Mark Spearing is Chair of the Education Committee and member of the Estates Committee.
He is a Professor of Engineering Materials and Vice-President for Research and Enterprise at the University of Southampton. After leaving Sherborne (h) in 1982 he studied Engineering at Cambridge and completed a Ph.D at the same University in 1989. He then undertook postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Mark worked for BP in Cleveland Ohio from 1992-1994. He then moved to the Aeronautics and Astronautics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, leaving as a Full Professor in 2004 to join Southampton. His research and teaching focuses on the use of advanced materials, particularly composites, in engineering systems. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Mark is married with three children, two of whom attend schools in the Winchester area and the eldest is in her first year at university.
Angela Lane
Governor
Angela is non-executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of 4 quoted investment companies Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust plc, Pacific Horizon Investment Trust plc, Blackrock Throgmorton Investment Trust plc and Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc. After graduating with a BA (Hons) in English Literature from Bristol University, she trained as a chartered accountant at PWC and then spent 18 years as a private equity investor working for 3i plc. She has been on the Board and Chairman of a number of private companies in a variety of sectors including healthcare, medical marketing and outsourced resourcing. Angela lives in Dorset with her OS husband David Lane (m 1980) and they have three grown-up children: Toby who attended Sherborne School (m 2011), Hettie and Georgie. In her spare time, she enjoys playing golf, attending live sports matches, the theatre and horse racing as well as going on adventurous holidays. Angela became a Trustee of Sherborne School Foundation in 2007 and has been a Governor since November 2015. She is Chair of the Investments Committee and a member of the Finance and Governance and Nominations Committees. She is currently non-executive director of Sherborne Schools Trading and Leisure companies.
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George Marsh
Governor
George started his career at the Dragon School before spending eleven years working in two comprehensive schools. He then became Assistant Director of Studies at Millfield School before being appointed Head of Millfield Prep School. He completed his career as Headmaster of Dulwich Prep London for eighteen years. He is currently also a Governor of Caldicott Prep School. He is Chairman of Wilton’s Music Hall. George has been a Governor of Sherborne School since 2009 and is a member of the Education, Hanford, and SPS Committees. He is also one of the School’s Designated Safeguarding Governors.
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Gilly Staley
Co-opted as Advisor
Gilly is a health and safety advisor working for an independent school in Cambridgeshire. Gilly started her working life as a workplace health promotion advisor in Kent, after completing a Psychology degree and Health Psychology Master’s degree but changed profession after taking the higher-level H&S qualification, the NEBOSH diploma. She then worked for KPMG for several years, based in London, and helped to cover their UK Facilities health and safety operation. Following this and after several years of consultancy based in Surrey, Gilly moved to Dorset and was Co-opted as Advisor (Health and Safety) to the Board of Governors of the Sherborne Schools Group. Gilly became a Governor in March 2015 and holds special responsibilities for health and safety. She is now based in both Cambridgeshire and the Midlands with her husband Chris, who is the CEO of an education foundation. Their three adult children, Charlie, Tilly and Octavia, all attended Sherborne Prep.
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The Reverend Fr Martin Lee
Governor
Martin moved to Sherborne in 2021, as Team Rector of Sherborne Abbey. Having spent 13 years as the incumbent of a large parish in Newcastle upon Tyne. Before that he spent eight years in a rural parish in Somerset. A background in Music and Education before training for Ministry at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, he has used his keen interest in Education to serve on several Governing bodies with over 20 years’ experience as a Chair. He has also served as Chair of Appeal and Exclusion panels for local authorities. He is a member of the Pastoral and Hanford Committees. In his spare time, he is a Beekeeper, enjoys Music, and now is delighted to add to the list of enjoyment the role of a Grandad. He is married to Sue, and they have three sons.
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Lieutenant General David Leakey CMG, CVO, CBE
Governor
A Cambridge law graduate. After retiring as a Lieutenant General from an Army career of command and operational, MOD, NATO, EU and UN appointments, David served as Black Rod in the Houses of Parliament for seven years. Since 2017 he has held senior executive and advisory positions in a variety of commercial enterprises in the Industrial Chemicals and Gas industry, the Business Systems Software sector and a Phone App developer. He has been chairman of the National Childrens Orchestras of Great Britain and is a trustee or chairman of a number of charitable, sporting and military organisations. David has strong links to Sherborne. From 1965 to 1970 he was a member of Abbey House, becoming Head of School and a member of the First XI. His two sons are also Old Shirburnians. In 2017, David was elected to Sherborne School’s Board of Governors and is a member of the Governance and Nominations Committee.
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Robin Leach
Governor
Mr Robin Leach is Chair of the SPS Committee and a member of the Pastoral and Commercial Committees.
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Mark Spearing
Governor
Mark Spearing is Chair of the Education Committee and member of the Estates Committee. He is a Professor of Engineering Materials and Vice-President for Research and Enterprise at the University of Southampton. After leaving Sherborne (h) in 1982 he studied Engineering at Cambridge and completed a Ph.D at the same University in 1989. He then undertook postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mark worked for BP in Cleveland Ohio from 1992-1994. He then moved to the Aeronautics and Astronautics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, leaving as a Full Professor in 2004 to join Southampton. His research and teaching focuses on the use of advanced materials, particularly composites, in engineering systems. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Mark is married with three children, two of whom attend schools in the Winchester area and the eldest is in her first year at university.
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Nick Isaac
Governor
Nick was educated at Sherborne (School House 1974 to 1978) and Durham University, from where he graduated with a BA Hons in English. A qualified Chartered Management Accountant, he is a retired Finance Director, having spent his career working in the manufacturing industry, both in FTSE 100 companies and smaller privately owned businesses. He studied for an MBA at Cranfield and had spells overseas including Japan and S.E Asia. He is a member of the Finance and Commercial Committees.
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Anthony Pralle
Governor
Anthony (g 1972-76) read Modern History at St. John’s College Oxford, and then joined the London office of The Boston Consulting Group. He opened the firm’s Madrid office and has lived in Spain for over 30 years, working for clients across Europe, mainly in the consumer and retail sectors. Since retiring from BCG he continues to support the firm as a Senior Advisor, in addition to holding several board roles at both established companies as well as start-ups. He is on the Advisory Board of Fremman Capital and supports a regenerative agriculture and landscape restoration programme in Europe’s largest almond producing region. Anthony became a trustee of the Sherborne School Foundation in 2005 and a Governor in 2023. He is Chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. Two of his sons were at Sherborne: Jos (g 2008-12) and Hugo (a 2014-18), continuing a family tradition started by their late grandfather Peter (g 1945-49).
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Aubrey Capel
Governor
Aubrey is a retired Chartered Surveyor having spent his career working for a London based independent construction and property consultancy.
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