Governors

Every maintained school in the UK is run by a board of governors. The governors are either elected by parents of children who attend the school, are appointed by the local education authority (in our case, Haringey Council) or invited to join (co-opted) by other governors. Governors are involved in every aspect of school life, from playtime to OFSTED inspections, and usually take on specific roles according to their experience and interests.

Governors work with the headteacher and senior leadership team to drive the strategic development of the school and raise standards of achievement. Duties include setting the school’s vision, aims and objectives, approving the school budget and appointing the headteacher.

Governors are either elected by fellow parents or carers or are appointed as co-opted governors based on their skills. Governors generally serve for a term of four-years at which point they either decide to go for re-election if a parent governor or re-appointment if a co-opted governor.

Current Membership

Rokesly Junior School benefits from a committed group of governors who can offer a wide range of skills and come from a wide variety of different backgrounds. The governors and their areas of interest and responsibility are:

Bola Soneye-Thomas: Headteacher

Bola joined Rokesly Junior School in January 2007. Coming from a background in which she has coordinated a number of subject areas, Bola’s deepest commitment is to inclusion in its broadest sense. Her vision is to develop further and extend opportunities within the school so that every child can develop the skills that bring real choices in life.

Karen Peacock: Vice Chair of Governors and Premises Lead

Karen has two daughters, one in the infants and one in the juniors, and has been a governor since January 2019. A Chartered Accountant by training, Karen now works in a governance role in an International Bank.

Kate Barry: Chair of Governors

Kate joined the governing body as a parent governor in 2022, becoming the chair of governors in September 2023. Kate has spent twenty years teaching in London schools and internationally. Kate currently works at UCL’s Institute of Education and in school improvement through her own education consultancy. Kate is passionate about supporting teachers and schools to develop practice that enables all children to reach their fullest potential.

Kerree Ahern: Co-opted Governor (Safeguarding Governor)

Kerree was elected as a parent governor in 2006 and is the Vice Chair of Governors for the Junior school. She also chairs the personnel committee, is a member of the finance, curriculum and communications committees and is the specialist SEN and child protection governor for both schools. Her areas of special interest include raising achievement for all children and parental involvement. Kerree has three children, all of whom attended Rokesly Juniors. She previously worked in the NHS developing health strategies in public health departments.

Nigel Leskin : PP Link Governor and Resources Committee Lead

Nigel brings over 20 years of experience to the position, having first been elected as a parent governor and then serving as Chair for 10 years. Nigel is the Local Authority representative for the Infants and Juniors Governing Bodies. By profession, Nigel is a criminal and immigration lawyer.

Daniel-Cain Reed – SEN/D Link Governor

Daniel joined the governing body in October 2021 as the SEN/D link governor and is an Assistant Headteacher & SENCO at Haringey Learning Partnership, a partnership of the borough’s alternative provision schools catering for students who need additional support to be successful in mainstream schools. Daniel is an English teacher and has been a Head of Year in another Haringey secondary school. Daniel completed the Teach First programme in 2016 and is a participant in the Difference Leaders programme. Daniel completed his MA in Educational Leadership with a dissertation exploring the impact of leadership with moral purpose on the attainment of Black Caribbean students. Daniel is committed to supporting school leaders in developing inclusive practice so that all students, regardless of need or ability, are able to successfully engage in mainstream education.

Joanna Neilson: Staff Governor

Joanna has been working at Rokesly as a class teacher since September 2018. However, she has been employed at the school since 2008, in her previous role as a teaching assistant. She has created the school garden which she continues to develop and believes that all children should have the opportunity to grow and eat their own produce. She has worked with a number of children on a 1:1 basis and has also delivered intervention programmes. Prior to joining the staff at Rokesly Joanna was a director at a city recruitment consultancy. She has two children both of which have attended the school.

Madina Howard: Co-opted Governor

Madina joined the governing body in 2021 as the Racial Equity link governor and clerk to the curriculum committee. Madina is a primary teacher who has taught across Haringey, Walthamstow and Hackney for almost 10 years. Madina began her teacher training as an EYFS specialist with Teach First. Since then she has completed an MA in Mathematics Education at UCL with a dissertation investigating how a programming approach could influence understanding of pattern and multiplicative structure. Her research also considered how equitable mathematics curricula, policy and practice are within the context of pedagogical approaches such as Mastery. Madina’s priorities include ensuring that all children are given the opportunity they need to succeed through the nurture and learning they receive at school.

Sarah Mountford : Parent Governor

Sarah has two children in the Junior school and was elected parent governor in May 2024. She works for Network Rail and heads up a team that looks after regulatory, contractual and customer relationship matters. Sarah is responsible for maintaining the governor’s training log.

Andy Hunt : Parent Governor

Andy was elected as a parent governor in January 2025 with a daughter in year 3. He has nearly 10 years of prior experience as a school governor at Highgate Primary school. He is a trustee of an Employee Ownership Trust and works on public and private infrastructure projects across the UK, including several new schools.

Explore Our Governors

Meet The Governors

The role of the governors

What are school governors and what do they do?

Every school in the UK is overseen by a board of governors.

Whilst it’s down to the Headteacher and senior school staff to actually manage the school from day to day, it’s the responsibility of the governors to ensure that the school is performing well and doing the best for all its pupils.

Essentially the role of a governor is to be a ‘critical friend’, offering advice and support, and holding the senior staff to account.

The three key purposes of the governing body are:

Ensuring that the school has a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction;
Holding executive leaders (the Headteacher and senior staff) to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

Governors are involved in every aspect of school life, from playtime to OFSTED inspections, and usually take on specific roles according to their experience and interests.

How are governors appointed, and who is on the governing body?

Governors are appointed in one of three ways. They are either:

Elected by parents of children who attend the school,
Appointed by the local education authority (in our case, Haringey Council), or
Invited to join (co-opted) by other governors.

The Headteacher is always on the governing body, along with teachers elected by other staff.

How does the governing body work?

Rokesly Junior School governors work closely with Bola Soneye-Thomas, our headteacher. We make decisions at full governors’ meetings and in committees. Most of our business is conducted in these meetings, although we also have regular school visits to ensure we keep in touch with the day-to-day life of the school.

We receive guidance from Haringey Council and the Department for Education (DfE). We also collaborate closely with the governors of the Infants school and some governors sit on the boards of both schools.

Can I be a governor?

If you feel that you have skills, experience and enthusiasm for being a governor, please talk to one of the current governors so that we can consider co-opting you on to the board or talk to you about running the next time there is an election. Just contact the School Office, and they can put you in touch with one of our governors.

There is an extensive range of training sessions specifically for governors, provided by Haringey Education Partnership (HEP). These training sessions usually last one to two hours and take place in the evening, and cover all aspects of being a governor e.g. school finances, safeguarding, understanding school performance data, how to prepare for an Ofsted inspection etc. All new governors are encouraged to attend an Induction training for new governors, which takes one day.

The role of governors

The purpose of the governing body is to help the school provide the best possible education for its pupils. We play a strategic role, concentrating on the underlying principles of how the school is run. Day-to-day management issues remain the responsibility of the headteacher and her staff.

Governors have a considerable number of statutory responsibilities to fulfil, for instance:

Approval of the school budget
Performance management of the headteacher
Delivery of the National Curriculum
Reviewing pupil exclusions
Approving arrangements for school trips as well as other health and safety issues
Monitor and evaluate progress in school development and achievements

We also play an important role in accountability. Not only is the headteacher accountable to the governing body, but the governing body is accountable to parents, the LA and ultimately to the Department for Education (DfE).

Much of the content of the governors’ work is set by DfE. By law, governors are expected to:

Set the strategic framework
Monitor and evaluate progress towards the school’s priorities and targets
Support the head and staff to raise standards and challenge where necessary
Account to all stakeholders for the school’s overall performance and the decisions they have made.

The headteacher’s role is to:

Be responsible for the organisation, management and control of the school
Formulate aims and objectives, policies and targets for the governing body to consider adopting
Advise on and implement the governing body’s strategic framework
Provide governors with the information they need to help the school raise its standards
Report on progress
Parents and School Partnership

How the governing body is structured, and its meetings

The full governing body (FGB) consists of all the governors. This meets once a term.

Beneath the full governing body are three committees which take responsibility for different elements of running the school. Governors volunteer to join one or more of the committees, depending upon their relevant skills or interests. Each committee meets at least once a term.

The three committees are:

Resources – this includes Finance and Personnel. As regards Finance, the committee approves the school budget and monitors the financial situation throughout the year. On the Personnel side, the committee oversees staffing issues.
Facilities – this is a joint committee with Rokesly Infants. This covers school buildings, the catering contract for school meals etc.
Curriculum – this committee monitors how subjects are being taught, the adoption of new teaching schemes, and how well pupils are doing by analysing performance data.

In addition to the full governing body and committee meetings, there are also joint meetings between the Infant and Junior School governors twice a year – to encourage collaboration and co-operation between the two schools.

Governor Related Information

Governing Body Register of Interests

Contact Us

Rokesly Junior School
Rokesly Avenue,
London, N8 8NH

Phone: 020 8348 0290
Email: admin@rokesly-jun.haringey.sch.uk

Headteacher: Bola Soneye-Thomas