Governance

Gian Floris, Legal and Finance Director

Gian has over 17 years experience practicing as a solicitor, advising a range of small to medium sized businesses on a wide range of legal and commercial matters.  

Gian is an active part of the management of a local firm of solicitors comprising 4 offices, holding the office of director/shareholder, and compliance manager.  He is also responsible for the management of the commercial and property departments of the firm.  

When Gian is not working he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, and the odd bit of gardening.  

His hobbies include recreational flying and golf.

Natasha Dangerfield, Governor for Education & ISI

Natasha has 8 years experience as a headteacher in an independent school and 25 years in boarding education with 22 years in Leadership roles. She is currently the headteacher of Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire. Under her tenure, Westonbirt has achieved an 'outstanding' ISI inspection and Natasha has been awarded the runner up for 'Best Head of a Public School' 2017.

Westonbirt offers exceptional senior education in small classes with expert teaching staff dedicated to ensuring each student reaches their full potential. As a non-selective school of just over 200, their achievements are competitive with many larger schools. Students are regularly selected to play lacrosse for England and Wales, Drama productions have aired at the Edinburgh Fringe to high acclaim, over two-thirds play at least one musical instrument. Over 90% of Sixth Form students go on to their first choice universities including Cambridge, Durham, Cardiff, Bristol, UCL and Central St. Martins. 

Individuality is celebrated and their students develop a level of confidence, which is neither arrogant nor taken for granted. Success is celebrated and development is nourished. Westonbirt is proud of all students.

Geraldine O'Sullivan, Chair of Governors

Geraldine O’Sullivan has over forty years of experience in education, health and social care, over twenty years at a senior level. A retired Head teacher of a special provision and ex local authority senior officer of an integrated service for children with disabilities and learning difficulties.

Geraldine has also worked as an education consultant focusing on the areas of Alternative Learning Provision, Special Educational needs and Safeguarding. Geraldine is passionate about improving the life chances of children/young people and committed to supporting all children/young people reaching their full potential.

Since semi retiring Geraldine has been a Chair of Governor at a local primary school in North Devon and a Trustee for a specialist Multi Academy Trust. Also deputy chair of the Management Committee for the residential complex where she lives with her husband in South Wales.

Geraldine holds a BSS Hons and a post-grad qualification in Autism in children.

Alison Thomas, HR Governor

Alison’s career has been split between working for HSBC, a mental health trust in the NHS and jointly running a B&B. She has been a bank branch manager, a commercial manager with a portfolio of business customers, an area manager responsible for 18 branches across London and a regional manager responsible for people development covering 140 branches over the East of England.

Alison then worked for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) as a Leadership Development Lead responsible for commissioning and creating leadership and management training. Alison is a qualified coach and was responsible for coaching within NSFT, commissioning external coaching and leading a network of internal coaches. Alison was also responsible for the trust’s staff health and wellbeing strategy and initiatives, and had a role as an Organisational Development Lead, which mainly focused on facilitating team building activities and creating and delivering bespoke training programmes.

Alison has written HR policies and training for managers to use those policies. In HSBC she was trained as a disciplinary and grievance hearing manager and was seen as the regional expert in conducting hearings. Alison describes herself as a Leadership Development expert, Coach, Mentor and Organisational Development Practitioner.

In 2010 Alison relocated from Sussex to Norfolk to enable her husband to leave his work and set up a B&B which opened in 2011. They won two national B&B awards; the AA’s Friendliest B&B Award in 2016 and the Eviivo national award for ‘Bed, Breakfast and Beyond’ (for their quilt retreats) in 2019. The B&B closed in 2023, in order to care for a parent with dementia.

Alison has a deep and personal interest in supporting people with dyslexia which started when one of her children was finally diagnosed as being dyslexic at the age of 9 ½ years. She was shocked at the lack of support and information from the school and set about learning what she could about dyslexia. She created a resource in the school for other parents whose child was also diagnosed as being dyslexic. Alison has mentored and coached quite a few people who are dyslexic or who have other neuro-diversities.

Alison has a Diploma in Professional Coach Mentoring with The OCM and a Post Graduate Certificate in The Psychology of Organisational Development and Change with Middlesex University.

Alison hopes to be able to bring her wide-ranging knowledge of leadership, business management and managing people to support the leadership team of The Levels School in growing the school and developing the whole team.

Alison loves spending her time making patchwork quilts, whilst listening to football commentaries on the radio and cheering on her team, Sunderland.

Kevin Newton, Health and Safety Governor

Kevin has lived in Somerset all his life and has built a successful career as an entrepreneur across a diverse range of sectors including property development, leisure, music and entertainment, and the hotel industry. His work has involved launching and managing multiple ventures, with a focus on creating innovative, community-focused businesses.

He remains actively involved in the oversight and strategic direction of his business interests, drawing on years of hands-on experience in development and commercial operations.

Outside of work, Kevin enjoys spending time walking , playing golf, and travelling whenever he gets the opportunity. He is happiest when surrounded by his family and grandchildren.

Paul Easterbrook, Safeguarding Governor

Paul has been involved in education for over 40 years and for 26 of those years was Headmaster at Hatherop Castle, a Cotswold Prep and Boarding school. Whilst there they won the ISA prep school of the year and Paul was involved at executive level with both ISA and IAPS. He has been an independent schools’ inspector and was also a reporting inspector prior to retiring. Paul was the Director of Education and Compliance for Wishford schools from September 2017 until his retirement in July 2025; a group of 9 schools whom he visited regularly to advise and help and to ensure they were as inspection ready as possible.

He is very involved in developing equality, diversity and inclusivity within schools and had responsibility for the oversight of safeguarding in the schools. Throughout his time as a Head, Paul brought about many innovations and promoted the development of special educational needs during his time as SENDCo as well as securing several outstanding ISI inspections. Paul’s passion is the education and development of young people and his belief that every individual deserves the best education available. He was chairman of governors for a special education school just outside Oxford and also chaired the education committee.