Governance and Local Advisory Board

Mrs Beenal Rajyaguru – Parent Governor and Chair of Local Advisory Board

I have two children who currently attend Stafford Leys Primary School. I chose to become a parent governor as this voluntary role allows me to give back to my local Leicester Forest East community.

By profession, I am an NHS Pharmacist prescriber with over 20 years’ experience in the pharmacy profession both in the community and hospital sector. I am also a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at the local university and a Module Leader/Head of Year and so have experience of working in academia. Working part time allows me the flexibility to attend the school and dedicate the required time and resources to fulfil this Governor role.

I am very excited to continue the Governor role and as Chair, I work with an incredibly dedicated team of Governors on the Local Advisory Board. My passionate drive and strong commitment to improve quality is paramount to ensure that I can fulfil this role effectively. I envisage that I can play a part in helping the school to achieve its long-term goals and improvements in the standards across all areas of the school environment.

If you need to contact me, my email address is brajyaguru@staffordleys.bepschools.org

Mrs Allison Hammond – Community Governor

I become a parent governor in 2014, so that I could contribute to the school in which my daughters attend. My youngest has recently left, but to be part of the governing body at Stafford Leys is a real privilege. I taught English and Media Studies to key stages 4 and 5 for fifteen years and have always been passionate about the issues surrounding education as well as the well-being of children and staff. I am currently studying a diploma in Counselling and am very interested in mental health. The knowledge and skills I gained in teaching and leading a department, has helped with understanding matters related to the curriculum, teaching and learning. Over the past eight years, I have learnt such a lot about school governance through taking on the role of chair and more recently vice chair. Whilst it demands a lot of time, it is exciting to help shape the direction of the school. My particular highlight would be helping to navigate the board through a difficult Ofsted, which resulted in the recent “Good” judgement for which the school thoroughly deserves.

I am currently the link governor for Achievement and Data, and whilst Chair was responsible for embedding the monitoring of pupil and staff well-being across the school and introducing a parent forum. I enjoy an involvement in the interview process for new staff; a real highlight being the recruitment of our head teacher Mr Kitchen, in 2015! As well as this, I am also keen to participate in the numerous learning walks which take place throughout the academic year.

Mr Paul Howkins – Community Governor

I have lived in Leicester Forest East for over 35 years, and have had the privilege of being a governor at Stafford Leys Primary School since 2015. I am the finance link governor and am also involved with the Rights Respecting Schools initiative. My day job is as a production manager in an electronics company, a role that includes financial responsibilities. I am keen to foster any links between the business and academic communities. I was very fortunate in my education in that the influence of excellent teachers at the schools that I attended drove me to better results than perhaps I deserved. The role of governor allows me to bring my experience into the school and to help provide the pupils of today with the all the opportunities and more that I had when I was at school.

Mr Robert Doxey – Staff Governor

Mr James Cross – Parent Governor

I am a Parent Governor at Stafford Leys, I have 2 sons and a daughter, with my youngest still at Stafford Leys. I am proud to be a governor at the school and to be a part of the wonderful happy and safe environment that the school provides. Since becoming a governor I have been an active member across all committee’s and during our recent journey to becoming a ‘GOOD’ school I was part of the Academy Improvement Board.

Currently my main focus in the school is around inclusion looking at the schools SEND and Pupil Premium provisions as well as how the school supports disadvantaged children.

In my day job, if you can call it that, I am a Police Sergeant with Leicestershire Police and have a vast experience of managing and responding to serious and critical incidents as well as dealing with vulnerable people and a variety of safeguarding concerns. In the roles I have performed I have worked closely with other agencies such as social care, fire service and local councils and I believe that these close working relationships and knowledge of the support available greatly assists me in being a governor. The shift pattern I work allows me to regularly be in school for visits, meetings and learning walks, ensuring that our children are taught to a high level, constantly being challenged to achieve the highest standards possible and that the behaviour in school continues to be positive and supportive creating the ideal learning environment.

Revd Dave Hover – Community Governor

​I am the Anglican (Church of England) minister at St. Andrew’s Church in Leicester Forest East, and part of my role is to offer pastoral and spiritual care & support to all who live and work within Leicester Forest East, Braunstone Town and Thorpe Astley. This very much includes our children and those with the important task of educating and caring for them, so I am delighted to be able offer my experience as a Community Governor to support the staff and pupils of Stafford Leys in this way, as well as in continuing to build the good community partnership between Stafford Leys School and St. Andrew’s Church. I am new to the Governor Team in 2020 so am learning myself, and as part of that I am keen to help develop our school as a shared learning community where we can all, pupils, staff and governors, support and encourage one another as we grow and develop together in a safe space where we can ask those important questions about life and the best ways to live and learn, with different faith and non-religious perspectives shared openly and with full respect for each person’s beliefs and experience.

Mr Simon Willcock – Parent Governor

​I am a father of 2 children, with a daughter in Year 1 and a son in pre-school.

I began my career in Accounting and trained to be a Chartered Management Accountant before I moved into teaching 12 years ago and have since gained 11 years of experience in Leadership positions in Education. I am currently the Assistant Principal at a Secondary School in Leicester City where I have been since 2014. The school has undergone some significant improvement in student outcomes over the past few years and its outcomes now put it in the top 5% of all schools nationally. Prior to this, I was a Head of Mathematics in a Secondary School in Coventry, the department became one of the most improved Mathematics departments in the Country. In 2014, I was offered the opportunity to move back to work in an under-performing school in Leicester and in 2016 the school became the best performing school in the City.

In 2016, I was appointed as a Specialist Leader of Education a role which places me in under-performing primary and secondary schools to support them in improving outcomes, curriculum and behaviour. I also have a recent experience of the new Ofsted Framework when we had a very successful visit where I worked closely with the lead inspector throughout the inspection. I have recently been selected as part of a team to visit and review 16 secondary schools across the city with the aim of improving outcomes in Mathematics.

I understand that the experiences that young people have at school has a major impact on their future. High expectations and high levels of enjoyment are essential in ensuring that all students are successful in what they do and reach their full potential with a continued and ever growing desire to learn. As a parent, I want my children to get the best education possible and I can play my part in delivering this for all children at Stafford Leys.

Miss Jess Thorne – Staff Governor

I have been a teacher at Stafford Leys Primary School since 2019. During this, I have had the pleasure of teaching in Year 5 and Year 6. Alongside my role as class teacher, I am the science lead for the school. Through this role, I have led whole school priorities in my subject and worked closely alongside teachers across the school to secure changes to science.

As part of my governor role, I am responsible for supporting student’s well-being at Stafford Leys. Since starting my career as a teacher, I have always been passionate about the importance of children’s well-being and supporting this within the classroom. As I am newer to the teaching profession, I offer insightful ideas and opinions that offer a different perspective. One of my qualities as a governor is the enthusiasm, passion and drive to continue making Stafford Leys a better environment for our students and staff.

Ami Lynch – Parent Governor

My daughter started at Stafford Leys in September 2021 and I then became a Governor shortly after.

In my current job, as a Youth Worker, I work with children, young people, and families providing support to help them achieve desirable outcomes. This has included supporting lots of families with accessing education, specifically supporting marginalised groups.

I pride myself on being an advocate for equal opportunities and I feel as though being a part of the board, I can continue to support in the shaping and development of opportunities for children and families within the school

Please open the file below for more information about our local advisory board and attendance records.

Stafford Leys LAB Const Meeting Attendance Interests 22 23

BEP Statutory documents can be downloaded from the Bradgate Education Partnership website under ‘About Us > Statutory Information’ or by using the direct link – www.bepschools.org/about-us/statutory-information(opens in new tab).

BEP Local Advisory Board information can be found on the Bradgate Education Partnership website under ‘Our Schools > Governors’ or by using the direct link – www.bepschools.org/our-schools/governors(opens in new tab).