult Education. Retiring from Bexley in 2010, he spent the next eight years working across London and the South East as an Independent Educational Consultant.

He has chaired two Multi Academy Trusts, one large (40+ schools) and one small (4 Primary Schools), chaired two Independent Educational Boards and been Chair of Governors in Primary Schools, Chair of a Joint Governing Body of two secondary schools and a Primary School as well as a Regional Governing Body in Bexley.

Specialising in School Improvement, he has supported a considerable number of schools in raising standards, preparation for inspection, led Governor Training and been commissioned to review all aspects of educational provision. Fully retiring in July 2018, he has considerable experience of governance across all sectors of education. 

Mr Rouncefield is also a Trustee of The Golden Thread Alliance.

Paula Barreira (LGB Appointed Governor)

I have a strong passion for children's education and wellbeing. Having the opportunity of helping  them to have a happy childhood and a good development, will make such a big difference in my life. I am from Portugal,  and I have  lived in the UK for the past 9 years. My background is health and social care, specialised in mental health and I work with learning disabled adults. Being a Governor gives me the opportunity to achieve personal and professional development.

Bupesh Govindaraju (Board Appointed Governor)

I joined this amazing school as a Governor in June 2020. Born and brought up in India, the UK has been my home for the past decade. I have a degree in computer science engineering. I have been working in the technology industry for 17 years and have worked in multi-national enterprises. My takeaways from my work life has been efficient collaboration and adapting technology to solve practical problems. My inspiration to join the board was to contribute back to community by leveraging my technology and management skills. Having a young son made me realise that I don’t have much of an understanding of how the schooling system works here. This role gives me the insight into the working of school and the hard work put in by large number of dedicated people to ensure the children get the best possible education and are prepared for their adult life. I have constantly engaged in initiatives to reach out to young children to introduce them to technology and to aide in creating the right environment to make them inquisitive about technology. Fleetdown is a fantastic school with great staff and has a special place in the community and our role as governors is to ensure we take it to newer heights.

Helen Michel, Vice-Chair (Community Governor) - SEND Governor

I became a governor with Fleetdown prior to them joining the Trust in 2021 and since then, I have been continuously developing and improving my knowledge of school governance, with a particular focus on the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). I strongly believe that every pupil should have the opportunities to meet their full potential through a high quality, pupil focussed curriculum that is accessible to all.

I have two daughters at Fleetdown and work as an NHS Physiotherapist with older adults in Greenwich. I have a keen interest in staff and pupil health and wellbeing. I enjoy exercising outside and will be very pleased when group sessions are allowed again after lockdown. It is an exciting time to see how the Fleetdown school community will grow as part of the Galaxy Trust family.

Alice Harrington (Head of School, ex-officio Governor)

I am absolutely delighted that Fleetdown joined The Golden Thread Alliance and is part of such a caring and supportive family. I have worked at Fleetdown for eight years and started here as a class teacher. I love working in the classroom with the children and watching all our children achieve amazing successes every day at school. I am incredibly proud to work at Fleetdown and it is a privilege to watch all our children grow and develop into inquisitive, enthusiastic and passionate learners. As most of the children and staff here at Fleetdown will tell you, I love visiting my family in Wales in the holidays, eating far too much chocolate and trips to the park with my two children.

Sonya Stocker (Community Governor) - Named Safeguarding Governor

As a parent the quality of teaching and learning provision for young people is extremely important to me and I am proud to be part of the team responsible for ensuring the school's continuous improvement for the benefit of all children.

Having spent my career working in healthcare as a children’s nurse and health visitor I am passionate about every child having the opportunity to enjoy and achieve. I have spent the last ten years of my career working in the safeguarding arena and look forward to use my skills to support the school in safeguarding its students and championing safeguarding issues. Besides being a parent to two young children and a puppy, I enjoy running, yoga and baking (which is why I need to keep running!).

Vacancy - Staff Governor

Chloe Watkins (Parent Governor)

Biography awaited following appointment.