Julia Cottee NEWS Julia Cottee

Julia Cottee

Appointed Governor, Chair

Date of Appointment: 08/06/2023

Term of Office Ends: 07/06/2027

Category: Community

Appointing Body: Trust Board

Business Interests: Trustee = Wallingford Chameleon Arts, The Willink Charitable Trust, The Scouts Association. Chair of the Reading Governance Association – regional branch of the NGA.

Governance Roles at other Educational Institutions: Chair of Board – Reading Governance Association; Vice Chair of Governors Grazeley Primary School; Chair of Governors REYS Federation; Governor at Nythe Primary School; Board member Education Partnership Board; Nursery Governor representative RBCs school forum; Governor at Blagrave Nursery School.

Membership of organisations, public bodies etc: None

Attendance at Meetings (2024-25): 3/3

About me: I am the Chair of Governors at The Wren.  I have been a school governor for over 15 years, working in a variety of schools in and around Reading.  I am a firm believer in state education being free from selection, and so therefore every school should be a good, inclusive place to learn and grow.  I am extremely lucky to be able to commit the time to directly help schools with their progress and improvement.  My daughter was in the very first cohort in 2015, so I was highly motivated to make sure that The Wren was a good school, and the best way to ensure this was to get involved in creating it.  It is an enormously inspirational role, and very soul-enriching, hence why I am still doing it 8 years later.

The Wren’s Latest Ofsted Report

We are pleased to report that The Wren was judged to be at the ‘Expected Standard’ in six out of seven categories, with its safeguarding standards fully met, following its latest Ofsted inspection in April 2026.

Ofsted highlighted the wonderful culture of our school, noting:

“Pupils are extremely proud of their school. They appreciate how staff want the very best for them.”

Please see the detailed report and a summary of Ofsted’s new Inspection Framework here.