Mr R Hubble

Chair

I have worked in finance in the City of London for the past 29 years, currently as a Portfolio Manager, after graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry. All three of my daughters attended TGS.  I have lived in the Tonbridge area for the past 36 years. I have always had a strong interest in education and have been actively involved in graduate selection and recruitment over the past 20 years. I was elected as a Parent Governor in February 2002 and I am currently Chairman of Governors and serve on the Finance & General Purposes and Personnel Committees. 

Mr Mark Heaton

Vice-Chair

Although originally from Yorkshire, I have lived in Kent for over 20 years. I am Kent County Council’s appointed Governor and served for 4 years as Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. I worked for HSBC in various roles until 2008 and over the last 25 years have worked in many areas of finance including a 3-year secondment in Hong Kong. I have now set up and run the European operation of a US Training Company specialising in Risk Management within the Financial Services arena. I  have been interested in education for many years and  have also been Vice Chairman of Governors of two primary schools in Bromley.  I am married with 2 children, Amelia (17) and Callum (14) and live in Hadlow. My interests are sport in general although, owing to middle age, active sport is now restricted to golf, tennis and table tennis – theatre and gardening.

Dr M Portal

Chair of Curriculum Committee

I work in the London Borough of Newham and am responsible for standards in the 13 Newham secondary schools. I am now a Partnership Governor, Chairman of the Curriculum Committee and a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee, having been a Parent Governor while my elder daughter (now working in publishing in London) was at TGS. I also have a son working in South Africa and a second daughter aged 19. After six years as a teacher of French, I went into educational research, working at the National Foundation for Educational Research on a project to determine the foreign language attainment of 13 year-olds. I then worked for the University of London Examinations Board in various assessment and testing roles and subsequently moved to consultancy work in examinations and assessment, working for Edexcel. I have recently completed a PhD in the Philosophy of Education, at the London University Institute of Education and an MBA with the Open University.

Michael Joyner

I was elected as a Community Governor in 2008 and now serve on the Finance and General Purposes Committee.  Married with three children I am now in my sixth year of association with TGS with daughters in Years 9 and 12.  Beyond TGS my family has other connections with Tonbridge; my wife runs a business and my son attends school in the town. Following university my career has been based in the City, in the banking industry. Outside work my interests include golf, cricket, cycling and running as well as cheering from the sidelines as my children participate in various sports.

During 2007/8 I became more closely involved with TGS by becoming a parent volunteer member of the Campaign Board for the Gift for Learning Campaign. I gained a much closer insight into the way that the school operates. The Campaign Board helped engage with the school community which combined to raise a significant sum towards the new school building which the school has deserved for so long.

André Wessels

My wife and I immigrated to the United Kingdom from South Africa in 1999 and have lived in Tonbridge and the surrounding area for all but one year. All five of our children were born at the local hospital.  The two boys attend a local day nursery school and our three girls are at St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School. I work as a commercial lawyer for an american pharmaceutical company and my wife is the finance controller for EMEA of an international IT company. I am currently the chairman of the Tonbridge Swimming Club and have a very keen interest in sport and swim, play golf, tennis and squash socially, time permitting. I also like to try my hand at fly-fishing.

I have long felt the need to give something back to the community which has welcomed us and of which we now form an integral part. I accordingly volunteered to become a school governor and was appointed in March 2009 as a Community Governor to TGS. I chose TGS for its ethos of excellence in education and learning, principles I encountered and followed throughout my own primary, secondary and tertiary education. As a member of the Finance and General Purposes as well as the Curriculum Committee of the Governing Body I hope to provide a valuable contribution to the future of TGS.

Mark Davis

I have lived in Hildenborough and Tonbridge all my life, currently in the Old Hadlow Road with my wife, Bridget, and two children. After school at Judd, I qualified as a solicitor, training at Warners in Tonbridge. After a short spell in London, I returned to Warners to become a partner in 1988. I specialise in commercial property work and am now in Warners’ Sevenoaks office. I am a councillor on Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, representing the Cage Green ward in Tonbridge. When time allows I enjoy long-distance walking, genealogy, watching cricket and playing hockey and am Treasurer to Tonbridge Black Knights Hockey Club.

Mr Garry Owen

I joined TGS in 2003 as part of the Registered Teachers Programme, working within the ICT department. As part of this programme I completed a BA (Hons) Education degree. I am now Subject Leader, ICT and a Sixth Form Tutor. Before taking up career in teaching I was a graphic designer working in the avionics industry. I was elected as a teacher governor in 2009. I am married with one son who has just graduated from University. I live in Maidstone and my outside interests include cycling, skiing and music.

Mrs A Yardley

I am a Parent Governor at TGS. Since arriving at TGS I have been on the PTA Committee and have been involved in many of the social and fund raising events. I am keen to encourage a sense of community in the school and among parents. Having graduated from Sussex University with an English degree I studied French at the Sorbonne in Paris and spent many months in Italy. I trained in television production at Granada TV in Manchester and then became Head of Post Production at The Moving Picture Company. Having set up the London office of Oxford Scientific Films I also worked  as a freelance producer, forming my own production company in 1988 to produce children’s programmes and corporate films. I have six children, three of whom are or have been at TGS. I support and raise funds for The Children’s Society and Action Aid. I have an olive grove in Umbria from which I produce Extra Virgin Olive Oil. My interests are music, Italy, painting, walking and literature.