Our GOVERNING BODY
What is a Governing Body?
All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. A key role is to act as a ‘critical friend’: to support, to challenge, to ask questions, and ultimately to ensure that the school can be as successful as possible.
Our Governing Body works in close partnership with the Executive Headteacher, Head of School, staff and the local authority. Whilst the Executive Headteacher and Head of School are, of course, responsible for the day-to-day running of the school, the governors are involved with such things as staffing, curriculum, school buildings and finance. It ensures the school functions well and maintains the proper range of academic and social objectives.
The Structure of Our Governing Body is:
1 Staff Governor, 6 Co-opted Governors, 1 Local Authority Governor, 5 Parent Governors, the Head of School and the Executive Headteacher.
The standard term of office for a Governor is four years. The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected annually at the first meeting of the academic year.
The Chair of Governors is Dr Steffan Kennett who can be contacted via the school office.
Click here to find the Governing Body 'Instrument of Government'
Our Committee Structure
Much of the work of the Governing Body is done by committees. At Bangabandhu, we have the following committees:
- Human Resources, Finance and Premises Committee
Terms of Reference for the Human Resources, Finance and Premises Committee
- Curriculum, Standards and Safeguarding Committee
Terms of Reference for the Curriculum, Standards and Safeguarding Committee
What is a Governor's Role?
Our Governors are the strategic leaders of our school and have a vital role to play in ensuring every child gets the best possible education.
Core Strategic Functions
Governing bodies have a strong focus on three strategic functions. They are:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
- Holding the Executive Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Setting Strategic Direction
The Governing Body is the key strategic decision making body of our school. It is their role to set the school's strategic framework and to ensure all statutory duties are met.
Our Governing Body ensures that we have a medium and long-term vision for our future - and ensures that there is a robust strategy in place for achieving this vision.
Holding the Headteacher to Account
Our Governing Body works to support and strengthen the leadership of the Executive Head Teacher and hold her to account for the day-to-day running of the school, including the performance management of teachers.
Governing bodies should play a strategic role and avoid routine involvement in operational matters. It should focus strongly on holding the Head Teacher to account for exercising her professional judgement in these matters and of all other duties.
Overseeing the Financial Performance of the School
Our Governing Body is responsible for making sure the school's money is well spent. They do this by making sure that they have at least one governor with specific skills and experience of financial matters, and by asking questions such as:
- Are we allocating our resources in line with our strategic priorities?
- Are we making full use of all our assets, and efficient use of all our financial resources?
- How do we compare with similar schools?
- How can we get better value for money from our budget?
DfE Governance Handbook - January 2017 Update
Here are some useful Governing Body related documents:
List of Initials, Acronyms and Abbreviations Commonly Used in Education
A Competency Framework for Governance
How to Declare Business Interests on Governor Hub
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020 - Part 2
NGA Learning Link Registration
Meet our Governors
Dr Steffan Kennett – Parent Governor. Chair of Governing Body. Chair of Curriculum, Standards and Safeguarding Committee
I am the (usually) enthusiastic dad to two Bangabandhu children, with my oldest first joining the school in 2010.
I have been a Co-opted Governor of the school since 2nd October 2017. I have a special interest in Science and ICT education at our school. I am a scientist in the fields of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology and am a lecturer at the University of Essex. After family, science and teaching, I also love sport. I am a keen runner and take part in the London Marathon most years.
As a governor, and a parent, I am keen to see Bangabandhu succeed and to play my part in helping that happen. Its staff work hard to give our kids an excellent education, in an inclusive environment. In all schools, this is a team effort. So, staff need the support of its governors and parents to achieve this.
Steffan
The Chair of Governors can be contacted via mail addressed to him at the school postal address.
Cathy Phillips - Co-Opted Governor - Chair of Human Resources, Finance & Premises Committee & SEND Link Governor
I came to Tower Hamlets over 40 years ago as a primary school teacher. I became a headteacher in a Bow school and then moved to open Bangabandhu as a new school. I retired in 2008 and became a governor at Globe School. I am delighted to return to Bangabandhu as a governor as the school means so much to me. I have a particular interest in Special Educational Needs and the arts.
Cathy
Kabir Miah - Vice Chair of Human Resources, Finacne & Safeguarding Committee & Safeguarding Link Governor
A Deputy Headteacher in a Tower Hamlets Secondary School, I have over 20 years' experience in working in education, the last ten of which have been in our borough.
As an English graduate, teacher and parent, I realise the key power that literacy, alongside numeracy has in improving the life chances of our young people.
Consequently, when the opportunity came along to serve as a Local Authority appointed governor at a forward-looking school such as Bangabandhu, I was delighted to join the school community.
Kabir
Salim Ullah - Co-Opted Governor
Saira Begum - Parent Governor
It is a privilege, an honour to take part in a role of a Parent Governor. I have two children who attend Bangabandhu school. As parents we are the main educators of our children. I value how Bangabandhu supports us with our children’s education.
As a Parent Governor I dedicate my time in taking up active roles towards the life of our school community. I put forward my ideas and share these along with staff and governors on how we can build future developments for our school.
I enjoy being a Parent at this school and also a Parent Governor.
Saira
Shajeda Khanom - Parent Governor
I have been part of and also the head of FOBS (Friends of Bangabandhu) and am committed to help improve the school. I have organised and helped arrange many fund raising events at the school. I have also taken part in the Early Words programme at school to help children who would benefit from some extra help as well as help support parents with their children's learning.
I run my own business along with my partner and have my food hygiene certificates and am very organised and methodical. I also run my own little baking business and am confident in the use of social media which could be beneficial for the school.
I have a good relationship with the teachers and parents alike and feel I would fit this role very well. I would love to see the school start to fund raise more and already have experience of this, and lastly this position is something I would enjoy doing and would give me great satisfaction.
Shajeda
Michele Inniss - Co-opted Governor
Michele was a teacher for 42 years in four multi cultural, multi faith, mixed gender, multi campus London secondary schools in Southwark, Westminster and Lambeth.
She began her career as a teacher of Dance on KS3 to GCSE and A Level programmes.
After 10 years she was appointed Pastoral Leader with responsibility for whole- school Safeguarding and Inclusion, in addition to establishing a range of partnerships with many national arts organisations -The National Gallery, The Royal Ballet, Rambert Dance, The National Theatre to name a few. The aim was to inspire and facilitate teachers from across the entire curriculum to develop more creative teaching and learning programmes to further student creativity.
Significant, additional Arts Council England funding through the Creative Arts Partnership in 2000 enabled an ambitious arts programme to be developed and managed by Michele in her Deputy Head role for ten years until her retirement. This involved developing creative projects in partnership with arts teachers in the school alongside professional artists from the creative industries.
On her retirement, Michele was commissioned by Lambeth Secondary PRU to develop a ‘studio based’ programme for KS4 students ‘Passport to Employability in the Creative Industries’.
Samira Dahhane - Parent Governor
Ilona Wrzeszcz - C0-opted Governor. Vice Chair of the Governing Body
I have a number of years of working as a projects and programmes manager in the public as well as the private sector.
I am feeling very grateful to have been appointed a Co-opted governor at Bangabandhu. Since I have become more settled in my career, I have been thinking of ways I can spend my time that would help our community. I am now very excited about the opportunity to help the school succeed and to make an impact. I have no doubt that this role will also teach me a lot and will bring me immense satisfaction!
Ilona
Harsh Mehta - Co-opted Governor
Governing Body Register of Business Interests
|
Name |
Governor in another educational establishment | Declaration of any relevant business interests | Declaration of any relationships between Governor and school staff |
| Dr Steffan Kennett | No | None | None |
| Cathy Philips | Yes - Globe Primary School | None | None |
| Saira Khan | No | None | None |
| Salim Ullah | Yes - Swanlea School | None | None |
| Kabir Miah | No | None | None |
| Harsh Metha | No | None | None |
| Shajeda Khanom | No | None | None |
| Marie Maxwell | Yes - Globe Primary School | None | None |
Governing Body - Term of Office & Attendance at Full Governing Body Meetings
| Name | Category of Governor | Term of office start date |
Term of office end date |
| Cathy Philips | Co-Opted Governor | 23rd September 2023 | 22nd September 2027 |
| Steffan Kennett | Co-Opted Governor | 1st October 2021 | 1st October 2025 |
| Saira Khan | Parent Governor | 2nd March 2021 | 1st March 2025 |
| Marie Maxwell | Headteacher | 8th February 2019 | To Present |
| Kabir Miah | Local authority Governor | 14th October 2022 | 13th October 2026 |
| Salim Ullah | Co-Opted Governor | 11th February 2023 | 10th February 2027 |
| Shajeda Khanom | Parent Governor | 19th November 2021 | 18th November 2025 |
| Michelle Inniss | Co-Opted Governor | 25th March 2024 | 24th March 2028 |
| Samira Dahhne | Parent Governor | 22nd January 2024 | 21st January 2028 |
| Harsh Mehta | Co-Opted Governor | 25th March 2024 | 24th March 2028 |
| Ilona Wrzeszcz | Co-Opted Governor | 25th March 2024 | 24th March 2028 |
Governing Body Meetings, Minutes and Visits
The full Governing Body meets six times each year and each committee meets 3 to 4 times per year. Agendas are prepared in advance and minutes of each meeting are taken.
Minutes are not published on the school website due to confidential items contained therein. Copies of minutes can be requested through the school office.
Governors visit the school on a regular basis in order that they can see school improvement actions at first hand. This is one of the methods they use to evaluate the impact of our school development plan. A report is written following each Governor visit.
Governors solicit the views of parents through their annual parent questionnaire. Outcomes from these questionnaires are found on the ‘Parent View ‘page of this website.
Record of Governor attendance at Full Governing Body Meetings 2021/2022