Meet the Governors

Chair of Curriculum and Standards Committee

Dawn has worked in the education sector for over 25 years, 15 years at a senior leadership level. She has worked in the UK and internationally, recently returning from a two-year project working with headteachers in South East Asia.

Dawn is passionate about inclusion and has a wealth of experience in providing the very best educational opportunities and outcomes for all. She is also a certified project manager.

Dawn Spence PGCE, MA, NPQH, PMP

James has been a local authority governor at Ysgol Clywedog since 2015. He has also had many years of experience as a governor of primary schools, notably Minera VA Church in Wales primary school, one of Ysgol Clywedog’s feeder primary schools, where he was a foundation governor from 2009 until 2022 and for some years chair of governors there too.

He has also previously served on Wrexham SACRE (statutory advisory committee on religious education). Until his retirement in 2022 he was a parish priest in the Church in Wales, serving most recently in Minera, Coedpoeth and Bwlchgwyn.

Rev James Harris BA, BD, MPhil

Rhian is an LA appointed Governor, she has been a Governor since 2022. Rhian is a Social Worker and has worked within Wrexham children social care since 2010, she is the Senior Head of Service for Children Social Care.
Rhian is a practice teacher for student social workers. Rhian is passionate about the rights of children and ensuring that they their voices are at the heart of provisions.

Jonathan works in corporate IT for a global energy company. He has over 25 years of management experience, leading departments with more than 200 people and annual budgets over $20 million.
Professionally certified as a project manager he is also trained in process improvement, interviewing, coaching and mentoring and value assurance audits.
Jonathan has two children as Clywedog with a third to join in the September intake.

Jonathan Cullender - PMP PMI-ACP GWCPM

Liz is a primary school teacher in Wrexham. She has been teaching for 17 years.
Liz taught 6th grade in Salt Lake City, Utah for three years before returning to Wrexham to bring her son up in Wales.

Liz is an ex pupil of Clywedog and her son is now a pupil.

Lauren's current role in Ysgol Clywedog is our ALN and Safeguarding Administrator, she also works closely with the Pastoral team and other stakeholders such as Alternative provision and local colleges.

She has worked within the Education sector for 10 years. She began working within Education rising from a L1 Teaching Assistant to a HLTA position.

Lauren is a mum of 2, with many years of Governor experience.
She was previously a staff governor at Hafod Y Wern and a Parent governor at Ysgol Rhosymedre. Lauren is also currently on the parent panel at Ysgol Rhiwabon where her children currently attend.

Nicholas has been the Head of Geography at Ysgol Clywedog since 2019. Prior to this he taught at Castell Alun. Before becoming a teacher, Nicholas spent 15 years in industry working for Tarmac (Anglo American), Michelin Tyres Plc, Jaguar Land Rover and the 'Britain is Great' Campaign. He has worked in the USA, Canada, Middle East and across Europe.

Since joining Ysgol Clywedog, Nicholas has overseen the rapid increase in the uptake of Geography at GCSE, introduced the new Level 2 Diploma in Horticulture for KS4 and started the award winning Eco-taskforce and Bee Team.

Nicholas Brown BSc (Dual Hons), PGDip Env, PGDL, PGDE, MA

Rebekah is a current teacher of English at Ysgol Clywedog and NASUWT union representative, who also represents Wrexham teachers at a local level. She is keen to help create a teaching and learning environment where both students and teachers thrive and are supported to develop themselves individually and as part of the school community.

Rebekah has worked in education for a decade and has brought her passion for literacy, clear communication and equitable learning opportunities from her background in SEBD schools and work with the Plain English Campaign.

Rebekah Griffiths BA (Hons), PGCE, DipLM

Alicia has worked in the education sector for twenty years, with roles in Higher Education, Further Education and Adult Learning.
She is currently Digital Learning Manager at a local University, where she leads on the embedding and promotion of digital learning and digital skills across the institution.
A Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Alicia is a core member of the University’s Academic Development Team, which recently won an Advance HE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

Alicia has served as a community governor at Ysgol Clywedog since 2020 and is a former pupil of the school.

Alicia Owen PGCE, MA, MSC, FHEA

Paula is an education researcher whose work focuses on employability and social mobility. She is passionate about developing high-quality, career-connected learning which meets the needs of the local and regional economy and supports young people to achieve their potential.
Paula has worked across North Wales' further education sector for over 25 years and is a community governor at Ysgol Clywedog. Throughout her career, she has achieved teaching excellence awards and led dynamic college teams to achieve excellent inspection outcomes that remain sector-leading across the Welsh Further Education sector.

Paula Wood PGCE, MA.

My name is Ruth Coates & I have been a Governor for approximately ten years, since my children left Year 11 in Ysgol Clywedog.
I currently work part-time as a Education Support worker in local Wrexham/ Shropshire schools & I live just over the Welsh border, near Oswestry.

Vanessa has worked in human resources for over 30 years, with HR roles in manufacturing, retail and the public sector. She has held senior HR positions in the Further Education Sector since 2009 and during this time she has supported three successful college mergers.
Vanessa recently became a part-time Lecturer on the CIPD professional programmes and the applied degree programmes for Coleg Cambria and she does this alongside her independent work as a HR Consultant to education providers and corporate clients.
Vanessa is a Community Governor and she grew up in Wrexham and has lived locally for most of her adult life.

Vanessa Rhodes Chartered Fellow CIPD BA(Hons)