Governors - Mabel Prichard School Oxfordshire

Chair of Governors – Damian Haywood

I am the Operational Lead for clinical trials in SITU in NDS at the University of Oxford. My volunteering work includes being a governor at Mabel Prichard School, and Treasurer of the Cri du Chat Syndrome Support Group UK.

I am also the Labour Party candidate for Iffley Fields and St. Mary’s in the upcoming County Council by election.

Headteacher – Lucy Wawrzyniak

Lucy is the Executive Head Teacher of Mabel Prichard School. She trained as a secondary school English teacher before moving on to support the education of Children We Care For, when she led the Virtual School for Looked After Children in Oxfordshire, during which time she also had a visiting Practitioner Fellowship at Oxford University sharing good practice in education for children we care for. Before joining Mabel Prichard as Head Teacher in September 2017, Lucy was Deputy Head Teacher at John Watson School. Since 2004 Lucy has taught the Master of Teaching at the Institute of Education, University College London and has been an assessor on the Master of Learning and Teaching at Oxford University. She has a busy family life with four children. Her claim to fame is supporting The Wurzels and Scouting for Girls in a band she sang in for 10 years and she also enjoys running and holds a Guinness World Record for taking part in the largest mass virtual event, when she ran the Virtual London Marathon in October 2019.

Co-opted Governor – Jonathan Fisher (Link governor for Key Stage 3)

I have been a social worker since 1978 and have worked in a variety of children related areas including managing Sycamore Resource centre, Banbury, (supporting disabled children and their families). I was head of service for Looked After Children in Hertfordshire until 2011 when I left to become a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, where I taught social work students. I am retired but remain active in children’s services as a member of the adoption panel, safeguarding trainer and trustee with One-Eighty.

Parent Governor – Paul Litherland (Link governor for 14 – 19)

I have been a Governor since the start of 2022, I have spent my entire adult working life in children’s publishing, my last role was with Oxford University Press which I left in 2019 to spend more time with our son Jacob.

Jacob has been at Mabel Prichard since he was 2, he is now 6. He has a rare genetic condition and learning difficulties which means he cannot talk or walk, but he is very mobile and is a very happy child who loves being at school.

I firmly believe in putting children first and taking steps to ensure they receive a learning and development programme suited to their needs.

My years of parenting experience in bringing up two children to adulthood and Jacob means I can be empathetic, incisive, passionate and trusted in this role.

I want Mabel P to thrive in teaching and supporting pupils and parents/carers. So I am very keen to be involved in the inner workings of ensuring a curriculum is maintained and improved so that all pupils can be given the best opportunities as they progress through the school and beyond into the outside world.