Governors 

DECLARATION OF BUSINESS INTERESTS AND OTHER GOVERNANCE INFORMATION

 

WILLIAM ROLLASON

Chair of Governors

William is a chartered accountant, having qualified at KPMG, and has over thirty years’ experience as a main board director of public and private companies, acting at various times as Chairman, CEO, COO and CFO. Currently, he is also a Governor of West Acton Primary School, a maintained school in Ealing.

William is a graduate of St. Andrews University with a French degree and believes strongly in the teaching of modern foreign languages as a core part of the curriculum.

William was appointed a Governor in 2020.

  

 

NICOLA ARNOLD

Vice Chair (Health and Safety)

Nicola is chief financial officer at Jisc, a technology company within the higher and further education sector.  She is also a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the University of West London.  Nicola was educated at a grammar school in Kingston before joining Ernst & Young where she qualified as an accountant. Since then she has worked in finance roles at the BBC, UCL and was Finance Director at St Georges, University of London.  She has an interest in equality and widening participation in higher education, having previously sat on the Audit Committee of the Equality Challenge Unit and was also a governor and chair of the Finance and Audit Committee at the UCL Academy (a sponsored Academy in Camden). 

 Nicola was appointed governor in 2015 and chairs the Finance Committee.

   

Gilat Levy 

Governor

Gilat Levy joined the Governing body in 2019; She is a Professor of Economics at LSE, where she teaches courses in microeconomic theory and political economy. Previously, she had been a deputy head of teaching for the department of economics at LSE. Gilat passionately believes in non-selective schools such as WLFS and is interested in increasing achievement for all ability levels.

Gilat's children both attend WLFS.

 

KIM STRINGER

Governor

Kim is an HR Director with 25 years experience across FinTech, Digital Media and Entertainment sectors, and has a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kim started her own HR management consultancy in 2010, and works with growing international digital businesses.  She helps organisations develop and scale, working closely with senior leadership teams.   She is particularly interested in talent management, employee engagement, equality and diversity, and the values and culture of dynamic organisations.

Kim lives in Hammersmith, is born and raised in West London, and educated in local state schools. She has had children in WLFS since 2014.  The youngest is still at WLFS, and the oldest has just left Sixth Form.  She is delighted that her children are able to attend such a great local state school.

Kim was appointed a governor in 2021.

   

lulu szego

Staff Governor

Miss Szego graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in Geography and completed her PGCE at the same institution. Her interest in Geography is further inspired by a love of travel - most recently with a month-long trip around Japan. 

She is also a keen sportswoman, participating in football and athletics, and particularly javelin and discus, as well as competing in the more unusual Dodgeball Premier League. 

 Lulu was appointed a staff governor in 2021.

 

CHLOE MAWSON

Governor (SEND)

Chloe is the Deputy Chief Executive of the House of Lords administration and is responsible for all the services that directly support the scrutiny work of the House of Lords. 

Chloe grew up in Devon where she attended her local comprehensive. She has lived in Hammersmith for 20 years. She has one child at WLFS and another at WLFS Primary.

Chloe was previously co-chair of the governing body at WLFS Primary and Earls Court Free School primary for five years. Before that she been elected as the first parent governor in the year WLFSP was originally established.

Chloe was appointed governor in 2022.

 

Marian Doyle

Governor (Safeguarding)

Marian was educated in Ireland, she attended the University of Ulster, obtained a teaching degree, has an MA in Education Management and holds the National Professional Qualification for Headship, (NPQH).

During her extensive time in education, Marian worked at Haggerston School, Hackney, The Phoenix (formerly Hammersmith School), Holland Park School, and Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith, as deputy for 17 years and Headteacher for 8 years. She has also been an Advisory teacher for the RBK&C and worked for London Compacts as well as Education Industry Initiative in the late 80s and early 90s. She has extensive experience as a governor serving on the boards of two other schools.

Through all of the varied and wide-ranging roles Marian has undertaken she has always sought to ensure that pupils had excellent educational opportunities through the taught curriculum and wider enrichment programmes. She believes young people are our future and deserve the very best teaching and pastoral care so they can achieve their ambitions. She is determined to enable this through her work as a governor at WLFS.

Marian is married with two sons and a granddaughter.

Marian was appointed governor in 2022.

 

Ruby Polatin

Governor

With a background in the arts, Ruby worked as a fundraiser for Tate Galleries and in client development at Sotheby's before entering the educational sector. Currently Ruby works at the Harrow Development Trust where she is responsible for fundraising for the School, including bursaries and development projects. Previously Ruby has held similar roles at Cambridge University and the Latymer Foundation. 

Born and raised in Massachusetts, USA, Ruby has lived near Ravenscourt Park for more than 15 years. She has two children at WLFS Primary.

Ruby was appointed governor in 2023.

 

 

Shahid Wahab

Governor

Shahid is an Assistant Principal and languages teacher at a large comprehensive school in Westminster, responsible for Student Culture. As part of his role within a Multi-Academy Trust he is also the Curriculum Writer for Spanish, working closely with MFL departments to support the design and implementation of a bespoke Spanish curriculum. He is committed to supporting students to access an excellent education through a high-quality knowledge-rich curriculum and excellent pastoral support.

 George  Zacharias 

Governor

Dr. Georgios Zacharias is a multi- award- winning concern violinist and recording artist, currently serving as the Director or Euterpe Music and Head of Music at Queen’s College PS in London. With a rich background in music education and administration, he has dedicated 28 years to teaching and leading at top institutions in the UK, EU, and US and as a senior academic lecturer at prestigious institutions like RAM, RCM, and GSMD. As the Director of Music at the Hagia Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, he combines his passion for music with a commitment to philanthropy, particularly in underprivileged schools. Recently, he led a Byzantine ensemble during HM King Charles III's Coronation, earning worldwide acclaim and a special Coronation Medal. His philanthropic efforts in education further demonstrate his dedication to making a positive impact in the community.

 

 

Juliet Fitzgerald

Parent Governor

Juliet has worked in education for 19 years as a History and Politics teacher and is currently Head of Initial Teacher Training at a school in SW London where she is also hub lead for two national School Initial Teacher Training organisations. She is passionate about education and has previously been a governor at a primary school in Ealing.

Juliet grew up near Hammersmith. She has three children, the youngest is at WLFS and the oldest has just left the sixth form. 

 

Paul Middlemas

Governor

Paul qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers and Lybrand. He was educated at a grammar school in Sunderland before taking a Maths degree at the University of Manchester.  Since qualification he has held a number of finance roles in both the private and public sectors, including the BBC and the GLA. He has also tutored in Mathematics and Business Studies as he strongly believes in helping students achieve their potential.

 

Governing Body

The West London Free School has a board of eight governors who provide strategic leadership and who are ultimately accountable for the performance of the school. The governors, together with the trustees, appoint the headteacher and deputy headteacher. The governors hold the main responsibility for ensuring that the school's finances are spent appropriately and work with the headteacher to make the decisions required to run the school successfully and effectively. 

The role of the governing board is to:

• set the aims and objectives of the school
• set the policies for achieving those aims and objectives
• set and monitor the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
• be a source of challenge and support to the Headteacher, acting as a critical friend. 

The Chair of Governors is William Rollason (w.rollason@ks-t.org) and the Vice-Chair is Nicola Arnold (n.arnold@ks-t.org). There are three sub-committees who do much of the delegated work of the board. These are the Finance, Infrastructure and Health & Safety Committee, the Education Committee and the Leadership and People Management Committee. The structure of the governing body and its sub-committees can be viewed here.

You can view an organogram showing how the Trust relates to the local governing bodies here