Governors at a Glance

The Governors (also known as Directors or Trustees) are held to account in all matters relating to the school.  Their responsibility covers not only the education and welfare of all the children but also the upkeep of the building and grounds, as well as all financial dealings within the school and between the DfE and the school.

Term of office for all Governors is 4 years.

The following have served as Governors during the past 12 months.

Name	Date of appointment (or re-appointment)	Appointed by	Attendance at meetings in 2024/2025	Current Areas of Responsibility
Mike Lovett (Chair)	9th December 2024	Governors	5/5	Safeguarding, Complaints, HT Performance
Sarah Wright (Vice Chair)	23rd October 2023	Parents	5/6	Curriculum, Governor Training & Development, Opal
Gilly Stray	1 January 2018	Ex-officio (Head)	5/6	Head Teacher
Paula Willoughby	7 July 2023	Members	6/6	Safer Recruitment, Exclusions, Literacy, HT Performance.
Elizabeth (Lizzi) Hodgkinson	7 September 2022 to 6th July 2026 (stepped down)	Governors	6/6	N/A
Robert Crick	19 October 2022 to 6th July 2026 (stepped down)	Parents	4/6	N/A
Bernadette O’Sullivan	20 September 2023	Staff	5/6	Teacher, Staff Wellbeing
Gavin Baylis	10th October 2024	Parents	6/6	Environment / Climate Change
Elisabeth Phillips	10th October 2024	Parents	5/6	Wraparound Care, Curriculum, Marketing
Gemma Collins	9th December 2024	Staff	5/5	Teacher
Ian Gregory	9th December 2024	Governors	4/5	Health & Safety, Premises
Kristian Moseley	20th January 2025	Members	5/5	Finance
Sean Trend	28 June 2022 to 6th October 2025 (Stepped down)	Governors	3/6	N/A

Governor Profiles

The Members of Alban City Free School Ltd are the individuals who designed and developed the school plan, and were the original signatories of the Memorandum of Association, plus additional members who have been appointed subsequently.  The role of the Members is to oversee the progress of the work of the school.  The Members receive key documents, are free to attend Governing Body meetings as observers and ask questions, but have no voting rights on the Governing Body.   The following have served as Members over the last 12 months:

Mike Lovett

Chair of Governors

I trained as a teacher at Wall Hall College of Education, Aldenham, and was a teacher and Deputy Headteacher in and around Watford. I was then Head Teacher of two Hertfordshire primary schools.

After working with parents, staff, governors and the Local Authority to raise standards at those schools, I was an Associate Head of a challenging school in South London and then Head of a similarly challenging school in North London. I also led a school in Essex and another, with a Children and Family Centre, in Sutton.

After I retired for the third time, my wife and I moved to St Albans. As two of our grandchildren attend Alban City School, I was very pleased when the opportunity to join the governing body came up and am enjoying being part of the Alban City School community.

I was appointed Chair of Governors in October 2025.

Date of appointment: 20th October 2025

Sarah Wright

Vice Chair of Governors / Parent Governor

I was delighted to be elected as a Parent Governor in October 2023, and have two girls who thoroughly enjoy being at Alban City School.

My background is in Leadership, Team and Organisational Development, and I feel privileged to have spent the majority of my career doing this in High Performance Sport. For over 18 years, I worked with Olympic and Paralympic Sports to design and deliver programmes to develop World Class Leaders and Head Coaches, as well as supporting Sports to create High Performance Teams and Cultures. My ambition is to create sustainable success and have worked with Senior Leadership Teams to ensure Sports had the right structures, people and skills to deliver their strategy and ambitions across multiple Olympic Games.

More recently I was after a new challenge, and I am currently transferring the lessons learnt from Sport into the business world, where I work for a consultancy firm who have a number of global and UK based clients.

My reason for wanting to become a Governor is because I am passionate about creating positive environments where children can learn, develop and belong. We love Alban City School and its values and ethos and I hope the skills and experiences I have can help to continue to drive and shape the future of the school going forward.

Date of appointment: 24th October 2024

Gilly Stray

Headteacher

I am very proud to be the Headteacher at Alban City School. I joined the school as Headteacher in January 2018, and I feel very fortunate to lead such a thriving and supportive school community.  My degree is in the performing arts, and I am committed to ensuring we offer a broad, balanced and diverse curriculum at Alban City, where every child can flourish, feel happy and supported, and achieve their very best during their time with us.

Date of appointment: 1 January 2018

Paula Willoughby

Governor

My background is in law and I have been a solicitor for over 20 years. My current role is in a bank and so I have experience working in a highly regulated environment and alongside my usual day-to-day job, I sit on various committees which are responsible for the governance of specific areas within the Bank. From this experience I believe that I have the skills to support the Governing Body and whole school community.

I have been a Governor at Alban City School since 2019 and Chair of Governors from Autumn 2021 to Autumn 2025. I chose to apply to Alban City School to become a Governor because of the school’s ethos and aims – the children, their happiness, well-being and high achievement really are at the heartbeat of the school. It is a privilege to be able to play a part in ensuring the continued success of this great school.

I am a mum to two school age children; love cooking and baking and taking our dog Daisy for long walks in the countryside. I am also a Swim England qualified Level 1 Judge for competitive swimming.

Date of appointment: 29th November 2021 

Bernadette O'Sullivan

Staff Governor

I am delighted to be the staff representative for our governing board. I look forward to learning more about the running of the school and contributing to its further development. I joined Alban City School in 2018 as a PPA teacher, which meant I was fortunate to teach in all the year groups and experience the different stages of children’s social, emotional and educational development. Since September 2020, I have been one of the class teachers in Year 1.

In the past, I have worked in banking and finance. I started my career in teaching as a teaching assistant, taking a degree later in life to become a teacher.

Gavin Bayliss

Parent Governor

I work for the UK civil service: currently the energy department, working to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. Earlier in my career I worked for a children’s mental health charity, in several economics jobs, and three English teaching jobs (mostly English as a foreign language). I have degrees in politics and economics.

One of my sons is at Alban City School, the other recently finished his seven years and moved to secondary.

Outside work and parenting, I cycle and play the tuba in St Albans Symphony Orchestra.

Elisabeth Phillips

Parent Governor

I am a fundraising leader by profession and have worked closely with the Directors and Governors of some notable UK and International schools including Worth School and the American School in Barcelona. My work included the development of funding strategies to generate restricted and unrestricted income, including capital appeals.

I recently ended a 3-year term as a Trustee of a children’s early intervention charity, Chance UK. During my term they navigated a period of change, implementing a restructure of their service delivery model to allow them to scale. I found the experience incredibly rewarding, hence why I have joined the board at Alban City School where I hope to add value on a personal and professional level.

Gemma Collins

Staff Governor

I am excited to represent the staff on the governing board at Alban City School and look forward to learning more about and contributing to the inner workings of our fantastic school community.

I joined ACS in 2020 as a Year 6 teacher.  Prior to teaching, with a degree in Management and Spanish, I headed to Spain where I worked for a number of years selling businesses; both leasehold and freehold in the Balearic and Canary Islands.  I returned to the UK to complete my PGCE in primary education, specialising in Modern Foreign Languages and have been teaching from Year 2 to Year 6 ever since.

Ian Gregory

Co-Opted Governor

I worked in the UK Civil Service for over 30 years, in a variety of roles advising Ministers on energy policy, local economic growth, competition and consumer law, and public spending.  My last role before retiring was as a Senior Civil Servant running the Governance system for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.  For the last four years I have been a Governor at the Sele School in Hertford.   I believe my professional and voluntary experience provide me with the skills and expertise to support Alban City School’s Governing Body and wider community.

I joined the Board in December 2024.  I applied to be a Governor because I had already heard great things about the school from my daughter, who worked there as a TA, and also because it’s very local to me.

I have lived in St Albans for 30 years, and my wife and other daughter both teach in schools in the town.  I like cycling, history and nature, supporting Watercress Wildlife just off the Alban Way, and Heartwood Forest as a Woodland Trust member.  I am also, for my sins, a proud supporter of Everton F.C.!

Kristian Moseley

Governor

I became a governor in January 2025 and am excited to bring my skills and passion to the Governing Body. I currently work for Lloyds Banking Group, where I have held a variety of roles across different Retail Banking areas, giving me valuable experience in governance, strategy, finance and leadership.

Having grown up and attended school in St Albans, I feel a strong connection to the local community and now live here with my wife and son. This is my first governor role, and I look forward to contributing to the continued success of the school by drawing on my professional experience and personal values.

I am particularly passionate about sport and mathematics, and I believe in the vital role they play in children’s development—especially in building confidence and fostering critical thinking.

It is a privilege to join the Governing Body, and I look forward to supporting the school in delivering outstanding opportunities for every child.

Outside of my work and governor responsibilities, I enjoy spending time with my family, playing golf and following Watford FC.

Declarations of Interest

You will find a list of Governors and their Declarations of Interest in the PDF below.

Declarations of Interest

Schedule of Delegation

RC Terms of Reference

Schedule of Delegation