Governance

Made of up individuals who are elected or appointed to voluntarily represent the church, parents and carers, the local authority and the staff; our governing body are the strategic leaders of the school with a vital role to play in making sure every pupil receives the best possible education while achieving his or her full potential, irrespective of age or ability.

Governors

We are proud to have a committed governing body made up of a team of individuals with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. The number of governors for our school is 12 and our primary role is to ensure that the school discharges their statutory duties under the law as well as act as a ‘critical friend’ in supporting and challenging the leadership and management.

We also help to set the vision and strategic direction of the school, oversee the maintenance of the premises and management of budgets, monitor performance and attainment of pupils and engage with key stakeholders.

The school and governing body also benefit from the support of the Trustees who look after the endowment left by Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts and periodically gives grants to the school. The chair of the Trustees is Mrs Fiona Burdett-Coutts.

Mr. N. Agarwal

Local Authority (26 May 2022 - 25 May 2026)
Born and raised in India, Nihit graduated from with a Bachelors in Commerce from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata; and is now a Chartered Accountant and a CFA Charterholder. After 5 years at J.P. Morgan (European Real Estate Investment Banking division), he now works at PJT Partners, specialising in Real Estate across Europe and UK. Nihit lives in Clapham Common and enjoys travelling, boxing, scuba-diving and has a keen interest in impressionism and post-impressionism art.

Ms. Y. Barnett

Headteacher - Ex-officio (appointed Sep 2020)

Mrs J. Bates

Vice-Chair of Governors - Deanery (24 January 2023 – 23 January 2027)
Jill lives with her husband and three children in Battersea. She earned her PGCE and M.Ed at Cambridge University, after reading Psychology and English at the University of Ottawa, and has enjoyed an extensive teaching and educational leadership career in schools across UK & the US. Following a break to care for her children, she has now resumed her career as a primary school teacher. Her professional research interests include developing resilience and growth mindset in pupils and her pastimes include knitting, reading mysteries & playing in Battersea Park with her children.

Ms. N. Bowles

Chair of Governors - LDBS (21 February 2022 – 20 February 2026)
Narissa lives with her husband, daughter and cat, working from home as co-director of a web development company. She read Journalism at Sheffield University and has enjoyed careers in print journalism, sound engineering and event planning. Her interests include reading, running, cooking and spending as much time in Kew Gardens and Richmond Park as possible.

The Revd. G. Buckle

Ex-officio (appointed March 2014)
Born and raised in South-East London, Graham had worked for a community newspaper and even been a fumigator, before reading Theology at Southampton University. Ordained in 1989, he has enjoyed varied and extensive service in many churches and is now presently at St Stephen’s with St John’s, Westminster. His passions include travelling, playing and listening to music, watching and participating in sport as well as being involved in the community.

Mrs. S. Lee

Elected Staff (13 October 2021 – 12 October 2025)
Sascha has taught at Burdett-Coutts since moving to London from the North-East in 2012. During that time she has undertaken a variety of teaching and leadership roles across the school, and has worked with a wide range of year group. She is currently an Assistant Headteacher and her responsibilities include leading English. Before training as a teacher, Sascha read history at Durham University. Sascha is passionate about the education of young people, and joined the school’s governing body as the elected staff governor following her return to work from maternity leave in October 2021.

Mrs A. Sladden

LDBS (21 January 2024 - 20 January 2028)
Anna is passionate about helping children in Westminster get a great education and a good start in life. Outside Burdett-Coutts, she works in a trade & investment team at the Department of Business & Trade (DBT) in the UK Government, having previously worked at the Centre for Social Justice, helping to improve the life opportunities of those living in the most disadvantaged communities in Britain. Anna gained a BA Hons (1st) in International Relations & French at the University of Exeter, which included a year studying at Sciences Po in Aix-en-Provence, France; followed by a MSc in Global Politics at LSE. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis, sailing and spending time with her young family.

Ms E. Standring

Trustee (11 March 2021 – 10 March 2025)
Emily studied English Literature at Royal Holloway College, University of London, after which she worked in various marketing roles until her son was born in 2004. During her career break, she was involved in many local charities and decided to use this fundraising experience when she returned to work in 2018. She worked in development roles in the independent and state school sectors before returning to Katherine Low Settlement (a local charity where she'd volunteered as an ESOL assistant) as Fundraising Manager. Emily lives with her husband and three children in Battersea; she is a keen reader, theatre and gym goer.

Structure

Our governing body is highly active and motivated both in celebrating the school’s successes and in concentrating on their improvement. All members are expected to familiarise themselves with the schools’ strengths, weaknesses and targets for improvement especially in reference to two key documents, the Self Evaluation Form (SEF) and the School Improvement Plan (SIP).

In addition, governors are encouraged to involve themselves in the school directly, perhaps attending a school assembly or event, accompanying children and staff on a school trip or simply talking to pupils and staff.

Our governors are also appointed to strategic link roles related directly to the Key Priorities and School Improvement Actions of our School Improvement Plan, as well as other statutory positions eg: Safeguarding, Pupil Premium, Health & Safety etc. In all cases, their objectives are to monitor the progress and impact of their specific areas and report to the FGB at strategic points during the academic year.

Following recent guidelines, we have streamlined our governing body’s processes and procedures to ensure our focus remains primarily on strategic issues. Our ongoing aim is to ensure the sharing of all key information and effective use of governors’ and school leaders’ skills and time.

As well as meeting 5 times a year, we also meet to form the following committees – Pay, Headteacher’s Performance Management, and Admissions – in order to be able to discharge certain statutory functions. We further meet at the following Forums – Finance & Business, Outcomes, and Ethos – to monitor and ensure the effectiveness of our school in these important areas.

FGB Minutes

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Key Documents

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Register of Business Interests

In May 1996 the Nolan Committee published a report on standards in public life as applicable to local public spending bodies. The report identified seven principles which should be applied in public life. These are selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

It is important that our governors act and are seen to act impartially. One important means by which a self-governing school demonstrates that it is applying these principles is by maintaining detailed information including a register of business, pecuniary and material interests.

Information on the Membership of the Governing Body of Burdett-Coutts and Townshend CE Primary School (re-constituted 4th August 2015)