Corporate Compliance 

Articles of Association and registrations

The Certificate of Incorporation and the original Articles of Association for DEMAT were revised by the DEMAT Board on 23rd May 2018, and approved by special resolution. https://demat.org.uk/legal/

The Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust (DEMAT) was incorporated under the Companies Act of 2006 as a Private Limited Company, number 8464996, on 27th March 2013.

DEMAT registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on 18th December 2014, registration number ZA087951.

Village Saints Partnership Local Governing Body 

Governors are a voluntary body of people who guide and support the strategic direction of the school. They are members of the school team and their contribution to the running of the school is highly valued. Our minutes are all on GovernorHub and our Clerk has access to them if required. 

The Chair of Governors can be contacted through the school office. 

Contact number: 01366 501050

The role of the governing body is a strategic one, its key functions are to:

• Set the aims and objectives for the school
• Set the policies for achieving those aims and objectives
• Set the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
• Monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making towards achievement of its aims and objectives
• Be a source of challenge and support to the headteacher (a critical friend)

Governors were praised for their increasingly active role in school empowered by the new Chair, during our SIAMS Inspection in March 2019. 

Governor Profiles 

Gordon Mitcheson-Smith - Chair 

Category of Governor: Community Governor

Additional Information: 

Declared Interests – Grandfather of children at All Saints Academy

As the grandparent of two children attending All Saints Academy I am happy to be able to use my skills and experience to support the school achieve its aims.

I wish to support embedding a love of lifelong learning in our children and the teaching of the skills in how to learn to enable them to follow their passions, whatever they may be.

I bring 30 years of experience in strategy, planning, performance measurement , financial management and leading teams across a range of different organisations and sectors, underpinned by an MBA from Durham University Business School.

Katherine Howe- Headteacher  

Category of Governor- Staff

Additional Information- Curriculum

Declared Interests- 

Liz Evry

Category of Governor- Co-opted Governor

Additional Information-Health and Safety, Core subject monitoring 

Declared Interests- Parent of a child at St Martin at Shouldham 

I am really pleased to be part of the Governing body to offer my support to the future development of the school.  I applied to be a Governor as I am looking forward to being part of my son’s school experience as he starts school in 2019. I hope to transfer some of my experience from senior communications and marketing roles within the training and further education sector. I’ve been involved in opening new specialist schools where I’ve had exposure to the strategic and educational elements of school life that I will use to benefit our school. I hope this will help to continue shaping the best learning experience for our children and the best working environment for our staff.

Tamsin Parker

Category of Governor- Parent Governor

Additional Information- Pupil Premium and Sports Premium 

Declared Interests- Parent of children at St Martin at Shouldham

I am very pleased to have become a Governor at St Martin at Shouldham as well as well as All Saints. My boys started at the school in 2019. I have been very impressed with their experience so far. I am very keen to support the school so that it can achieve the very best it can for all children. My primary focus is Pupil Premium and Sports Premium. I spent 12 years working as the Head of Sponsorship and Events for a large asset management company in London. I believe my experience brings with me a drive to achieve the best for the school, the energy to do just that and a willingness to work hard to support those trying to achieve positive outcomes for all of the pupils attending both schools. 

Niki Pybus 

Category of Governor- Co-opted Governor 

Additional Information- 

Declared Interests- Parent of child at St Martin at Shouldham

I have volunteered to become a Governor at The Village Saints Academy as I feel it is important to support local schools in helping them to provide a structured learning environment for every pupil. I have an interest in not only the academic development of children through the curriculum but also values and skills positively reinforced within the school environment. I think it would be on most parents' agenda to hope for their child to be able to confidently move to the next phase of the academic journey armed with all they have been taught. As a parent, this is most certainly my hope for my son who is a pupil at St Martin's. 

I am a trained Management Accountant, now based in King's Lynn, having recently moved from supporting a Tornado contract to out of service based at RAF Marham for 10 years. I bring with me analytical skills, integrity, challenge, teamwork and a keen eye to detail. I hope my professional experience will be of great benefit in supporting the Governing body of the Academy. 

Louisa Booth 

Category of Governor- Community Governor

Additional Information-  

Declared Interests- Parent of a child at St Martin at Shouldham, welfare and pastoral support of service children. 

I volunteered to take on a governor's position within the Village Saints Academy as an opportunity to be involved in my child's education, while supporting the school and local community.  As a serving member of the Royal Air Force I was keen to offer a military 'eye' to a setting that has a small number of Forces pupils. I have been an Air and Space Operations Manager in the RAF for 18 years, serving across the country and overseas as well as on numerous operational deployments. I hope to bring some of my skills and experience to the school and give back to the local community that is so supportive of the Armed Forces in the area. 

Mike Ford

Category of Governor- Co-opted Governor 

Additional Information-

Declared Interests- A Grandfather of a child at St Martin at Shouldham

I am a grandparent of a child at St martin, with another joining soon. I am a semi-retired Chartered Engineer, currently lecturing online to Maritime students in the Art of Marine Electrical Engineering. Over the past 10 years I have been involved in Schools, Colleges and Universities promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, in the UK, Europe and the USA, to students from the ages of 5 to 95! Prior to this I was involved in Management positions in major Blue-Chip companies through to running my own Engineering Consultancy. I have experience of the Governor role, being a governor when my own children were in school. Consequently I really look forward to be able to offer my experience and skills as I have previously done, to both St Martin and All Saints schools. 

Bridget Archibald

Category of Governor- Community Governor 

Additional Information- Co proprietor of guest house and antiques store in Shouldham village.

Declared Interests- None 

I have volunteered to become a Governor at The Village Saints Partnership as I would like to support St Martins Shouldham and All Saints Stoke Ferry schools and provide a community perspective. I take part in many village activities and am delighted to have the opportunity to widen my local knowledge and acquaintance.

In 2019 I retired after 20 years as a partner in a national law firm where I was involved with infrastructure projects, financial and performance management and managing the health and care sector. I hope the analytical and interpersonal skills developed over that time will be helpful in my governor role.

Following my retirement I gained an MA in Antiques so have had recent academic experience as a pupil! I have a particular interest in music and am a member of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra. Both my parents were teachers (maths and English literature) so the importance and value of education was engrained in me from an early age, indeed I spent my childhood living in one of the Tonbridge School schoolhouses. I now live in the Victorian predecessor school to St Martins on the corner of the Green in Shouldham. We have hosted  three visits over the last 20 years from children at St Martins giving them a taste of history…

Rachel Beasley- Deputy Headteacher  

Category of Governor- Co-opted

Additional Information- Curriculum, Pupil Premium, Sports Premium 

Declared Interests- Parent of children at St Martin at Shouldham 

Kayley Lodge- SENCO

Category of Governor- Staff

Additional Information- SEND, Curriculum 

Declared Interests- 

Harriet Hurrell- Class Teacher at All Saints Academy 

Category of Governor- Staff

Additional Information-  

Declared Interests- 

Jo Sandford- Class Teacher at St Martin at Shouldham

Category of Governor- Co-opted

Additional Information- 

Declared Interests- 

Fiona Lambert- Class Teacher at All Saints Academy 

Category of Governor- Associate Member 

Additional Information- 

Declared Interests- Parent of child at All Saints Academy