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Welcome from the Chair

We were delighted to see that Tiffin School’s exam results in the summer of 2025 were once again excellent at both A Level (92% A*-B,71% A*-A and 36% A*) and GCSE (80% Grade 9-7, 60% Grade 9-8, and 33% Grade 9). The Governors’ congratulations go out to all the students who have achieved these wonderful results and to all the Tiffin staff who guided them there.

Most graduating Tiffinians went on to universities of their first choice including an unprecedented 47 students taking up places at Oxford and Cambridge Universities as well as 2 students entering Princeton, one of the eight US Ivy League Universities. The continuing attraction of Tiffin School was once again demonstrated by the very strong demand for entry in September 2025 from external candidates at both Year 7 and 12. It was particularly pleasing to see the admission of another large cohort of 96 female students into the Sixth Form.

The coming year will see a continued focus by the School’s Senior Leadership Team and staff, led by the Headteacher, Garth Wiliams on making further school improvements with a particular focus on curriculum design, behaviour for learning and collaborative leadership. We will also focus on upgrading our facilities both in Kingston and at the Grists sports grounds for our students. Work has now commenced on a second all-weather pitch, new netball court and upgraded cricket nets and long jump in Kingston which will be enjoyed by many generations of Tiffinians to come. These facilities are very much needed due to the impact that poor weather often has on our ability to use Grists and the revenue generated from evening and weekend community lets. Improvements have also been made to the School’s Harper Pavilion at Grists over the summer. A major, and long overdue, upgrade to our staff room and reception area has been completed over the summer. The Governors’ heartfelt thanks go to all parents and Tiffin alumni and others who have supported the fundraising for these improvements, and in particular a single very large donation by an alumnus for the all-weather pitch in Kingston and the very generous legacy left by a late Tiffin teacher. The School and The Tiffin School Foundation, the charity which now owns Grists, hope to finalise amended development plans during the 2025-26 academic year to be presented for planning approval.

The Governors of Tiffin School are volunteers who give their time freely for the benefit of the School. Many of them are parents, former parents, or alumni and are linked to Tiffin in some way. Others are carefully chosen external professionals with needed specialist skills in education and business. Our decisions are always made in the best interests of the School. It is an honour to serve with them all and we will continue to strive to provide the very best possible learning and extra-curricular experience for our students.

Phil Phillips
Chair of Governors: Tiffin School
Chair of Trustees: The Tiffin School Foundation
Tiffin School 1967 -1974

If you wish to contact the Chair of Governors, please email the Clerk to Governors at clerktogovernors@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk 

Tiffin School (registered Company number 07547311) Members

Jane Burton

After graduating with a degree in Economics, Jane enjoyed a successful career in business before entering the teaching profession in 2000. From 2010-2024 she held senior leadership positions in schools including two Headships of selective schools and she was also the founding CEO of the Girls’ Learning Trust, growing the multi-academy trust to three schools during her tenure.

Since retiring from headship in August 2024, Jane has now joined RSAcademics as the Head of Leadership Appointments for Trusts, Academies and maintained schools.

Jane was also a governor at Royal Russell School in Croydon from 2015-2019, was joint-President of the Association of State Girls’ Schools from 2017-2019 and has also served on the Girls’ School Association Education Committee from 2022-2024. She is currently a member of the Education Committee of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.

John King
John Lulham
Phil Phillips
Kate Ross

I previously served as a Foundation governor and Chair of the Education Committee.  I am delighted to be able to contribute to the continued progress and success of the school as a Member of the Tiffin School Academy Trust.

Corporate Member: The Tiffin School Foundation

To find out more about the Tiffin School Foundation, please click here.

 

Tiffin School Governors 2025-2026

Foundation Governors

Phil Phillips - Chair

Educated at Tiffin (1967 to 1974 – Deputy Head Boy, Captain of Rugby and Kingsley Montgomery House) and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford reading physics. The education I received at the School was a hugely positive influence in my life. My career was spent in the financial sector in London and 20 years abroad in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and the USA working for a major US Bank and as co-founder and equity partner of a New York based structured asset finance firm. I joined the Governing Board in 2009 and am continually seeking to help enhance the School’s ability to provide both an outstanding academic education and a fantastic extra-curricular experience to all its students. I concurrently serve as Chair of the Governing Board and Chair of The Tiffin School Foundation, the registered charity which owns the School land in Kingston and the School playing fields at Grists and to which parental and alumni donations are received. There has been tremendous change at the School. In strategic matters, as Chair, I worked with other governors on the academy conversion in 2011, the appointments of a new Headteacher in both 2014 and 2022, the change to a mixed 6th form in 2019 and more recently on securing the strategic future of Grist’s. I have been involved in the successful funding and construction of major site improvements including our new classroom, kitchen, and dining facility in 2018, the new gym extension in 2020, and the 2022 LRC infill project. It is an absolute privilege to serve as a governor of this great School.

I am Chair of the Governing Board, am a member of the Resources Committee, Education Committee and Admissions Committee.

Phil Phillips
Chair of Governors: Tiffin School
Chair: The Tiffin School Foundation

If you wish to contact the Chair of Governors, please email the Clerk to Governors, Diane Moss, at clerktogovernors@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk 

David Evans - Co Vice Chair

A well-rounded education which challenges the individual is essential in today’s competitive work environment, whatever path they choose to follow. Both my son and daughter were fortunate to attend Tiffin School and Tiffin Girls School respectively. They benefitted from a great all-round education including many extra-curricular activities. I believe that selective education has an important role to play in shaping the future of our young adults. Educated in Cardigan in West Wales, I am an economics graduate of the University of Bristol and a chartered accountant. I have recently retired after a career in various finance and operational roles latterly with a multinational financial services company. I have lived in Esher for the last 37 years. My goal is for Tiffin to continue to be outstanding in every way and to be well positioned to meet the changes that the future will bring.

I am Co Vice Chair of the Governing Board, chair of the Resources Committee, chair of the Pay Committee and am a member the Head’s Performance Review Group.

Anna Jones

I was born and educated in Surbiton and now live in Teddington with my husband Simon. I graduated in law and qualified as a solicitor working in the City where I practised commercial litigation for 11 years. I now focus on my role as a school governor and a volunteer on the Cruse Bereavement Helpline. I have three sons who all attended Tiffin School from Year 7. I have seen first-hand how the excellent academic education and exceptionally wide ranging-extracurricular opportunities Tiffin provides benefitted my sons and their peers. I am committed to support Tiffin to continue to maintain these high standards for future generations of students. I have considerable experience as a school governor, having been a parent governor at the local infant and junior schools my sons attended, and I was appointed a parent governor at Tiffin in 2013. I am now a Foundation governor, and I was appointed Vice Chair to the governing board in 2021. I am delighted to be able to continue to contribute to the continued success of Tiffin School.

I am Chair of the Education Committee, a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and am a link governor safeguarding and SEND.

John Lulham

Both my sons attended the school and for several years I was a member of the TPA. Subsequently, I became a parent governor and then a Foundation governor. I am a chartered accountant and have extensive experience in contracts and procurement in the public sector. In addition, I was an external examiner and distance learning tutor at Durham University Business School for over 20 years. In 2009 I was awarded an MBE for services to equality and diversity. I have always strongly supported the school ethos and have enjoyed my long association with the governing board. I have been closely involved with the building of the Sports Hall and its recent extension and the Learning Resources Centre and kitchen and dining facilities.

I am Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and am a member of the Pay Committee and the Head’s Performance
Review Group.

Sutha Satkunarajah

Tiffin changed my life. It gave the son of an immigrant single mother a fair shot of success by cultivating curiosity and instilling confidence from an early age. I made my best friends for life at Tiffin. I am currently a senior director at Flagship Pioneering, the $3B+ venture capital fund most known for starting Moderna. I am responsible for coordinating the development, launch, and management of Flagship’s efforts to originate and grow a new generation of companies aimed at pre-empting, predicting, and preventing novel pathogens and chronic diseases. Before joining Flagship, I led the program management office of REACT, one of the largest COVID-19 surveillance programs in the UK, to enable deployment of over 3 million COVID-19 tests to inform UK government policy. Prior
to REACT, I led the analytics for Lord Darzi’s review of health and care in 2018 that helped secure a major cash injection in the NHS. I spent my early career as an analyst at Oliver Wyman, a management consulting company, and at HgCapital, a European private equity firm. I graduated from Harvard College with a BA in cognitive science (2001 – 2005) and served as an innovation fellow at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College (2019 – 2021). I hope that by serving as a governor I can support the school in its mission to become a truly world class educational institution, and that I can help today’s exceptional students take giant leaps in the future. I am a longstanding Surbiton resident, the lucky husband of Shanika and the proud father of two young children.

I am a member of the Resources Committee and a link governor for careers.

Jim Turner

I have known Kingston as a child, a student (at the then polytechnic) and for the last 40 or so years as a resident. I have four sons who have all attended Tiffin, the youngest in the 6th form only, and have seen the school develop from an excellent grammar school to a leading school in teaching and learning. I studied mechanical engineering and worked for 14 years in research and development and project work. I then retrained as a teacher and taught in inner London schools for 27 years. With my sons following different interests throughout their school careers, I took the role as coordinator for Tiffin car boot sales for many years. This enabled me to help all the various groups in which my sons were involved and support the extracurricular activities that make Tiffin the school it is. I became a parent governor in 1994 and I am now a Foundation governor.

I am a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, the Education Committee and the Admissions Committee.

Co-opted Governors

Jack Mayhew

As CEO of a growing multi academy trust, I am passionate about ensuring every young person achieves excellent outcomes and that they develop into ambitious, responsible and fulfilled adults with an accumulation of happy lifelong memories created at school.

I grew up in Oxfordshire and was educated at The Cherwell School in Oxford, a co-educational state school.  I went on to obtain a Geography degree from Birmingham University where I also completed my PGCE. Later, I was able to complete my Masters in Education at St Mary’s University College.

My teaching career started at Therfield School, Surrey, in 1998 and after holding several leadership and headship posts throughout the years at different institutions within the South-East, I became headteacher at Guildford County School in 2013, a school which was granted an Outstanding status by Ofsted in 2017, and again in 2023.

In 2018, I founded Athena Schools Trust comprising 5 schools and then went on to lead a merger with another Guildford based trust, GEP Academies comprising 7 schools, resulting in the formation of Learning Partners Academy Trust in 2021. Our trust continues to grow, now with over 15 schools, and others in the pipeline to join, including a 16-19 Maths School.  I firmly believe that collaboration is key to success, and that building a community of people working together and supporting each other leads to a strong, comprehensive and impactful support package for everyone involved.

I live locally and am delighted to be given the opportunity to support this great community-based school which has such a positive influence on future generations.

I am a member of the Education Committee.

John Musgrave Bolanos

I am an experienced teacher and headteacher, consultant and school governor, with over 25 years of experience in a range of challenging schools in London. I have been teaching since 1992, having studied a BEd Degree at Middlesex University. I have previously served as a school governor as a teacher, parent and as a headteacher.

Since 2021, I have been working as an independent education consultant, with schools and academy trusts across the country, from nursery to sixth form, including special schools. I provide schools with support in developing leadership, inspection preparation and curriculum development. I am also a School Improvement Partner for a number of the schools that I work with.

I am a member of the Education Committee.

Hoi Yee Roper

As a mother to three boys and proud Tiffin parent, I am deeply invested in the education and development of young minds. From a personal perspective, I have seen the value and power of education. My parents emigrated from Hong Kong to work in the NHS and made great sacrifices to ensure my sister and I received the best education available. I attended Sir William Perkins’ School on a bursary and read law at Birmingham University.

Since qualifying as a solicitor, I have worked on complex commercial disputes as a litigator and author of legal guidance. I am currently Senior Counsel in the Dispute Resolution team at Farrer & Co. I am based in Surbiton where I live with my husband, sons and two cats.

As a governor, I am pleased to bring my experience as both a parent and lawyer to support the continued success of the school.

I am a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Dr Baljit K. Thatti

Dr Baljit K. Thatti is an experienced academic leader and higher education educator, bringing strong strategic insight and a deep commitment to widening participation. As a first-generation entrant to higher education, she holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Science and a PhD in Materials Chemistry and is a strong advocate for creating meaningful educational opportunities for all.

In her role as Head of the Department of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Sciences and Associate Professor at Kingston University, Dr Thatti has extensive experience in academic leadership, curriculum development and oversight, quality assurance, and the mentoring of both staff and students. She is passionate about supporting young people to realise their full potential, a commitment reflected in her delivery of high-profile keynote lectures for the Royal Institution and the Salters Institute.

Dr Thatti is well placed to offer constructive challenge, professional expertise, and a strong values-driven perspective to a governing body, contributing to the promotion of high standards, inclusivity, and student wellbeing.

Parent Governors

Pete Church - Co Vice Chair

Having grown up in New Malden, I attended Tiffin between 1982 and 1988 and then went on to Cambridge to study Engineering Science, specialising in manufacturing engineering and management. On leaving Cambridge, I moved into management consultancy working in a wide range of sectors, on topics ranging across commercial strategy, mergers and acquisitions, financial planning, and turnaround. Along the way I have founded a data analytics business staffed across three continents and am now working as an independent business advisor. I have been based in Twickenham for the last 25 years and have two sons, both currently at Tiffin. I am a firm believer that the excellent education, extra-curricular activities, and independence that Tiffin grants to its pupils is the foundation for great people, whatever career path they choose. I feel lucky that I have benefitted from it and that my sons are able to too. As parent governor I am therefore committed to upholding this ethos for present and future pupils.

I am Co Vice chair of the Governing Board and a member of the Resources Committee.

Frances Davies

I was educated at Bath High school for Girls GDST, before reading Medicine at Nottingham University. I then moved to the London area in 1999, and have specialised in Clinical Microbiology, with a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Imperial College, London. I am a fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Pathologists and work as a full time clinical academic NHS Consultant. I am the proud parent of a Tiffin pupil and have been impressed by the huge range and quality of academic and co-curricular opportunities available to him at Tiffin. I strongly believe that education is the key to success in life and that as well as academic excellence, access to additional sporting and creative arts opportunities helps nurture well rounded individuals. You’ll regularly find me in the audience at school concerts or supporting my son at sporting events, and supporting the TPA in a variety of activities.

I am a link governor for SEND and safeguarding.

Clerk to the Governors

Ruth Scott

Company Secretary

Sharon Gordon-Roberts

 

Governor Diversity Information

The Governors at Tiffin believe it is important that Boards reflect the diversity of the school communities they serve.  Diverse Boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people.

The Governors have recently collected data on the diversity of the Board and are using that data to inform their recruitment and training needs and to ensure there is a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision making.

Gender Identity of Governors
Gender
Number
Female 4
Male 8
Other Gender Identity 0
Age of Governors
Age
Number
40-49 4
50-59 3
60-75 3
75+ 2
Ethnicity of Governors

 

Ethnicity
Number
Asian – British 1
Asian – Chinese 1
Asian – Other 1
White – British 8
White – Other 1

 

Find Out More

Scheme of Governance

Academy Status

 

Important Documents

Details of Governors’ relevant business and pecuniary interestsDetails of Governors’ meeting attendanceTimetable of meetings for the current academic yearTerms of office and committee membership

Stay Up to Date

Head’s Newsletter – Friday 3rd July 2026

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From the Director of Literacy and Oracy

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Year 8 Student Commended in Oxford Classical Meme Competition

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Year 8 Shine at the London Youth Games Dance Competition

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Jack Petchey Achievement Awards 

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KS3 Cast and Crew Shine in Wind in the Willows

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