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Governors

Mrs Victoria Stanford

Clerk to the Governing Body

All Governors are volunteers and serve a 4 year term, after which they are eligible to stand for re-election. With the exception of our Headteacher, the Chaplain and Deputy Ranger; who remain Governors whilst they hold these posts. Fortunately, quite a few Governors remain on the Governing Body for a number of years with most having prior connections to the school, so their experience is invaluable in helping run our school.  We are privileged that the Chaplain provides us with his unique and very special pastoral care and guidance.

Ms Vivien Benn

Chair of Governors

Foundation Governor
Full Voting Rights
Re-appointed in May 2017

Vivien lives with her husband in Windsor Great Park and has successfully owned the Post Office and General Store business for the last 20 years. Prior to this she was a Marketing Manager for an International Logistics company. Her three children attended the Royal School for a decade. Within this time Vivien was an active member of the PTA and her husband was Treasurer and Chairman for many years.

In 2013 Vivien successfully completed the NCSL Chairs Development Programme. The programme spanned an academic year split in to modules and face to face interactive days. She is dedicated to developing her knowledge for the strategic development of the school and participates regularly in Local Authority and Diocese training. She is passionate about her role as Safeguarding governor and keen to fulfill all the requirements of this demanding role.

Ms Camilla Seear

Foundation Governor

Full Voting Rights
Appointed Foundation Governor September 2017
Previously RBWM Governor
Reappointed September 2021

Former pupil with three siblings who all attended the school, was brought up in Englefield Green and has always lived locally. She became a governor in 2007 has been vice chair since 2010. She has also been a member of the Royal School Old Scholars Association Committee since 2000.

Camilla studied Business Studies at university before commencing a career in finance most recently as a Digital Project Manager having worked in Bristol, Reading, Southampton and London. Camilla is married and has one son.

Mr Paul Sedgwick

Ex-Officio Foundation Governor whilst in post

Full Voting Rights
Appointed September 2015

Paul Sedgwick, a Chartered Surveyor, joined The Crown Estate in 2014, initially as Deputy Ranger at Windsor, but since April 2021 with additional responsibility as Managing Director of The Crown Estate’s wider Rural portfolio.
As Deputy Ranger of the Windsor Estate, Paul reports to The Ranger of The Great Park and oversees over 16,000 acres, including forestry, horticulture, tourism, residential and commercial property activities and manages a team of 200 staff. Paul is also a Trustee of The Prince Philip Trust Fund.
Paul also oversees the diverse Rural portfolio, comprised of 180,000 acres, with 125,000 acres of farmland across England, and 55,000 acres of Upland and Commons across Wales and Cumbria.
Paul was previously a Partner with Strutt and Parker. He has managed the Duke of Wellington’s Stratfield Saye Estate and Lord Iliffe’s Estate at Yattendon.
Paul has also been part of the teams to have been awarded the highly prestigious RASE Bledisloe Gold Medal on the Windsor Estate in 2022 and the Yattendon Estate in 2013 for a range of successful diversification projects and a commitment to improving the rural environment.
Paul is a Non-Executive Director of the Duke of Wellington’s Stratfield Saye Estate.

Canon Martin Poll

Ex-Officio Foundation Governor whilst in post

Full Voting Rights
Appointed October 2012

Martin was born in Enfield in 1961 and educated at Edmonton County School before further studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury where he read English and Theology. He then prepared for the priesthood at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxford. Served a curacy at John Keble Church, Mill Hill before joining the Royal Navy in 1990 where he served as a Chaplain at training establishments on shore, deploying with the Naval Air Squadrons and Royal Marines in the former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland and serving in the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious and Invincible. Promoted to Archdeacon for the Royal Navy in 2010 and then moved to Windsor in 2012 as Canon Chaplain to St George’s Chapel Windsor and serving as the Chaplain of All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park. He was appointed Domestic Chaplain to The Queen in June 2013 and is now Domestic Chaplain to The King. Martin is a trustee of the Association of Royal Naval Officers, he is Vice Chair of Governors at St. George's School Windsor Castle and is a trustee of the Windsor Festival Martin married to Diana in 1984 and has two children, both of whom are sadly too old to attend the Royal School!

Mrs Natasha Paine

RBWM Link Governor

Full Voting Rights
Appointed February 2016 as a Parent Governor.
Appointed September 2019 as the RBWM Link Governor

Natasha was born in Bedfordshire where she lived there for all her childhood. After completing college she joined Harrods as a Retail Trainee, working there for 5 years in various roles, her last being Buyer for Perfumery and Cosmetics. She left Harrods to work for Yves Saint Laurent Cosmetics.

She left employment to take up motherhood in 2003 and due to her husband’s job they moved to Dubai then Singapore. Once returning to England her 3 children have attended The Royal School.

During her time at The Royal School she joined the Governors in 2015, and while her children attended the school was on the committee for the PTA and Old Scholars

Mrs Danielle Thornton

Foundation Governor

Full Voting Rights.
Appointed September 2019

Danielle is a teacher, currently working for Slough Virtual School. She is the Secondary Lead, ensuring that the young people who are in care are supported to achieve the best educational outcomes by the time the leave school. She has extensive experience with Safeguarding and Child Protection from an educational point of view. Danielle is also a Magistrate within the Family Court. Her links to The Royal School go back 40+ years, when Danielle and her siblings were pupils here. Whilst a pupil at the school, Danielle's parents were heavily involved in school life and her father, Peter Reddy, was the first parent governor and chairman of the PTA. Latterly he was a foundation governor, until 2019. Danielle feels very privileged to be able to be a part of The Royal School’s governing body. She is hoping to use some of her expertise in her current job and her links to the school to support wherever possible.

Mrs Carole Aspden

Foundation Governor

Full voting rights
Appointed September 2020

My background spans 41 years of working in Finance, HR, Health Management and latterly part of a health research group at Oxford University. With 2 children and a husband who served for 30 years in the Royal Navy, I have had to balance my working life with family needs so we have had to be resilient and adaptable, and have learned to move house often (far too often!) and integrate quickly into new environments.

Whilst living in the Portsmouth area I was an elected Parent Governor in 2000 at the Church of England Primary School the children attended and became a Foundation Governor in 2013 at another Portsmouth Primary School. I was also part of a small team running the Portsmouth Cathedral Youth Club whilst our children were at the age for attending.

The education environment offered to our children is critical in defining their future aspirations. I have a real interest in doing what I can to support local schools and as a member of the Windsor Great Park residential community, aim to do that by contributing as a school governor at The Royal School.

Dr Edmund Newell

Associate Member

Appointed September 2019

Edmund has been Principal of Cumberland Lodge since 2013. A priest in the Church of England, he was previously Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral and founding Director of the St Paul’s Institute, following this he was appointed as Sub-Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

Before ordination he was a Research Fellow in Economic History at Nuffield College, Oxford. His publications include (with John Reynolds) Ethics in Investment Banking and (with Sabina Alkire) What Can One Person?, a theological response to the Millennium Development Goals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Arts, and a contributor to Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2. His professional qualifications include BSc (Econ), MA, DPhil, Cert Theol

Edmund lives in the park with his wife, and two children.

Mrs Sarah Jones

Parent Governor

Mrs Holly Whitcombe

Parent Governor

Mrs Anne Terry

Staff Governor