Governors

The governors play a crucial role in providing strategic direction for Little Common School whilst challenging and supporting school leaders in equal measure.

We are dedicated to continual school improvement and to our school vision ...

Learning, Caring, Succeeding... Together. 

We welcome feedback from parents. Please contact us by emailing leglington@littlecommon.e-sussex.sch.uk and put Clerk in the subject line. 

Please click here for governor information:

Details of Little Common School's governing body structure, governors' terms of office and committee membership

Details of Governor's Attendance at Meetings

Details of Governor's Declarations of Interest

The above information can also be seen at the bottom of this page within the final governor tab.

Instrument of government 

Governor nomination form

Governor eligibility form to be completed with nomination form

NGA code of conduct

Nick Wilkinson - Chair of Governors - Co-opted Governor

(nwilkinson@littlecommon.e-sussex.sch.uk)

Nick has over 30 years of partnership experience, which includes chair of many strategic partnership boards.  

Richard Errington - Vice Chair - Co-opted Governor

Richard works in London in the IT Division of a major UK Bank and specialises in the delivery of major change programmes. He has 2 children at the school.

Richard sits on the Strategic Organisation Committee and is the link governor for Finance.

Linda Appleby - Headteacher and Governor

As the Headteacher of Little Common School, Linda is also a School governor. She joined the school as Headteacher in September 2010 and was previously Headteacher of Alfriston School for five years.

Linda works very closely with the governors who offer her support and challenge in order to ensure that we attain our school vision of ‘Learning, Caring, Succeeding…together’.

Wendy Gorham - Co-opted Governor

Wendy is a former secondary school teacher and now works for East Sussex County Council.  Her role focuses on employability skills and career opportunities for young people within the Hastings area.  She lives in the Little Common and has a child who was a pupil at the school.  Wendy sits on the Strategic Organisation Committee.  Wendy is the link governor for careers.

Marsh Golding - Associate Governor

Marsh took early retirement as an Education Welfare Officer in a large outer London authority seven years ago before moving to Sussex. She has worked in the field of education for thirty two years and as a EWO for twenty six years. Having considerable experience in school governance, Marsh has supported both secondary and primary schools both as a parent and community governor.  Marsh is very involved in Little Common School as both a volunteer and community governor. Marsh sits on the Quality of Education Committee and is link governor for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Recently, Marsh has been involved in appointing new staff and has used her extensive knowledge of education to support the school through a recent Ofsted inspection.

Nicola Rand - Local Authority Governor

Nicola worked at Filsham Valley Secondary School (later to become St Leonards Academy) for their SEN/ASD department for many years before taking early retirement in 2011. She supported students with accessing the National Curriculum whilst helping them achieve their full potential.  Her role also included managing a large team of Teaching Assistants.  She was previously a staff Governor at Filsham Valley where she was Chair of the SEN/Pupil Welfare sub-committee.
Nicola has 2 grown up children and has become more involved with Little Common School.  Nicola sits on the Quality of Education Committee and is pleased to be able to offer the school the benefit of her experience and skills and acts as link Governor for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND, including pupil premium).

Nicola Marsden - Staff Governor

Nicola joined the school in January 2022. She is currently teaching in Year 4.  Nicola sits on the Quality of Education Committee.

Victoria Bevis - Co-opted Governor

Victoria is a solicitor working for a specialist employment law firm in the Brighton area advising a range of clients from schools and colleges to an array of organisations including a number of major airlines. She has previously been involved with the Little Common School PTA, acting as Vice Chair for a year. Victoria currently has one child at the school. Victoria sits on and chairs the Quality of Education Committee.  

James Hooper - Co-opted Governor

 James has worked in education since 2011 and has expertise in   strategic finance and operations.

 He started his career working in corporate banking at HSBC,     before moving into various project management roles in the   private and public sector, which led to him overseeing the build of   a new primary school in Southampton, where he became Business Manager.

Moving to Sussex in 2014 he was our Business Manager at Little Common for 3 years, leaving in 2017 to become Head of Projects and Communication at STEP Academy Trust, where he continues to work, now as Director of Operations.

James joined our governing body in 2017 and sits on the Strategic Organisation Committee.

 Osei Sankofa - Co-opted Governor

 Osei has over 20 years of experience in professional football across   the Premier League and English Football League in a variety of roles.

 As a professional football player his focus was on personal   performance on the pitch.  He has since moved to coaching and coach  development which has switched his focus to support individuals and teams to develop in both sporting and workplace contexts.  Osei joined the governing body in July 2022.

Governor Information on terms of office

                                        Committee                  Type                               End of term

 We have vacancies for 3 parent governors.

Declarations of interest

Meeting attendance register 2021/22

                                                   Committee                  Full governor                    Total

There are a different number of meetings for each committee which reflects in the % of attendance.