The Governing Board is part of the Leadership and Management team at York Road. It has three core functions; planning the strategic direction of the school, overseeing its financial performance and making sure money is being well spent, and holding the head and senior leadership to account. The Governing Board does not run the school on a day to day basis, that is the job of the Head and their team.

The Full Governing Board meets at least three times per year, once per term. At York Road we also have two sub-committees, one that is responsible for Finances and Resources and the other Curriculum and Standards. They also meet at least once per term.

If you are interested in becoming a Governor at York Road or finding out more about what we do please get in touch: head@yorkroad.herts.sch.uk

Diane Frainer (DF) Head
Diane Szanto (DS) Staff Governor – Member of Standards & Curriculum Committee
Emily Cunningham (EC) Parent Governor – Member of Standards & Curriculum Committee
Lisa Morris (LM) Member of Finance and Resources Committee
Associate – Member of Finance and Resources Committee
Co-opted Governor  – Member of Standards & Curriculum Committee
Mike Scott Chair of Governors (Temporary)

Parent Governor  – Finance and Resources Committee Chair

Dan Ward Health & Safety Link Governor
Rich Tyler Shadow Safeguarding Link Governor
Toby Mills – Bishop Well Being Governor

Full Governing Body:

Full Governing Body Meeting dates and attendance records

York Road Governors Attendance Report
Date of meeting
Governor name Role 05/10/2022 06/12/2022 07/02/2022 09/05/2022 04/07/2022
Donna Brown Co-opted Yes Yes N/A N/A
Aanchal Kumar Parent Yes N/A N/A N/A
Haider Mawji Associate Absent Absent Absent Absent
Diane Frainer Head Yes Apologies Yes Yes
Diane Szanto Staff Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lisa Morris Co-opted Yes Yes Yes Yes
Shirley Parker Co-opted yes Apologies Apologies N/A
Sarah Denselow Co-opted Yes Yes Yes Yes
Michael Scott LA Yes Yes Yes Yes
Emily Cunningham Parent Apologies Yes Absent Yes
Richard  Tyler Parent N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes
Dan Ward Parent N/A N/A N/A yes yes
Carole Connelly Co-opted N/A N/A N/A Yes yes
FGB FGB (remote) FGB
Governor Name Governor Type 03 Oct 2022 07 Feb 2023 04 May 2023
Ms Carole Connelly Co-opted governor Y Y N
Mrs Emily Cunningham Parent governor Y Y Y
Sarah Denselow N N/A N/A
Mrs Diane Frainer Headteacher Y Y Y
Mr Haider Mawji NS N/A N/A
Mr Toby Mills-Bishop Co-opted governor Y N Y
Mrs Lisa Morris Co-opted governor Y Y Y
Mr Michael Scott Local Authority Governor Y N Y
Mrs Diane Szanto Staff governor Y Y Y
Richard Tyler Parent governor Y Y Y
Dan Ward Parent governor Y Y Y

Governors who have Also served in the last 12 months;

Carole Connelly Chair Stepped down: May 2023
Donna Brown Chair Stepped down:  April 2022

Meet Our Governors

Diane Frainer

I have been the Headteacher at York Road Nursery School since April 2015. I have been working in education since 1999 and have 3 children of my own.
I am passionate about early years and am working in support with the school Governors to take the school forward and continue to raise standards, with a particular emphasis on inclusion.

Mike Scott

  • · Chair of Governors (Temporary)
  • Parent Governor
  • · Finance and Resources Committee Chair

I am a chartered accountant, working in the finance industry for 17 years. For the last 3 years I have been the CFO of a fintech platform business sitting on the board of directors and chairing various committees. I live locally to York Road and got a real sense of community and purpose from the school. My daughter then attended the school from Jan 2021 and I knew what a special place it was. I wanted to do whatever I could to help

Diane Szanto

After my sisters attending the nursery back in the 60’s, myself doing a year of my N.N.E.B. training here and both my own children attending the nursery in the 90’s.
I was very pleased to join the nursery as a Nursery Nurse in 2000 and join the Governing body a few years later. It is interesting and rewarding being involved with the Governing body, both as an associate governor and a member of staff, and to be part of decision-making which continues to keep York Road Nursery School the progressive community nursery that it is.

Lisa Morris

I have been working in PR now for over 15 years, 11 of these running my own PR agency, BumpPR. The agency specialises in family brands and in this role, I manage a small team and a portfolio of 30 clients. We work with small start-ups and global giants, working with varying consumer and business media and social media platforms. When my son went to York Road, I knew instantly there was something special about the nursery school. I wanted to give a little something back to the community so when the opportunity came up to become a governor, I was delighted to take the role.

Emily Cunningham

· Parent Governor

· Member of Standards and Curriculum Committee

I am currently teaching Nursery and Reception Classes part time.

I have been a Primary School Teacher since 2006 and I have 2 children of my own. I have taught in schools in London. I have enjoyed working in some lovely child-centered schools and have had the opportunity of teaching Forest School.

I also manage a small local Charity. In the Charity role I am the Designated Safeguarding Officer. It’s a people facing job where we work hard to reduce social isolation in the local elderly community.

I am passionate about Early Years education. I believe Nursery is a magical year and that this stage of education is such an important time and I could see that when my son attended York Road. I knew that I wanted to contribute to the success of the school through working as a Governor.

Richard Tyler

I am a solicitor and qualified 11 years ago as a litigator in a US law firm in London. Since then I have worked as an in-house lawyer in multiple businesses covering a broad spectrum of legal work, and I am currently Legal Director at a large consumer goods company.  When my daughter joined York Road Nursery School, it was clear from the start that it was a outstanding school with a wonderful community around it. When the opportunity arose to become a governor I was delighted to be able to give something back and contribute to the future success of the school.

Hover Box Element

Dan Ward

I have been working in the advertising industry for 17 years, in a variety of different roles at Advertising Agencies and in Sales.
I have experience in strategic planning, trading and finance – I’m quite analytical, strong attention to detail and I’m not too bad with numbers.
Currently, I hold a position as a Sales Director working in Advertising Sales at an AdTech company.
My current job role is in a high pressure environment, requiring me to be proactive, pitching business ideas to clients using data to inform strategic advertising strategies.
Prior to my current role, I held a management position at an Advertising Agency, managing a team of 6 and being a main point of contact for clients.
I like to think I have pretty good people skills and communication skills. I’m very much a team player, willing to muck in and be supportive.