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School Governors

At Whitefield school, we are proud to have a team of Governors made up of individuals with a variety of skills and experience, who all have a desire to make a difference to the lives of children, young people and the local community. Our role is to support the Headteacher and Senior Leadership team in improving the school, set the vision and strategic direction of the school and ensure the school is financially healthy.

Meet Whitefield School's Governors

The Governing body has six meetings per academic year. There are also 2 sub-committees: the Standards and Staffing Committee and the Finance and Facilities Committee, which also meet four times a year.

Chris Hunt - Headteacher

Chris Hunt

Member of the Finance and Facilities Committee

Member of the Standards and Staffing Committee

Headteacher, Whitefield School.

Appointed September 2022

Tracy Simmons - Chair of Governors

Chair of Governors

Appointed 16th September 2024

Nicole Richer - Vice-chair of Governors

Local Authority Governor (Trust Member)

Appointed 22nd March 2022

Member of the Standards and Staffing Committee

Nicole graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in History in 2014. Following on from this she completed a CIM (Chartered Institute for Marketing), Certificate in Professional Marketing.

During her time at Leeds Met, Nicole acted as a course representative, and went on to be elected Student Union representative for all course reps in her faculty. She sat several academic committees, including my faculty’s Learning & Teaching committee the university’s Academic & Quality Standards Committee. This gave her the unique opportunity to work alongside senior leaders in the university and provide feedback into the strategy, standards and quality of education in her faculty and the wider university.

She currently works a Project Manager for QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the leading publishers of University Rankings, as well as running international student recruitment events and conferences.

“Every year QS helps thousands of students globally fulfil their potential and goals through education. Seeing this everyday has made me want to give back to the community, helping support students through primary and secondary education and give them a solid foundation in life.”

Leena Peshawaria - Community Governor

Appointed 27th January 2020

Member of the Standards and Staffing Committee

Leena has worked in childcare and early years education for over twenty years both in the UK and in Europe. She currently works at Dollis Infant School as part of the Early Year Foundation Stage. As well as being a mentor for other staff members she is involved in training, supporting and supervising students who are studying towards a qualification in child care. Amongst these roles, she is also the MGB union representative and continually supports members of the union within the school. Being committed to education at all levels, she volunteers to help adults at a local college who are learning English as part of an ESOL education.

Since September 2015 Leena has been an active member of the Whitefield Parent Teacher Association and has helped organise and run various events within the school.

Lee Jerome - Vice Chair of Governors

Community Governor (Trust Member)

Appointed 6th December 2017, Member from 29th April 2020.

Chair of Standards and Staffing Committeer

Safeguarding Governor

Lee Jerome is Associate Professor in Education at Middlesex University and has worked in education for over 25 years as a teacher, teacher educator, lecturer and researcher. His main areas of interest are citizenship education and teacher education. In citizenship education he helped to establish the Association for Citizenship Teaching and edits the journal 'Teaching Citizenship'. In teacher education he has co-written 'Effective Medium-Term Planning for Teachers' and coordinates the Professional Education and Partnerships research group at Middlesex University.

Shaan Owusu-Afriyie - Community Governor

Community Governor

Member of the Finance and Facilities Committee

Appointed 22nd January 2022

Throughout my time in school, I have volunteered my time to support, teach and mentor fellow students, in addition to this I have organised and run multiple events to promote the physical and mental development of my peers.

I am currently a student of Economics at the School of Oriental & African Studies (with more to come) and it is the difference that school has made in my life, that has inspired me to encourage aspirations in students and help them achieve their best.

Anwar Zaidi - Community Governor

Community Governor

Member of the Finance and Facilities Committee

Appointed 22nd January 2022

Anwar brings an established track record of exceptional and diverse managerial skills in the financial services sector. He has extensive experience of business transformation during periods of technological disruption and competitive change.

Having being on the Board of two banks, he retired in 2018 and has since worked on a number of community projects as a volunteer, including as a school governor and Trustee of a medical charity.

He holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from IBA as well as an MSc in Computer Science from UCL. He has had occasion to read further for an Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman at The Guild of International Bankers.

George Devereux - Community Governor

Community Governor (Trust Member)

Chair of the Finance and Facilities Committee

Appointed 22nd January 2022

George currently works at a growth focused activist hedge fund. Prior to that he worked at Boston Consulting Group as a strategy consultant focused on private equity, corporate development and strategy, and government crisis response strategy. He has a first class bachelors equivalent in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MPhys specialised in Theoretical Physics from the University of Warwick.

George is keenly passionate about education and helping young people reach their potential partially because he had a turbulent time in education himself, which culminated in him leaving school only to self-teach his way to university.

James Corcut - Community Governor

Community Governor

Member of the Standards and Staffing Committee

Appointed 22nd January 2022

James works at Sense, the national disability charity. Before that, he worked at Wise (formerly TransferWise), where he was part of the team that turned a small start-up into one of the UK’s most successful and prominent tech companies. He worked in its London and New York offices in various marketing and communications roles. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge in English.

Joshua Cavendish - Community Governor

Community Governor

Member of the Finance and Facilities Committee

Appointed 22nd January 2022

"I currently work for Royal Bank of Canada as an M&A analyst. Previously I have undertaken strategy and financial facing roles with Google, Tishman Speyer and Eastdil Secured, specialising within London Corporate Real Estate. I hold a Masters in Management Degree from London Business School and a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts (History & Classics) from Durham University.

I grew up less than 2 miles away from Whitefield School and have been closely interested in the regeneration of the school and Brent Cross area. Having volunteered as a teaching assistant for over 10 years, I hope my experience in business and education can help the next generation of students."

Thandie Lawrence - Parent Governor

Parent Governor

Appointed 1st October 2022

"After working in retail for over 25 years, I decided to go back to University to pursue a career in health. After graduating with a Degree in Healthcare Management coupled with a Postgraduate in Community Leadership, I have been working for the NHS in the last 18 months as a community connector.

One of my other passions is working with children and I have had the opportunity to volunteer as a Sunday school teacher at my local church which I have enjoyed for many years.

I am very much looking forward to being part of the Governing Body at Whitefield where all my 3 children attend secondary school. Just like every parent at this school, I want the very best for my children hence I feel that it is important that every child at Whitefield should be happy, safe, confident and strive to do their best in and outside school."

Sapna Chadha - Community Governor

Sapna Chadha

Community Governor

Appointed July 2023

Sapna Chadha is an entrepreneur with a passion for youth engagement to pursue alternative skills pathways into science and tech. She has two teenage boys, one with ADHD and both have had very different education journeys.

Her current role is in business consultancy across the technology and healthcare sectors and she also leads a not-for-profit, helping young Londoners to access digital skills to further their potential. She has worked in the UK Government, in private business and as a life scientist in academia and industry.

Sapna has a BSc (Hons) Cell Biology and MRes Bioprocessing from University College London. In 2003, she obtained her MPhil in Molecular Genetics from Imperial College London. Her industry work experience has been with Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline and both her industry and academic work have been published.

Louis Loizou - Community Governor

Community Governor

Appointed December 2023

Louis is a partner at Loizou & Co and founder of Pathbuddy. Prior to this, Louis worked for Citi, Barclays, Kleinwort, Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Competition Commission. He is the Chairman of the Hellenic Tech Network and a Freeman of the City of London. He graduated from the University of Oxford and LSE.

James Willis - Trustee

J Willis Governor Trustee I am currently a Key Stage 2 and a dedicated educator, passionate about promoting academic progress and providing exceptional pastoral care within my school community. I have taught across different schools in North London and I am deeply committed to advancing educational standards and empowering students to achieve their fullest potential.

I hold a history degree from UCL and I am currently pursuing a Master's in Education Leadership at the University of Cambridge. I believe in creating a nurturing and enriching environment where every student can thrive. It is my privilege to serve the school community and contribute to its continued success.