Lammas School and Sixth Form / Staff Handbook / Governors Meet our Governors Ted Cooke –Chair of Governors I became Chair in September 2013 prior to this I was Vice Chair since the setting up of the temporary governing body for what was then referred to as the new South Leyton Secondary School way back in the last century! I am local born in Upper Walthamstow Road, and attended schools in the borough before going off to train as a teacher at the time in preparation for the raising of the school leaving age and that was from fifteen to sixteen. My home and heart has always been in the London Borough of Waltham Forest and I now live in the leafy corner of Chingford. I have three grown up children and one grandson whilst my partner, a Councillor in Leytonstone, has two children and four grandchildren. I taught first in the old ILEA and soon became involved in special education and following taking an advanced dip in special educational needs and educational psychology I moved to Newham where I was first a Deputy Head of a school for maladjusted secondary aged pupils and then the Head of a school for children with complex learning difficulties. Being a dyslexic and dyspraxic this seemed a natural choice but at the same time I also appreciated the positive needs of many special needs pupils to be in mainstream schools and took part in the early debates on inclusion and the closure of special schools. Indeed I oversaw the integration of my special school into three mainstream schools before spending some time as an advisory Head working on such new things as IT and LMS for special needs and assisting in the integration of a school for physically handicapped children into mainstream schools. In 1995 I moved to Waltham Forest Education and headed up what was then the new Integrated Special Needs Mainstream Support Service thinking that all the teachers that had taught me had now retired or gone on, little did I realise that two of my Sixth Form teachers were now Heads of secondary schools! I used my talents in a number of ways over the next few years including an eight month stint as Acting Head of William Morris School as well as working closely with Social Services, Educational Psychology and senior management in the borough until I was able to take early retirement. I have also worked with young offenders and even taught at adult evening classes for a time where incidentally I met my ex-wife. I am an active and committed member of the Church of England, having been a Church Warden for a number of years at Ss Peter and Paul’s Church in Chingford, was a Foundation Governor for over twenty years for Chingford CofE Schools serving spells as both Chair and Vice Chair of Governors and Chair of their finance committee. I am a member of Waltham Forest CofE Deanery Synod and represents them on Waltham Forest Standing Advisory Council for Religious education – I also Chair of WF SACRE. Like Paul Redcliffe, Vice Chair, I have been involved with our school since it was a twinkle in the minds of the planners in education and was asked to join the temporary Governing Body with a brief to ensure that the school really was accessible to all. Due to my involvement with education I have played an active role in the development of the school including having been part of the selection process for nearly all the senior members of staff in the school and have promoted the values and aspirations that the school so clearly demonstrates. For a number of years I have been retired and have been able to organise things so that I can get into the school during the school day and have taken this as my role as Chair of Governors to be one of the regular faces of the Governing Body seen around the school. 1 Lammas School and Sixth Form / Staff Handbook / Governors Paul Redcliffe – Vice- Chair of Governors I became Chair of Governors when the first temporary Governing Body met back in July 1999 to plan for a new secondary school in Leyton. In September 2013 I decided to step down from Chair and was appointed Vice-Chair. I began work in libraries but moved to IT doing support work in Councils, a hospital, university and a further education college. I currently work for Enfield Council as a Business Analyst. I first became a Governor shortly after I moved to Leyton through the Labour Party which wanted volunteers for Governing Bodies. I then got more involved in education as a Councillor particularly on the Education Committee. I have been a Governor on a number of schools: infant and junior, primary, and a special school. I became involved with Lammas arguing for the new school, during the Council's school building programme in the 1990s pushing for the funding, a site, approving a design, and seeing the building go ahead. I continued to be involved once the school was set up and I stood down from the Council. I have the same basic duties as other Governors: to assist in the oversight of the school's policies, its proper running, and approving and monitoring the school’s finances. The Governing Body tries to be familiar with the operation of the school, meet the staff, students, and their parents but as most Governors work and may be parents it is sometimes difficult to do this as much as they would like. Governors are all volunteers and although they may have different levels of involvement and different roles and interests they stay involved because they want to support the school and students and see them succeed. I want to see the school provide for both students and the local community to meet their educational and recreational needs. Qualifications are important to obtain good jobs and a secure future so the school must have high aspirations for its students; but this is not the only purpose. It was planned as both a high quality school and a centre for Adult Education and recreational classes. I want to see local children and adults, as well as the staff, do well at the school, and move on to good careers and achievement. Patricia Gough – Co-opted Governor I was invited to be part of the temporary Governing Body when the school was first discussed. I am Chair of the Finance sub-committee, Literacy Link Governor and the Governor Representative on the ICT Steering group. I was a teacher in a Junior School, a Brownie and a Guide Leader. I have experience in teaching, chair, leadership in education and guiding. I belong to a variety of groups in the local area such as Leyton and Leytonstone Historical Society, Trefoil Guild, Townswomen’s Guild and Civic Society. I am also a Trustee of the Henry Green Scholarship Fund. I believe that all children have a right to an education and endeavours to ensure this happens. Andrew Lock – Co-opted Governor I have lived in Leyton for 20 years with my partner Julia. I originally come from North Devon and came to London in 1985 to study Economics at Queen Mary College, University of London. I have work in Finance for Turner Broadcasting in central London near Oxford Circus. Turner Broadcasting produces cable TV channels, CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and TCM. I was a Councillor in Waltham Forest from 1994 to 2002. After I left the Council, I studied for an MBA at the Open University. 2 Lammas School and Sixth Form / Staff Handbook / Governors I see my role as representing the community as an LEA Governor and being a critical friend to the Head and staff, and the Governing body. I was involved as a Councillor in planning and building the school. My name appears on the foundation stone which was laid in 2000. It was an honour for me to be involved at this stage of a new secondary school for Leyton. I like to play my part as a Governor in helping the school continue to be a great asset to the community and helping build a tolerant, diverse and respectful society. I hope my experience as a long term resident of Leyton, former Councillor and active citizen gives me some experience to help the Governing Body support a successful school. Tony Faulkner – Co-opted Governor I am a Community Governor which means that I represent the whole community including children and parents in the performance of Lammas. I was one of a group of Governors serving on the Governing Bodies of various schools in the Borough who became involved in the foundation of Lammas School. I want to help Lammas to become an ever more effective and high performing school, with my experience as a Governor of various schools for some nineteen years I can help to achieve this. My professional background is in banking and financial services. Neil Gascoigne – Co-opted Governor I have been involved in education for most of my life: as a student (with various interregna) until the age of 31; as a university lecturer since that time. Somewhat uncommonly, I qualified as both a Scientist (BEng) and a Philosopher (MPhil, PhD) and even managed to fit in time in the mid-1980s to train as, first, a Kremlinologist and then a Management Consultant. I have travelled extensively (on most continents and on restricted budgets) and taught in the US and NZ as well as at various institutions in the UK.