Devon Association of Governors - Run by Devon Governors for Devon Governors

Area Officers

Areas

Area Officer (North) - Amanda Blewett - 

Amanda Blewett has been appointed AO (North) and she will support GBs in the LLCs in Barnstaple, Bideford, Braunton, Chulmleigh, Holsworthy, Ilfracombe, Okehampton, South Molton and Torrington.

Area Officer (Central & East) - Fiona Collier - 

Fiona Collier has been appointed AO (Central and East) and she will support GBs in the LLCs in Axe Valley, Clyst Vale, Crediton, Culm Valley, Cullompton, Exeter, Exmouth, Honiton, Ottery St Mary, Sidmouth and Tiverton.

Area Officer (South) - Paulette Furnival - 

Paulette Furnival has been appointed AO (South) and she will support the GBs in the LLCs in Dartmouth, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge, Newton Abbot, South Dartmoor, Tavistock, Teign Valley and Totnes.

 

About

Amanda Blewett

represents the North of Devon and lives and works in North Devon.

I am currently Chair of Governors at Kings Nympton Primary School a position I have held for the last three years and before that a parent governor. I have the good fortune to have been born in North Devon and am delighted to be able to support DAG as their area officer in the North of the County.

I relish the opportunity to be involved more fully in any programme that helps to meet the needs of our schools in Devon. I am looking forward to meeting many of you at our two Area Meetings and will endeavour to keep you up to date with all the latest information that has a bearing on how we support our schools.

Fiona Collier

is the Area Officer for Central and East Devon and has been a ‘hands on’ governor for well over a decade, gaining a great insight into the trials, tribulations, setbacks and successes that make the role of a governor so exciting, sometimes exhausting, challenging and fulfilling.

During my term of office I have chaired each of the committees, including a redundancy panel and the full Governing Body. I have been involved in the recruitment of a Head Teacher six times, and travelled to London to present to the NGA Conference in May last year regarding Recruitment & Succession Planning.

In a fast changing educational world it is vital that governors have the support and information they need to do their job properly. I fear that at the moment many people enter governance with their eyes shut & leave the same way, sometimes after only one meeting! My focus, through DAG, is to empower, enlighten & ease the burden of our valiant band of volunteers through knowledge, support, training and nurturing.

Paulette Furnival

covers West and South of the county and is Chair of Governors at Woodlands Park Primary School in Ivybridge, and has been a governor there since 1999.

I started my involvement with the school by helping out for ‘just for a few hours’ at the Summer Fair and the more I worked with other parents, teachers and support staff the more interested I became in how the school functioned, and the more I admired teachers’ enthusiasm and resourcefulness, particularly in the face of ever-changing government initiatives.

The school supported and challenged my three children during their 7 years at primary school, and I can certainly say that sometimes it is also a challenge being a governor! I am looking forward to working with other governing bodies in my area – we can all learn a lot from each other and our knowledge and good governance will ultimately benefit the children we are responsible for. They only have one chance at their education, and we owe it to them to be the best that we can.

I won’t promise to have all the answers, but we have a strong team with the Devon Association of Governors, and if I can’t answer your questions or then I am sure others within DAG will. I look forward to hearing from you, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Research Officers

About

Abel Nyamapfene

is a parent governor at Clyst Vale Community College and a Lecturer in Computing and Electronics at the University of Exeter.

Previously he has served as a governor at Waverley Girls High School in East Dulwich, London. Raised in a family of educators, Abel sincerely believes in the power of education in making a positive difference in individuals, families and communities.

He is very passionate in reviving and inspiring interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) amongst our children, particularly amongst those children from deprived areas. Abel is married with two daughters and in his pastime he enjoys history and travelling.

Ann Inman

had a career in the IT industry spanning more than forty years before retiring to Devon in 2004 to be nearer to her family.

She became clerk to the governing body of a small rural community primary school in 2005, a job she still does. During that time she has also clerked another primary and a secondary college for short periods. In addition Ann has been clerk to a local Parish Council since 2005, a job that is surprisingly complementary to working for a school.

She is looking forward to her role as a Researcher and hoping that the researchers can make it easier for governors to respond to national and local consultations, which play such an important role in shaping changes to the education system.

Sue Roberts

is in her fourth year as a Governor at Okehampton College, and is immensely proud to be part of such a thriving school and community.

Sue is married with two children who attended a rural Devon primary school. She enjoyed nine years as a parent helper at the school, adopting a variety of skills ranging from bread making to swimming teacher and cycle safety instructor!

Now that both of her children are at secondary school she wants to devote more time once again to my career as a solicitor and research journalist specialising in corporate governance.

She is greatly looking forward to her new role as a Research officer for DAG in which she will be exploring the background and content of current national consultations relevant to education and canvassing the views of our members to provide a collective viewpoint.