Dr Anne Murdoch OBE

Vice-Chair 

Co-opted Governor

Anne joined the Governing Board in October 2017 and has a background of nearly 36 years in education and training at all levels including Schools, Further Education and Higher Education.
Anne was Principal of Newbury College for nearly 17 years. Anne now works for a national organisation specialising in school and college leadership.

Anne is a trained teacher and lives locally.

Anne’s focus as a governor is on Staffing (CPD), staff wellbeing, performance management, and Anne chairs the Standards Committees (excl Finance).

Megan Brown

Staff Governor

Megan has been teaching for 7 years. The first four years of her teaching career were spent teaching Year 1 in a mainstream primary school in Reading where Megan was also the Art and DT subject lead. Megan has been teaching at Brookfields for three years and is currently also the Primary Makaton Lead. Throughout her teaching career Megan has been a keen mentor taking on students undertaking their PGCE training with the University of Reading and has also supported BTA students as they develop their skills and begin their teaching careers.

Dr Tom Loucas

Co-opted Governor

Tom joined the Governing Board in October 2017.

After completing a degree in Psychology at University College London, Tom worked with adults with learning disabilities in London before going on to train as a speech and language therapist at City University. As a Speech and Language Therapist, Tom has worked in a range of education settings including early years, primary and secondary schools. He completed a PhD at Birkbeck College, London and worked as Senior Research Fellow managing a large study into the prevalence of ASD, which developed his expertise in autism. More recently, Tom has taught speech and language therapy, first at De Montfort University and since 2005 at the University of Reading. Tom co-founded the University of Reading Centre for Autism, where he has continued his clinical work and research focusing on autism. He developed and runs an early intervention clinic at the University. The clinic offers a service to families with young children who are autistic or who have social communication difficulties and provides training opportunities for student speech and language therapists.

Tom’s focus as a governor is on Curriculum and assessment as well as data and outcomes.

Shaun Polley

Co-opted Governor

Shaun joined the Governing Board in October 2021 as a co-opted Governor. Shaun brings over ten years’ experience in front line service delivery and leadership role across the statutory and voluntary sectors. He is currently the Chief Executive of a children’s disability and inclusion charity in Berkshire. Prior to this, he led the development and delivery of specialist safeguarding services across the UK and managed a range of strategic relationships including with national government. He is an experienced safeguarding professional, having led organisational safeguarding practice development to ensure that service users are safeguarded, often in complex situations. He is an experienced trainer and presenter, having delivered training to law enforcement, social care and voluntary sector organisations across the UK and internationally. Shaun’s area of focus is Safeguarding within the school.

Lucy Manners

Local Authority Governor

Lucy is the works in the SEND team at West Berkshire Council. Previously she has been a Special Needs Personal Adviser at Connexions Berkshire and a Personal Advisor (Mainstream and Specialist) at Connexions Herefordshire. Lucy also spent more than three years working for the STEPS Project as a Community Worker at West Mercia Probation Trust.  Lucy adds a wealth of professional knowledge and expertise to the Governing Board. Lucy is the link governor for careers.

Richard Clarke

Co-Chair

Co-Opted Governor

Richard joined the Board, originally as a parent governor, in January 2021 and joined the Finance Standards Committee as well as the Full Governing Board. Richard brings a wealth of commercial experience to the role.

Dawn Spencer

Parent Governor

Dawn is an easy-going mum of 4, ranging in age from 26-7. Three of her children have autism. Dawn previously worked at British Rail for 10 years. Dawn joined the Brookfields community in March following a move from Coventry where she was a parent governor for 3 years as well as starting a successful PTA. Dawn enjoys fundraising and relishes a good challenge. She is looking forward to helping the school. In her spare time, Dawn likes walking, learning about antiques & Class 50 diesel locomotives

Christine McLean

Parent Governor

Christine is a mum of 4, of which 2 have an autism diagnosis. Her youngest child has attended Brookfields for the last five years. In her day job, Christine is the Global Managing Director for a Project Management and Project Controls consultancy company and her role centers around training and upskilling the next generation of project delivery professionals. Christine is also a vocational assessor, apprentice end point assessor and a vice president for her professional body. She is also a route panel member for IFATE (Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education) and currently in her fifth year. Christine believes that every child has unique qualities which make them successful and that every child should reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives. She is looking forward to helping the school.

Brandon Mills

Head Teacher

As Head Teacher Brandon Mills is a member of the Governing Board and attends all Governors meetings. Brandon joined Brookfields School in 2000 having worked with The Spastic Society and Scope. He has been Head Teacher since April 2016. He trained as a Special Needs Teacher, graduating with a BEd (Hons) Spec Ed in 1987. He has also completed his NPQH. He has published a number of articles about supporting pupils with learning difficulties and is a trainer.

Please see below for important information about the schools governing body:

• • Instrument-of-Governance May 2015