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Mr Julian Thould is the Chair of Governors.  He was brought up just outside Truro and educated at Treliske Prep, Truro School and King’s College, Taunton before reading history at Pembroke College, Oxford. Married Jane, a former pupil at Truro High School, in 1984 in Grampound and proud father of 4 children. Worked for the Cusichaca Project in Peru as a field archaeologist before becoming a management trainee for HP Bulmer. After 4 years, retrained as a teacher and taught at Westminster School, Cranleigh School and the King’s School, Worcester before being appointed as Head of King Edward VI School, Southampton in 2002. A former local councillor, he also has a strong interest in the arts and was a director of the Cranleigh Arts Centre and a trustee of Culture Southampton. He was an ISI inspector for 20 years and involved in a range of independent school institutions including various governing bodies, chairing the Forum for Independent Day Schools and HMC South Central Division. Retired after nearly 18 years as a Head in August 2019 and returned to Cornwall.

Mr John Keast was born and educated in St Austell and gained a BD from King’s College London. After working estate management at the Church Commissioners, he became a teacher then adviser, examiner and inspector for Religious Education. In 1996 he joined the QCA as Principal Manager for RE, Citizenship and PSHE. He was RE adviser to the Department for Education 2004-2010. From 2001 until 2010 John was also a consultant to the Council of Europe and worked for the Anna Lindh Foundation. He has led training courses in many European and Near Eastern cities. John has been an Ofsted inspector, teacher trainer and visiting lecturer in RE. He was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to education. John chaired the RE Council of England and Wales from 2011 until 2014, during which time John was a trustee of the Inter Faith Network. John chaired the Culham St Gabriel’s Education Trust from 2018-22. He has just retired as a pastor in the Methodist Church in St Austell. He has been a governor since 2016 and was Chair from 2019-22.
John sits on the Education & Pastoral committee and Finance & School committee.

Revd Canon Dr Lynda Barley was educated at York University, University College, London and holds a professional doctorate in Practical Theology from Cambridge Theological Federation. Ordained for nearly twenty years, she previously worked as a Statistician responsible for a small team of researchers at the Bank of England and as a social researcher for Bible Society and other charities. Prior to moving to Cornwall she served for eleven years as Head of Research & Statistics and coordinating chaplain at the Archbishops’ Council based at Church House, Westminster.
Lynda is Vice Chair and sits on the Education & Pastoral committee, is Deputy Governor for Safeguarding and has Board responsibility for Health & Safety.

Mrs Andrea Ramsey graduated from The University of Leicester and Guildford Law School, she took the immediate step of moving into marketing and communications for the next 25 years. During that time she established the communications department in Clifford Chance and Reed Smith LLP and set up marketing functions across a wide range of sectors including British Energy,The WRc group, Cotswold Outdoor and Npower. Having spent time in Asia, Andrea returned to the UK to set up her own marketing consultancy where projects have ranged from developing international communication strategies for EDF, Hinkley Point C to being the lead for charity Winston’s Wish on the production of an award winning C4 documentary on child bereavement.
Andrea is a member of the Finance & School Committee.

Mr Bill Pellew-Harvey is Chairman and CEO of Aerospace Technology Transfer and TAC Group. An entrepreneur and business investor started his career as a Commodity Trader in the City of London then established his own business. His subsequent international career in the aviation and defence industries spans more than 50 years. Although he was brought up in Kenya and has lived abroad most of his life Bill has strong Cornish roots with both his grandparents born in Truro and Chacewater. His two youngest daughters attended Truro High.
Bill is a member of the Finance & School committee.

Mrs Amanda Eaves graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry and a PGCE from Swansea University. For twenty years she taught science in a number of Cornish secondary schools and was Head of Science at The Roseland Academy in 2013 before embarking on a new part-time role in a property business with her husband. Her passion lies in the education sector and she has previously been a governor at Gorran Primary School for eight years, where she was a member of the Data and Curriculum Committee – discussing the progress the children make, the standards they reach and the curriculum they follow. She has one daughter in the Senior School.
Amanda is a member of the Education and Pastoral committee

Mr Jonathan Taylor was educated at King’s College School, Wimbledon and read English Language and Literature at Lincoln College Oxford before moving into teaching. He retired from the post of Head Teacher at Bootham School, York in 2016 to sail a family boat and to remodel a property owned locally for a number of years. He has won national awards for poetry and his work has been published in several leading journals. Jonathan is a member of the Education and Pastoral Committee and is the Whistleblowing Governor.

Mr Christopher Vulliamy studied at St Paul’s London before completing a Mechanical Engineering degree at Swansea University.  Chris is a retired accountant with wide ranging financial management experience in a variety of commercial enterprises and sectors.  He moved to Cornwall with his family in 2001.
Chris is a Chair of the Finance & School committee.

Mrs Susie Burkard graduated from Edith Cowan University, Western Australia with a Bachelor of Education. Susie has over 35 years of experience in education, senior leadership and pastoral care. She started her teaching career in Western Australia before moving to the UK to teach at Hill House Prep School in Chelsea. She then moved to the state system overseeing the teaching of English as a second language in several schools. In 2000 Susie moved to Finton House School in London as a class teacher before joining the Senior Leadership Team as Head of Upper School and subsequently Head of Pastoral Care. After a rewarding career in education, she is now retired and lives in St Agnes with her husband, who has strong family ties with Cornwall and attended Treliske Prep.
Susie chairs the Education & Pastoral committee and is the Governors with responsibility for EYFS.

Mr Steve Paxton was born in Africa and moved to the UK in the early 2000’s. He is married with 2 boys and is a proud grandfather to a magnificent little 9-month-old granddaughter.
He has played or coached international sport in three different categories and is a quadruple world cup player and coach in hockey.
Steve is an experienced international investment business owner, UK independent school boarding expert, UK Child/Student sponsor licence specialist, including overseeing many UKVI compliance inspections and is the Managing Director of a Division within an International immigration and wealth firm.
As a student global mobility specialist, he is vastly experienced in the complex sector of Home Office compliance and visa acquisition for UK-bound international students.

Mr Alasdair Heath is the Director of Estates, Property & Services at Downe House in Berkshire.  He has extensive experience of managing the operational demands of an independent school including catering, estates, housekeeping, security and operational accounts.
He is a Community and H&S Governor at Chieveley Primary School, Chairman of Newbury Rugby Football Club and a qualified RFU Level 3 rugby coach and community cricket coach.
Alasdair is a member of the Finance and School committee

Dr Ruth Sullivan graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Geography from Edinburgh University before realising that her heart lay in education. Completing a PGCE from Moray House (Scotland), she went on to be Head of Department and Housemistress at St John’s School, Leatherhead, Head of Geography at Glenalmond College Scotland and Head of Sixth Form at The Queen’s School, Chester before returning to university to study for a Masters (Population and Health) and PhD (Epidemiology) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  Missing the energy of schools, Ruth returned to education as Deputy Master at Haileybury College before becoming Head of Sherborne Girls in 2018. A passionate advocate of pastoral and wellbeing matters Ruth advises on a number of committees including the HMC and GSA Pastoral and Safeguarding Committees and the ISC Sustainability Group. She has previously been a Governor on a large MAT and a small independent prep school. Ruth has travelled extensively throughout the world, often on foot or on bike, and competed in numerous marathons, half-ironman, and ironman events.
Ruth sits on the Education and Pastoral Committee and has Board responsibility for Safeguarding,

Each member of the Board has been assigned one, or sometimes two Departments within the School where they have a special interest. As well as Departmental attachments, there are also several committees – Finance and School, Education and Pastoral (inc. Safeguarding & Boarding), Governance and Nominations – which provide specific focus, clear direction and communication.

Correspondence for the Chair and other members of the Board of Governors, including out of term-time, should be directed to:

Mrs Sarah Budd
Clerk to the Governors
Truro High School
Falmouth Rd
Truro
TR1 2HU
Telephone: (+44) (0) 1872 242997
Email: bursar@trurohigh.co.uk

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