Our Governors

I am extremely proud of the diversity that Islington has to offer, where all cultures and backgrounds can share experiences and grow together. We are all unique with different interests and skills - some people enjoy the traditional academic subjects, whilst others prefer the more creative areas and I support a curriculum that allows our students to find the right path for them.  I am keen to encourage our learners to use their individual skills and talents to achieve their goals in life. I want our children to leave school feeling confident and proud of what they have achieved. School life isn't just about the exam results that we walk away with - it's about how we grow as people, how we learn to communicate & engage with others and where we learn our own strengths.  Away from being a Governor, I work in business performance looking at ways that businesses can work more efficiently, monitoring financial spends & savings plans and putting improvement suggestions in place. I'm hoping these skills may help with the progress of our Federation and Schools.

I am a member of the Federal Governing Board and Chair of the Federal Finance, Resources & Risk Committee. I’m a partner in a law firm based in the City of London, where my work is primarily focused on structuring and executing acquisitions, disposals and investments for a range of multinational companies and investment funds. I am also an experienced private investor.

I’m delighted to be the Chair of EGA’s School Committee. I work closely with the school, supporting the leadership to ensure that continuous development, planning and progress is sustained to enable the students to achieve their full potential. My entire career focus has been in education. I’ve worked with young people in Islington for over twenty years and am fully invested in their opportunities and success.

I have been a parent governor at Vittoria Primary School since 2016 and I am now chair of the Vittoria School Committee. In my day job I work for central government helping teams design and build digital services and make better use of data. I hope to be able to use my experience to support Vittoria School and the Federation to deliver on our vision, for an outstanding education for all our pupils.

I joined Beacon High as an Associate Governor in October 2019 and am currently Chair of the school committee.  In my day job I am Director of Partnerships, Events and Communications at the Education Policy Institute and supporting Beacon High allows me to see the impact of national policies on the frontline. Prior to that, I was Head of University Partnerships at The Access Project, a charity working with disadvantaged students to help them gain places at top universities, an ambition I hope to help Beacon High students to meet.Ensuring Beacon High has effective and sustained partnerships that help continue its regeneration, is a key focus for me. I am keen to help the school thrive as part of its local community.  

Chair of the Vittoria Committee

I am a freelance writer and filmmaker, with clients including the BBC, the Roundhouse, Leica, Arts Council England and Vice. My experience includes mentoring and working directly with young people to co-create content and campaigns. As Lead Governor for Communications, I am keen to ensure that our communications across the federation reflect the vibrancy, uniqueness and diversity of our schools, through the voices of our pupils, staff, parents, guardians and community. 

I have been a Federation Co-Opted Governor since September 2018 and have recently become a member of the Beacon High Committee. Prior to this I have been a Governor since 2009, holding many positions including Vice Chair of the Vittoria Committee, Early Years Link Governor and Chair of the Standards, Learning & Inclusion Committee.  As a Beacon High governor, I support the school leadership team to make strategic decisions that improve the learning environment and future prospects, for all children at the school. I am a lifelong resident of Islington and completed my primary education in the borough. Aside from being a Governor, I work in Higher Education namely in the student voice and experience. I also have the honour and privilege of being an Islington Councillor representing the Mildmay ward. In September 2022, I became the Governing Body's Local Authority Governor.; in this role, I provide a link between the LA and school and work to understand  the priorities and views of the LA in order to inform the governing body.

2018 I was an Associate Governor at Beacon High; Spring 2020 I am honoured to accept the role as co-opted Governor for the Federation as well as sitting on the Governing Board for Beacon High School. I am an Islington resident and have a great interest and passion for the wellbeing and safeguarding for the young people within the borough.  I worked in Insolvency for 14 years as a trainer in human resources, company investigations officer, diversity and equality officer and my final years as the office manager in the Official Receivers Department. Leaving the Service in 2016, I spent 12 months with Barnet Council in the ‘Looked After Children’ department, and was part of the children’s management committee and the parent governor at my child’s primary school. I chose to change my career focus to supporting young people and I returned to education in 2017 to study ‘Youth Studies and Criminology’ degree for 3 years. I also sit on the Children’s Education Scrutiny board for Islington Council, supporting schools in the borough and ensuring the schools are transparent within their delivery.  

Founder of Brightstars Community Club in addition to working  at Queen Mary University within project governance.  A Registrar  of marriages and civil partnership and a schools mentor.  Over 10 years of school governorship with responsibilities for Healthy Schools, Vice Chair of Curriculum Committee etc.   

I am Mo Abdelmula and I am a maths teacher as well as the Director of Learning for Key Stage 4 at Beacon High. As the Director of Learning for Key stage 4 I lead on the quality of education, teaching and learning, assessment and moderation, student progress and outcomes as well as academic and pastoral interventions. I am passionate about improving the education experience of our young people and believe they should be at the heart of anything implemented.

I am a Governor at EGA and am passionate about education and, as a lecturer and Head of Department, examiner and Chair of the Lecturer Council at a school and college in Bangladesh, I have greatly enjoyed working in education and am deeply committed to promoting educational opportunities for our students. 

  Cillian joined the Federation in 2022 and is a member of the Federal Governing Board, the Finance, Resources & Risk Committee, as well as the EGA School Committee. In his day job, Cillian has close to a decade of experience advising international companies on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising. Outside of work, he is a mentor at Unfold’s Broadening Horizons programme.

Hi there I’m Thom Bodle I have been teaching for 7 years joining Copenhagen Primary school in September 2021 as a Year 2 class teacher. I have a huge passion for education and want to do everything I can to improve the experience children have in education. I have enjoyed getting to know the Islington community we serve and look forward to further supporting the development of education in Islington, ensuring our children get the most out of their education. I hope as staff governor I can support in the further development of our school across Islington.

Serena is an associate governor on the Federal Governing Body and a member of the Curriculum & Achievement Committee. She has a background in law and currently works in international trade policy. Aside from her day job, Serena (stage name: Segiri) is an accomplished musician and businesswoman and runs her own record label to support emerging young female artists. Serena is passionate about education and has worked with the schools in Islington Futures Federation in various capacities over the years.  She co-founded Discover2Dream, an initiative aimed at encouraging young female role models to interact with and inspire students across the UK.

I am a PhD student in Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. Before my current PhD, I studied postgraduate and undergraduate at Birkbeck College and the University of Northampton respectively. I also worked abroad as a Research Officer and Rapporteur. I served as a Parent Governor at Vittoria Primary School (VPS). VPS was very successful, and OFSTED stated that the “pupils’ progress from different starting points were equally strong in reading, writing and mathematics”. VPS joined Islington Futures Federation and I am proud to have been part of establishing the federation. I also received Early Years Teaching and Learning training.

I have been a parent governor for EGA since November 2018. I first became involved with EGA School when my elder daughter began there in September 2010, to be followed by my younger daughter eight years later. I hope as governor to be able to contribute positively to the school's life as a parent and a member of the community. I am particularly interested in ensuring that the children who are "coasting" are not forgotten and are always pushed to their full potential.

I joined Holloway School as a Geography teacher/LP in September 2018  My role is Head of Geography with LP responsibilities in Learning Beyond the Classroom My interests are ensuring that students are able to transform their life chances. I build strong community links outside of work, helping and mentoring the most vulnerable I am an outdoors man and regular lead mountain expeditions as a senior mountain leader I am currently training and developing a fully certified assistance dog programme within the school community and also working with small groups in Lambeth.

I am a member of staff at EGA School and currently work within the Music Department. As a long term serving member of staff of 21 years, and 25 years’ experience as a former Youth Leader, working with young people has always been my passion. I am a Vocal Coach and Music Coordinator, teaching young people and facilitating Music events, I have developed and run Choirs both at EGA and in a Youth work capacity. The most memorable events are a Choir performance for the former first lady Michelle Obama's first visit at EGA in 2009 and a youth exchange to South Africa sponsored by BOTH charity, directing a 500 mass School Choir. I am also a part of the Diversity team to achieve the goal at EGA as an anti-racist School.

As a parent of three boys in year 1, 3 and 6 in Vittoria, I value education highly and would work to help maintain the standard of education, and to enable the school to create an enriching learning environment to help pupils reach their full potential. As a local Islington resident I want to actively participate in improving the education of all children and help in creating a safe environment for parents and pupils at Vittoria. After obtaining an English Literature Degree I worked as Project coordinator before deciding to dedicate my time to raising my young family. 

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Hello! My name is Zamiya Shire and I have been teaching at Vittoria for 4 years and am also the Head of Science. I am looking forward to be working alongside a team of fantastic people to support Vittoria Primary School as well as the local community. I would hope to be an asset to the school, dedicating my time of being a proactive and effective staff associate governor.

Associate Staff Member

I believe strongly in the importance of local schools, embedded in the community, and committed to delivering the very best outcomes for all young people. Beacon High’s ‘Believe, Belong, Become’ motto captures it perfectly. Let’s encourage all students to believe they can achieve great things, let’s ensure they belong to a school community that supports them at all times and let’s celebrate when they become role models for future generations. I’ve worked in central government for over twenty years, including a lengthy period at the Youth Justice Board. This is the body that oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales and I was responsible for delivering a wide range of projects designed to improve the facilities and services on offer to disadvantaged young people. This was incredibly rewarding and I’m now really pleased to have joined the Beacon High Committee. I hope I’ll be able to use my skills and experience to help support the school as it continues on its already impressive journey.

Copenhagen Staff Asociate