Governance
Chair of Governors, Mr Philip Wilson, can be contacted at the following address:
Clerk to the Governors
New Hall School
The Avenue
Boreham
Chelmsford
Essex CM3 3HS
Mr Philip Wilson
Chair of Governors
Educated at Caterham School and Oxford Polytechnic, Mr Wilson spent ten years in commerce, export finance and then capital market instrument issuances. In 2001, he moved into public affairs and politics in a professional capacity at Essex County Council. Mr Wilson was councillor for Boreham & The Leighs Ward on Chelmsford Borough Council from 2003 to 2019. He held a variety of senior positions including Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Vice Chairman of Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Chairman of Licensing & Regulatory and Deputy Mayor 2015/16. Married, with two children, both of whom are educated locally, Mr Wilson was Vice Chair of Governors at Our Lady Immaculate RC Primary Academy, Chelmsford. He is Head of Operations for a national farming welfare charity, the Farming Community Network.
Mrs Janis Croom
Link Governor for NHVS, Director of NHMAT
Born in Orpington, Kent, Mrs Croom was educated at Bromley High School GDST and at the University of Bristol, where she studied Mathematics with Physics. On graduation, she moved to Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, to train as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in Birmingham, qualifying in 1976, and working as a self-employed accountant from 1979-2000. She was a non-executive director of Community and Mental Health Services NHS Trust in Worcestershire from 1993-2000. Mrs Croom joined New Hall School as Finance Bursar in April 2000, retiring as Finance Director in December 2015. She continued as New Hall Multi Academy Trust Manager until January 2018. Mrs Croom is married with two adult children and three grandchildren, who live in London.
Mr Malcolm Day
Chair of Finance & General Purposes Committee, Link Governor for Health & Safety & NHMAT
Mr Day was educated at Loyola Preparatory School, Buckhurst Hill, Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green, and the University of Manchester. He has worked as a trader in financial markets for more than 35 years, including two stints located in the Middle East. He is currently Head of Central Trade Surveillance for Bank of America. Mr Day is an active mentor and is a passionate advocate of education. Mr and Mrs Day are parents to three New Hall alumni; one of whom studied PPE at the University of Warwick, the second at the University of Exeter, and the third History at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Mrs Katherine Jeffrey
Executive Head & Accounting Officer Of New Hall Multi-Academy Trust
Jeffrey has been Principal & Governor of New Hall School, since 2001. She read Politics, Philosophy & Economics at the University of Oxford and Theology at the University of Maynooth. She then went on to undertake a PGCE, specialising in RE & Mathematics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, a Masters degree in Educational Management, including in Special Educational Needs & Disabilities, with the Open University, followed by the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH).
In 2005, Mrs Jeffrey took a leading role in setting up New Hall School Trust, working to continue the legacy of the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre, by expanding New Hall to become became a large, ‘diamond model’ school from 2006. Under her leadership, the School opened a Nursery (ages 9 months to 4 years) in 2019. In 2012, Mrs Jeffrey was a founding member of New Hall Multi Academy Trust.
Her career appointments include, Teacher of RE & Faith Development at St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury; Head of RE at Woldingham School; and Deputy Head at The Marist School, Ascot. She was an A Level examiner in Christian Theology for a number of years and a Governor at St Mary’s School, Hampstead (2004-2009). She is a Director of the Catholic international weekly magazine, The Tablet (2015–).
Mrs Jeffrey is a member of: the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ); the Douai Society & Foundation (2019-2022); the Heads’ Conference (HMC); the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference (CISC); the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA); and the Independent Schools Association (ISA). She is married with four children; three former and one current New Hall School student.
Mrs Jeffrey is a member of: the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ); the Douai Society & Foundation (2019-2022); the Heads’ Conference (HMC); the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference (CISC); the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA); and the Independent Schools Association (ISA). She is married with four children; three former and one current New Hall School student.
Mrs Yogi Sutton
Link Governor for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Mrs Sutton is a retired teacher having held several posts in a RC secondary school. She was a member of the Labour Party in South Africa working against the then apartheid regime, volunteering as secretary to Stephen Biko. She is a founder member of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) in England and Wales, being appointed as the second Chair, serving for six years then as immediate past Chair for another six years, before returning as Chair in 2013. Mrs Sutton is a founder member of The Women@thewell project in Kings Cross, London. She is a volunteer at the Justice and Peace Commission in the Southwark Diocese, is on the Campaigns Committee for CAFOD and is a catechist in both Corpus Christi, Brixton, and Holy Rosary, Stockwell. She is a member of the parish Finance & Buildings Committees. Mrs Sutton has held the posts of Deputy President South, Deputy National President and National President of the National Board of Catholic Women, an advisory body to the Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales. She is a canon lawyer and a voluntary advocate in the Southwark Metropolitan Tribunal. She was recognised as ‘Catholic Woman of the Year’ and was the first black woman to receive the Campion Medal during the Jesuit 500th anniversary celebrations in Britain. South African of Indian descent, Mrs Sutton is married with two adult children, both married, and two grandchildren.
Mrs Agnes Williams
Link Governor for Chaplaincy and Preparatory Divisions, Member of NHMAT
Miss Williams was born in Llandudno, North Wales and educated at Loreto College and Saint Agnes’ School, graduating in 1976. She has 38 years’ experience in the field of education, having taught in co-educational schools, both large and small. Miss Williams had the privilege of helping to set up a brand new Catholic comprehensive school in Milton Keynes in 1988. She was Headmistress of Thornton College, Convent of Jesus and Mary, an independent day & boarding school for girls, from 1997-2015.
Mrs Pauline Wilson
Link Governor for Safeguarding and Member of NHMAT
Mrs Wilson has been Head of Ursuline Preparatory School, since 1994. She was previously Headteacher of Mayesbrook Senior School, Deputy Headteacher of Sydney Russell School, a Head of Creative Arts, and a Teacher of Mathematics. Mrs Wilson is a mentor for Catholic independent school headteachers and a GCSE and KS2 examiner. She is an active member of the Catholic church. She is married with two children; one of whom is an executive at BBC and the other a member of a law college in the USA.