Governing Body
Longfield Primary School
Learning Together, Achieving Forever
School Governors’ introduction
Welcome to the Longfield Primary School Governors’ Homepage. Here you will find information about the Governors for the school, our activities and responsibilities.
We believe a successful Governing Body works best when it has a close working relationship between all members of the school community and as such the membership of your Governing Body is made up of parents, staff, local residents, educators, former pupils and members of the local authority working together to secure the best possible education for children attending the school
The Governing body comprises:
- The Headteacher
- 2 Parent Governors, (elected by the parents)
- 1 Staff Governor (elected by staff)
- 1 LA Governor (nominated by the main political parties on the Council)
- 9 Co Opted Governors (selected by GB members on the basis of skills or experience relevant to the requirements of Longfield Primary School and the Governing Body)
Roles & Responsibilities
- The Governing Body has a collective, legal responsibility for the effective management of the school, acting within a framework established by national legislation and the agreed policies of the schools. Its main aim is to maintain and improve the quality of education and the standards of achievement at the schools.
- Governors are volunteers and as such are not paid for their work. They sometimes take time off from their normal work to visit the school or attend meetings. The majority of meetings are held in the evenings in school.
- Governors are not expected to take detailed decisions about the day-to-day running of the school; that is the responsibility of the Headteacher, although the Headteacher will discuss various aspects of school life with the Governors. The partnership between the Headteacher, staff, Governors and parents determines how well the school functions. Parent Governors are the parents’ voice on the Governing Body and are always happy to help parents in their approach to the schools.
- If you would like to know more about becoming a Governor, please visit the School Governor pages on the Harrow council website, GovernorNet, a website for governors run by the Department for Children Schools and Families or contact the Chair of Governors through the school office.
Current Longfield Primary School Governors
Head Teacher:
- Pam Virdee
Parent Governors:
- Rajeshri Suthar
- Sarah Walters
Staff Governor:
- Katie Richards
LA Governor
- Vacancy
Co-opted Governors
- Liz Whitcombe - Chair
- Stephen Pidgeon - Vice chair
- Dipak Umeria
- Neil Enright
- Suzy Cantlay
- Jack Frohlich
- Alex Rusby
- Bijal Vaducha
- Nick Vairea
Liz Whitcombe
Chair of Governors
Governing Body of Longfield Primary School (LPS) - Register of Interests
Name | Category of Governor | Appointing Group | Committees served on | Responsibilities | Pecunary Interests (Businesses, Directorships, Charity Trusteeships, Membership of Professional Bodies) | Personal Interests
| Governance/Trustee roles in other schools | Term of office |
Elizabeth Whitcombe (Governor since 2007) | Co-opted
| LPS Governing Body | Finance & Personnel | -Chair of LPS GB -Safeguarding -Mentoring & 5R’s -Wellbeing
| -Elmfield Church |
|
| 9/7/20 – 8/7/24 |
Stephen Pidgeon (Governor since 2008) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body | Finance & Personnel (Chair) | -Vice Chair of LPS GB -HT’s Performance Management -Pupil Premium |
|
|
| 9/7/20 – 8/7/24 |
Pam Virdee Headteacher (LPS) (Governor since 2011) | Ex-Officio | LPS Governing Body | Finance & Personnel |
|
|
|
| - |
Suzy Cantlay Deputy HT (LPS) Governor since 2008) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body |
|
|
|
|
| 1/1/21 - 31/12/24 |
Neil Enright (Governor since 2009) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body |
| -Music -RE | -Director/Trustee: Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet -Director: Corporate Trustee of The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s School -Director: FQE Enterprises Ltd -The Harrow Foundation (inc. Harrow School, The John Lyon Charity and Harrow International Schools) -St Albans High School for Girls -Ashmole Multi-Academy Trust -Member of NAHT
|
| -Headmaster, Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet -Deputy Chairman, The John Lyon School Harrow (inc. Quainton Hall Prep) -Governor, Harrow School -Chair of Education Committee, St Albans High School -Trustee, Ashmole Multi-Academy Trust | 1/1/21 – 31/12/24 |
Dipak Umeria (Governor since 2002) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body |
| -History -Geography -Health & Safety -Thinking skills -AG & T |
|
|
| 1/1/21 - 31/12/24 |
| Jack Frohlich | Co-opted | LPS Governing body | PSHE | National Manager at RSY-Netzer | 12/9/23-11/9/27 | |||
Alex Rusby (Governor since 2019) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body |
| -PE -Website compliance | -Behavioural Science Consultant |
|
| 9/7/20 - 8/7/24 |
Bijal Vaducha (Governor since 2022) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body | Vice Chair Finance & Personnel | Schnell Solutions -Company Director - Finance and Operations
Association of chartered certified accountant (ACCA) | 31/10/22 - 30/10/26 | |||
Nick Vairea | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body |
| Finance & Personnel | Employee, SAP UK Ltd Parents and Friends of Longfield Primary School |
|
| 1/12/23 - 30/11/27 |
Vacancy | Local Authority | LPS Governing Body |
| -HT’s Performance Management -SEND |
|
|
|
|
Rajeshri Suthar (Governor since 2022) | Parent | Parents of LPS |
| MFL | Regulatory professional in pharmaceutical industry |
|
| 17/11/22 - 16/11/24 |
Sarah Walters (Governor since 2022) | Parent | Parents of LPS |
|
| Director Optimum Youth Care Hillingdon Children's Services Member of Social Work , England |
|
| 17/11/22 - 16/11/24 |
Katie Jarvis Assistant HT (LPS) (Governor since 2022) | Staff | LPS Staff |
|
|
| Lee Jarvis (Husband) Leads weekly external football club with Longfield pupils. Uses school premises. |
| 14/11/23 - 13/11/25 |
Previous Governors in the last 12 months | ||||||||
Hiral Kelly Assistant HT (LPS) (Governor since 2022) | Staff | LPS Staff | Member of NASWT Member of TDT | 14/9/22 - 13/9/24 | ||||
Dareen Zakaria (parent) (Governor since 2015) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body | Vice Chair Finance & Personnel | Art -DT -PSHE -HT’s Performance Management | Financial controller at Montagu Evans Business Services Limited -Treasurer of Parents and Friends of Longfield Primary School -Member of ICAS (Institute of Chartered Accountants for Scotland) | 9/7/20 - resigned 7/7/23 | ||
Purav Rathod (parent) | Local Authority | LPS Governing Body |
| -HT’s Performance Management -SEND | -SBI UK |
| Whiteheath – left post July 2022 | 17/3/19 - 16/3/23 Resigned 3/11/22 |
Hayley Kirwin SENDCo (LPS) | Co-opted | LPS Governing Body |
| MFL |
|
|
| 4/12/20 - Resigned 30/1/23 |
Governor Attendance - Academic year 22-23 to 23-24 (Year to date - last updated October 2023)
