Governance

We are part of the Saint John Southworth Catholic Academy Trust (SJSCAT), a multi-academy trust in the Diocese of Westminster.

A Board of Directors governs the Trust and is legally responsible for our school and other schools in the Trust. The Board is the key decision-making body and has three core governance functions: ensuring clarity of Catholic vision, ethos and strategic direction; holding executive leaders to account for educational performance and ensuring money is well spent.

The Board has appointed a Local Governing Body to conduct core governance functions in our school. Local governors, appointed or elected from different parts of our school community, serve on our local governing body. The Chair of the Local Governing Body is Mrs Anne Lyons. To get in touch with the Chair, email info@stjosephs.rbkc.sch.uk or write to Mrs Anne Lyons, St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Local Governing Body, Cadogan Street, London, SW3 2QT.

The local governing body meets twice a term to conduct business. Some aspects of its work are carried out by sub-committees or by link governors who visit our schools to focus on particular areas.

Foundation Governors

Mrs Anne Lyons - Chair of Governors
Anne retired in 2019 after spending forty-four years working in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Westminster. Her final post was headteacher of St John Fisher School in Pinner. Anne has played an active role in her trade union, NAHT and since retirement has continued to support colleagues in a wide range of employment issues. Anne has two daughters who also work in education, one as a primary assistant headteacher and the other as head of the maths department in a large secondary school. As a governor, Anne will use her skills to help continue and improve the high quality Catholic education that the pupils and families in the care of St Joseph’s enjoy.

Father Shaun Middleton - Vice Chair
Fr Shaun is the Parish Priest at St Mary’s, Cadogan Street, our parish church. He came to St Mary’s in 2018, having served in a number of other parishes throughout the Diocese.

Born and brought up in South Wales, Fr Shaun has been a priest of the Diocese of Westminster for 30 years. He studied for the Priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome, and he holds degrees in Theology and Psychology.

Miss Ekanem Etim-Offiong

Ekanem has held senior management and leadership positions in both the public and private sectors and is currently working in the NHS as a Social Prescribing Link Worker.

Previous private sector roles include International Marketing and Distribution Adviser to Arise News, broadcasting from London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos. She also managed a ship repair yard in Lagos, Nigeria, and has run her own business. One of her first jobs was in the banking sector where she worked at for Chase Merchant Bank as a Credit Analyst.

Her public sector roles include working as a Policy Adviser at Defra and Project Manager at the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, where she managed the procurement of the largest waste Management PFI in Europe.

Ekanem lives locally, and is a practicing Catholic and an active member in her parish church Our Holy Redeemer and Saint Thomas More where she is a volunteer Catechist. Her interests include promoting African and Afrocentric arts and culture, by moving away from the typical negative depictions of the continent and its people.

Mr Gareth Kerr

Gareth, originally from South Wales, spent over 20 years living and working abroad as an independent Management Consultant, managing large programmes within IT and M&A for companies such as Siemens, Nokia, and Atos. He returned to the UK to set up his tech start-up in 2019 and moved to Chelsea, but he was still commuting between London, Munich, and Asia until October 2022. On his first day in Chelsea, June 9th, 2019, he found St. Mary’s Catholic Church. In addition to his start-up, he also serves as a Senior Deployment Manager at Meta. Gareth is passionate about how Catholic Schools can serve as anchors for Christian and family values, ensuring that students are well-prepared for a stable and successful future.

Mr Francisco Garrido

Francisco moved to London in 2005, being originally from Spain. His professional career has always focused in the finance sector. His personal interests include reading about economics, education, politics, sports and travelling.

Mrs Kidge Burns

Kidge worked for the NHS for 23 years as a Speech and Language Therapist, retiring in 2016. She saw adult inpatients and outpatients at two London acute hospitals, developing counselling skills alongside her role as a SLT to address the wellbeing of the patient. As a result of extensive training and experience over that time she went on to write two books on the use of Solution Focused Brief Therapy in healthcare settings. She now works independently as a solution focused practitioner and volunteers at a local community centre which aims to meet the diverse needs of the people of Wandsworth. Her two daughters were born in Chile when Kidge and her husband, who worked for the Financial Times, were living in Argentina. Kidge is happy to be a governor at St Joseph’s School to help support and facilitate the pupils to flourish as individuals in their Catholic education.

Executive Headteacher

Mrs Karen Wyatt
Karen has taught in London since 2002 and has been appointed in headteacher roles since 2011. In September 2013, she took up a substantive headship at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School which has been judged to be ‘Outstanding’ in all areas by both Ofsted (November 2013 and May 2024) and the Diocese of Westminster (October 2017 ). As of September 2017, Karen has taken on the role of Executive Headteacher of both St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School and St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School in Fulham.

Parent Governors

Mrs Tricia Miller

Tricia Miller, a US/Irish dual citizen, is an experienced international marketing executive having run teams in the US, Asia Pacific and Europe. She has held roles in publicly traded companies like Oracle, VMware and Twilio, and has run her own consultancy on and off for nearly 20 years. She has two children at St Joseph's and is very passionate about the school and its mission.

Mrs Chanel Spooner

Chanel is a dedicated member of the St Joseph’s school community, with a child in Reception and another in Year 5, and describes herself as passionate about the school's mission and values. With over eight years of experience working in both primary and secondary school education, Chanel’s background equips her with the strategic skill set to make a significant contribution to the enhancement of the educational environment at St Joseph’s. As a Governor, she is committed to fostering collaboration between parents, teachers, and the community in order that every student thrives and to support the school in achieving its objectives.

Staff Governor

Mr James Stacey

James has taught at St Joseph’s since 2001. He was appointed as Deputy Headteacher in 2011 and was appointed to his current Head of School role in 2017. During James’s time as a Senior Leader in the school, the school has been judged to be ‘Outstanding’ in all areas by both Ofsted (November 2013) and the Diocese of Westminster (October 2017). James is an Associate Inspector for the Catholic Diocese of Westminster and assists in inspections of primary and secondary schools in the Diocese.

Clerk to the Governors

Mrs Penny Venters

Remit and Exercise of Functions

The powers, constitution and proceedings of the local governing body are set out formally in a Scheme of Delegation and Delegation Matrix. The terms of reference for local governing body sub-committees and link governor roles show which responsibilities have been delegated by the local governing body and the names of those appointed to key positions.

Governance Documents

The Governance documents for the Saint John Southworth Catholic Academy Trust can be accessed from its website.

The terms upon which our school is funded are set out in a funding agreement with the Secretary of State for Education.

Register of Interests and Meeting Attendance

Record of meeting attendance 2023-2024 for local governors.

Financial Reports

The Trust maintains accounting records and prepares an annual report and accounts in line with the Charity Commission's Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) and Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Accounts Direction. Our reports and accounts will be published on the trust’s website by 31 January each year.