Governors
Our board of governors provides support, guidance and critical oversight to the Headmistress and the school. The governors bring valuable expertise from various professional fields and we are very grateful for their commitment and their capabilities.
What do the governors do?
The main responsibilities of the governors are:
- To be critical friends of the school
- To support the Headmistress and her staff
- To contribute to strategic and business planning for the school
- To be ambassadors for the school in the local community
How is the school governed?
Sutton High School, along with the other schools of the Girls’ Day School Trust, is administered by the Council of the Trust. Each school has its own School Governing Board (SGB) whose Chair is appointed by the Council. New governors are appointed by the existing SGB. Each governor serves up to three terms of three years each.
How can I get in touch?
The Chair of our board of governors is Ms Catherine Clarke. Should you wish to contact Ms Clarke direct, please write to her at: Sutton High School, 55 Cheam Road, Sutton SM1 2AX
Our governors
Ms Catherine Clarke (Chair)
Catherine Clarke attended school and university in Ireland, undertaking both her undergraduate and post-graduate studies at Trinity College Dublin, where she obtained degrees in civil and structural engineering. After having worked as an engineer in the UK for a number of years at a multinational engineering consultancy firm, and having obtained “chartered engineer” status, Catherine took the decision to return to university to study law, qualifying as a solicitor in 1996. Catherine has spent her entire legal career in the City, specialising in the law relating to major infrastructure projects. She currently works in-house at a large City firm, a role which she combines with sitting as a part-time district judge on the London and South East Circuit. As a parent to an SHS alumna, Catherine brings the “parent perspective” to her role as an SHS governor, alongside her experience in legal analysis and regulatory compliance matters.
Mr William Rogers
William Rogers is a trained ISI Inspector and was Deputy Head of Emmanuel School. Prior to that he held a variety of senior roles at Wallington County Grammar, where he taught for over twenty years. His interests include reading, photography, cycling and keeping fit. He also enjoys walking and going to the theatre, and is a qualified ski instructor.
Mrs Charlotte Sallabank
Charlotte Sallabank was brought up in Edinburgh and graduated from King’s College, London with a degree in Mathematics and Chemistry. After working for three years in corporate finance for an international bank, Charlotte retrained as a solicitor, specialising in corporate tax. Charlotte is a chartered tax advisor and is a partner in the London office of a US law firm. In addition to advising on tax, Charlotte is the pro bono chair of the London office and is a member of the steering committee of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Forum which supports the advancement of women lawyers at the firm through mentoring and career development programmes.
Charlotte’s four daughters have all attended Sutton High – the youngest left in July 2022, marking the end of a 23 year continuous period as a Sutton High parent and 26 years as a GDST parent. Charlotte is delighted to be able to give something back to the school as a governor after Sutton High has given so much to her family.
Mrs Nida Khan
Nida Khan (née Husain) attended Sutton High from the ages of seven to eighteen. She then read Economics at St John’s College, Cambridge and undertook a Master’s in Development Studies at SOAS, University of London.
Nida worked as an economic consultant at EY for a decade, later working with charities and philanthropic funds in London and Miami. Nida recently trained as a teacher of English as an Additional Language, and teaches English to refugees and migrants.
Nida is married with two children. Her daughter attended nursery and junior school at Sutton High. Being a Governor at Sutton High is a way of giving back to the school that has made such a positive impact on Nida and her daughter.
Mrs Georgie Franklin
Georgie Franklin (née Altman) attended two GDST schools, Putney High School and Notting Hill and Ealing High school. From there she went on to read Modern History at the University of Oxford.
After graduating she began a career in the commercial world, initially in the retail sector both in legacy businesses and in the high growth ecommerce sector. From there she moved into advertising and marketing strategy, advising some of the UK’s biggest businesses (including easyJet and O2).
For the past 7 years she’s worked at Google in its commercial arm in London. In this capacity she leads the relationship with some of the UK’s biggest retailers and has responsibility for growing and developing their business with Google.
Georgie is thrilled that as a governor she is able to give back to the GDST, which gave her so much.
Ms Karis Parker
Karis was brought up in Islington, London and attended St Mary’s University for her BA in Primary Education. She has been teaching in a local school since 2016 and completed a postgrad in National Award for SEN coordination at UCL in 2020. Karis has a passion for Special Educational Needs and inclusive schools. In her role as SENDCo, Karis has been one of the designated safeguarding leads for her school and supports SHS as a safeguarding champion.
Ms Sarah Cunningham
Sarah has lived in the South West London area all her life and attended Putney High School.
From there she studied Medicine at the Westminster Hospital Medical School qualifying in 1982.
Having always wanted to be a General Practitioner, Sarah completed general practice training in Fulham and joined the Church Lane Practice in Merton Park as a Partner in 1986. In 2015 the Church Lane Practice merged and became part of the Nelson Medical Practice in South Wimbledon. This is the largest General Practice in Merton serving just over 32,000 patients including current and past Sutton High School students. Sarah is currently the joint chair of the practice Governing Body.
After 40 years experience as an NHS G.P, and as a past GDST pupil, Sarah looks forward to contributing positively to Sutton High School as a Governor and on health issues in particular.
Ms Kathy Spooner
Kathy originally studied History at Sussex University and went on to achieve an MSc in Information Systems during the early days of macro and personal computing. Having had a successful career implementing new IT systems across differing sectors, she opted for a career change after the birth of her third child. Training to become a psychotherapist, she completed an MA in Integrative Psychotherapy and combined a private practice with tutoring on BA and MA courses. She is currently the CEO of a counselling membership body (the ACC), which is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority.
Kathy has 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren, and alongside some insight into leadership and innovation, her main focus will be on the well-being of all involved in the school community.