Alan Brundle – Chair

For those of you that do not know me I live in Hailsham. I am married (to a teacher) and have one child. I am a Civil Servant and have recently taken partial retirement. I relax by playing, umpiring, and coaching hockey for Hailsham. I also have an allotment, though I am struggling to find enough day light hours to do it justice. I also seem to get roped into running for good causes – even though I really am not that keen on running! I think if someone highlights a good cause, I appear to be easily persuaded! I have now completed the London Marathon and the Brighton and Eastbourne half marathons over the last few years. Not to mention the Mince pie run in December that Mr Procter has successfully convinced me to run several times. I mistakenly thought I would get a mince pie at each water stop……apparently, they expect you to finish before they give you a mince pie!! I started as a Governor of Chiddingly School over 20 years ago when my child was a pupil. During that time, I have served as Chair at Chiddingly for approximately 11 years, Vice Chair of the Federation and now Chair. I have also recently been selected as a Local Support Governor (LSG) lending support to other Governing bodies.

Being a Governor is an extremely rewarding role while at the same time being sometimes quite challenging. As a Governor, you are responsible for influencing the strategic direction of the schools but also must avoid the temptation to get involved in the day-to-day management of the schools. We are responsible with the senior leadership team for the individual schools and Federation’s performance and direction but as Governors we must get the balance right so that we allow the senior leadership team to manage on a day-to-day basis without interfering. We must learn to fulfil the “critical friend” role. I have seen many ups and downs over the years but the most exciting was the move to the Federation. I have been amazed by the progress each school has made over the period it has been in the partnership or federation. The results and the Ofsted judgements have been so good to see. The benefits of schools and professionals working together cannot be underestimated and I think the evidence speaks for itself. There is, of course, still work to be done and areas where we can improve, but I think the foundations have been laid and we have a good team of professionals in the Pioneer Federation who will drive us all forward for the most important aspect, which is of course the children. Why have I stayed around for so long? Well, there is no substitute for seeing the excitement on the children’s faces and hearing their chatter as they grow and develop. They are always so willing to share what is important to them. Seeing the schools move forward and develop is just so rewarding. I try to get into school either on formal visits for meetings and interviews or more informally just to look round the classrooms and chat with the staff and children. It just puts the day job into perspective! The Governors normally have their badges on when they are in school so if you see any of us, then by all means stop us, introduce yourselves and have a chat.