Welcome to the Governing Body

Governors are committed to achieving our shared vision for the school.  This means that they regularly visit the school to undertake a range of activities on top of attending a series of meetings throughout the year.  Each governor is assigned an area of interest.  All members are also encouraged to attend full governing body meetings.  There is one sub-committee working under the Full Governing Board - the Resources Committee.

There are core functions of the governing board:

  • Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
  • Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff.
  • Overseeing financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
  • Governors help the school live out its Christian vision by guiding decisions, checking impact, giving clear roles, and providing evidence that the school’s Christian character is thriving.

Each member of the governing body is asked to declare any pecuniary interests and are asked to withdraw any section of a meeting where there may be a conflict of interests.

The Chair for the Full Governing Body is Mr B. Zielenski-Smith. 

Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs L. Boyd

The Governing Body can be contacted via the Chair: chair@rackham.cambs.sch.uk

Governing Board 2026-27

Name

Category

Appointed by

Term

Role
Brian Zielinski-Smith Parent Parents 21/10/22 - 20/10/26

CHAIR OF GOVERNORS
Laura Boyd Co-Opted Governors 26/09/24 - 25/09/28 VICE CHAIR OF GOVERNORS
Georgina Turner Headteacher Ex Officio 01/09/23 (no term of office) HEADTEACHER
Ian Clifton Parent Parents 21/10/22 - 20/10/26

Chair of Resources Committee
Sam Herselman Staff Staff 05/04/23 - 04/04/27

 
Deralyn Short Diocese Governors 17/01/25 - 16/01/29 Foundation Governor
Hayden Watson Co-Opted Governors 03/07/25 - 02/07/29  
Elouise Hunt Diocese Parents 06/03/26 - 05/03/30 Foundation Governor
Malcom Wood   Parents 01/01/2026 -31/12/2029  
Hayley Scarrow   Parents 01/01/2026 - 31/12/2029  

 

 

Committee Members:

Governor Pecuniary Interest:

 

 

Register of Pecuniary Interests 2025-2026

 

Name of governor

Type of governor

Date appointed

Relevant business interests

 

Links to other educational establishments

 

Personal relationships with the school staff or other governors

Date interest declared

Clifton, Ian

Parent

21/10/24

None

None

None

16/09/24

Herselman, Sam

Staff

05/04/24

None

None

None

23/01/24

Higginson, Saskia

Co-Opted

18/04/24

None

None

None

15/09/25

Turner, Georgina

Headteacher

01/09/23

None

None

None

14/09/25

Zielinksi-Smith, Brian

Parent

21/10/22

None

None

None

30/09/25

VACANCY

Parent

 

 

 

 

 

Boyd, Laura

Co-Opted

 26/09/24 None None None 05/09/25

Watson, Hayden

Co-Opted

03/07/25

None

None

None

18/09/25

Short, Deralyn

Foundation

17/01/25

None

None

None

 

 

 

 

 

Former Governors (served in the past 12 months)

 

Name of governor

Type of governor

End of Tenure

Relevant business interests

      

 

Links to other educational establishments

 

Personal relationships with the school staff or other governors

Date interest declared

Higginson, Saskia

Co-Opted

16/03/26

            

 

Dossang, Pam

Co-opted

 24/10/25              

 

Governor Meeting Dates:

FGB meeting - 2nd October 2025

Resources committee - 13th November 2025

FGB meeting - 27th November 2025

FGB meeting - 22nd January 2026

Resources committee - 5th March 2026

FGB meeting - 19th March 2026

Resources committee - 16th April 2025

FGB meeting - 30th April 2026

FGB meeting - 9th July 2026

Financial Information

There are no employees at The Rackham C of E Primary School with a gross annual salary of £100,000 or more.

Please click this link to be directed to the school's financial benchmarking service. School’s Financial Benchmarking Service

Minutes of meetings

The following documents are available upon request:

  • Approved and signed minutes
  • Agendas
  • Any papers considered at meetings

Please make written requests to david.barker@cambridgeshire.gov.uk 

Governor Meeting Attendance:

 

Governor biographies

Brian Zielinski-Smith

Chair of Governors

Brian has lived in Witchford since 2015, with two children, both of whom are currently enjoying the education and life at the school. He is the Director of Product Line Management at MSD Animal Health and also serves as Company Director for the UK entity of MSD, SureFlap Ltd, giving him valuable board-level experience. He continues to volunteer as a STEM ambassador, driven by his lifelong passion for science. With a strong background in engineering, commercial, and strategic product development/management, underpinned by an engineering degree, Brian is well-equipped to bring valuable insights and ideas to the governing board. His focus is on helping to guide and develop the school to run as effectively as possible, ensuring the provision of excellent education for all children.

Georgina Turner

Ex Officio Governor Headteacher

Georgina started her teaching career in Peterborough before moving to teach in Essex, East London and the Medway towns in North Kent, where she was Deputy Head. Georgina returned to Cambridgeshire and started working at The Rackham initially teaching in Year 5/6. Georgina then taught in Year 3/4 followed by Key Stage One before progressing to Deputy Headteacher and a member of SLT. Georgina is the current Headteacher at The Rackham. Georgina has taken two career breaks from teaching to work in business. Georgina found this experience invaluable as it gave context to the culture schools are preparing children to work in as adults. The demands of work outside of education highlighted the vital importance of excellent teaching and learning to ensure all children have the best opportunities in their lives once their school career comes to an end.

Ian Clifton

Ian has lived in Witchford for over 10 years. Ian’s career background is Facility Management since University, he currently works in Retail Management having done so for over 10 years at multiple Retail Centres. Ian manages the day-to-day site operations, specifically the on-site Contracts including Hard and Soft Services, Fabric Maintenance and H&S of the site, its retailers, and all contractors.  Ian has a child in Reception and KS2 at The Rackham with a third who has moved onto secondary education. He has been on the Governing Board since 2018. 

Samantha Herselman

Teacher Governor

Samantha started her teaching career twelve years ago, following on from being a Teaching Assistant. During her career she has taught children across all of the primary age ranges both at The Rackham and other Cambridgeshire schools. Samantha has two primary aged children herself and understands the importance of providing a wide range of opportunities to the young people in our community. Since January 2023, Samantha has been the Acting Deputy Head and SENDCo at The Rackham, both roles were made permanent in April of the same year. Samantha holds the nationally recognised SEND Coordination qualification and has a passion for supporting children with Special Educational Needs. She has recently become a member of the Governing Body in order to continue to have a positive impact on the children who attend The Rackham.

Laura Boyd

Vice Chair of Governors

Laura and her husband have been residents of Witchford for over eight years. Their daughter started reception in September 2024. Laura is a Chartered MCIPD with over a decade of experience in HR roles within educational institutions, and is currently the HR manager at one of the Cambridge Colleges. She brings to the Governing board, a wealth of understanding from secondary and higher educational institutions along with a strong commitment to enhance experiences for all students.

Hayden Watson

Hayden grew up in Witchford, attending The Rackham Primary School in the late 90's before moving away. He moved back to the village a few years ago with his family. Hayden has two children who are both currently experiencing everything The Rackham has to offer. Hayden is a Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant with over a decade of experience in finance, advisory, reporting and data analysis. His current role has given him additional exposure to HR, policy, staff training and project management and implementation. He also volunteers with Friends of Witchford Rackham PTA.

Derralyn Short

Foundation Governor

Derralyn is delighted to serve as a Foundation Governor at The Rackham Church of England Primary School. With experience supporting senior leaders in education and a background in mission‑driven organisations, she is passionate about helping children and staff thrive. Known for her “relentless optimism,” Derralyn is committed to nurturing a joyful, caring school community grounded in Christian values.

 

Governing Board Diversity statement:

The Governing Body of The Rackham C of E Primary recognises the importance of diversity in ensuring effective governance and informed decision-making. We are committed to recruiting and retaining governors with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, skills and perspectives that reflect the community we serve.

Diversity encompasses many characteristics, including age, disability, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, faith, sexual orientation and personal experience. A diverse governing board strengthens our ability to support, challenge and champion the school on behalf of all pupils.

In line with Department for Education recommendations, governors are invited to provide diversity information voluntarily. Any diversity data published is anonymised and presented in a way that protects the privacy of individual governors.

The Governing Body reviews its composition regularly and considers diversity as part of its succession planning and recruitment processes.