A message from Anthony Millard, Chair of Council.

As the Chair of Council, I am writing to encourage you to put yourself forward for election as a Roedean Governor. This is, in effect, akin to becoming a member of the Corporation of Roedean School. 

Although the Council operates as the School’s Board of Trustees (sometimes called the Governing Body in other schools), Roedean’s Governors have specific responsibilities as set out in our governing document, the 1938 Royal Charter. These responsibilities are summarised with further information in the accompanying leaflet which you can read below.

Becoming a Governor presents a wonderful opportunity for you to continue to support the School and have a say in its future, including by nominating or electing members of Council and approving changes to the Corporation’s Governance.

It was the Founding Lawrence sisters’ intention that successive generations of ORs would form the core of the Roedean Governor body, and it became a custom that they should pay a fee to become an OR Governor. For 2024, Council has held the fee at £450, which is designed to go some way towards covering the cost of ongoing communications with Governors and the holding of events such as the Annual General Meeting. Any surplus generated over time will be reinvested in the School. Council reviews the fee annually but has taken the decision not to increase the amount due to ongoing cost pressures.

We appreciate that many recent leavers may be at or about to go to university, undertaking further study or in the early stages of their careers, and may therefore feel unable to invest in becoming a Governor now. The opportunity remains open to all eligible ORs, now or in the future, and we would be delighted to welcome you to the Governor body whenever the time is right for you. In the meantime, we value your continued interest in Roedean and hope that you will remain an active part of the Roedean community for many years to come.

If you do wish to apply to become a Governor this year, please complete the Application Form here and return it by post or email as shown on the form by 13th November along with your fee payment. A list of ORs putting themselves forward for election will then be circulated to current Governors ahead of the 2024 Annual General Meeting (“AGM”), taking place on 4 December 2024. Assuming that you are elected at the AGM, you will then be notified with full details of Governor rights and responsibilities. You will also be eligible to receive all Governor communications and to attend General Meetings from that point on. If you have any queries, please contact [email protected].

I do hope that you will take up this opportunity, now or in the future, ensuring that the membership of the Corporation is representative of all generations of ORs – just as our Founders intended.

In the meantime, I sincerely hope that you are well, and thank you for all you contributed to Roedean during your time at School. I hope that you are enjoying your time post-Roedean. Please do keep in touch with the alumnae team as we always enjoy hearing news from ORs young and old, near and far.