We were very sad to hear of the death of Jenny
Clements last Friday. She was a great servant to the Matravers Board of
Governors. She was Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of our Every Child Matters
committee for many years.
Jenny will be greatly missed by all who knew her at
the school. It was her abiding interest in the welfare and wellbeing of the children and young
people of the Westbury area that led Jenny to devote so much time and effort to
school governance. With friends at Westbury Infants and the Manor School
Jenny had a special concern for disadvantaged children
and young people. As noted, she was chair of ECM. The committee’s title stemmed
from educational agenda of a previous government and there was some talk of
renaming it, but Jenny was adamant, Every Child does Matter and so it remained. As a governor Jenny was capable
contributing to discussions on school strategy and immersing herself in the finer
points of data reports, but she never allowed us to forget that it was all
about the children.
Jenny was not only involved in school governance. Amongst
other things she was involved in the Hospital League of Friends, Westbury
Lions, and the United Reformed Church. It was her faith that inspired her to
spend her life in service of the people of the Westbury area. Jenny wasn’t a
great one for email. My correspondence with her was decidedly one sided, but
her email address was ‘JennyWestbury’, which kind of says it all.
It’s difficult to imagine governance at Matravers
without Jenny’s steadying presence, but she would want us to press on with our
quest to ensure that the school provides the outstanding education that the
young people of our area deserve. I for one will miss Jenny’s
wise counsel, forthright manner and good humour. It was a privilege to have know her and worked alongside her.
