Welcome to our Governors’ section. 

Our Governing Body has undertaken a process of audit to ensure that members are able to provide the support and challenge required to support our improvement agenda. All our Governors are fully vetted.

Feb 2022

Chair of Governors - Co-opted - Mandy Roberts 

Vice Chair - LA - Damon Last

Parent Governors - Jeanette Baptiste and Rebecca Ayres

Co-opted Governor - Mariam Mayet

Co-opted Governor - TBC

Co-opted Governor - Vacancy

Co-opted Governor - Ellen Matheson-Harley

Co-opted Governor - Avril Carnelley (Safeguarding)

Staff Governor - Gail Allaway

Headteacher - Julie Donnelly

Finance associate governor-Shahnura Hussain

Clerk to the Governing Body - Carolyn McLeish

Governors can be contacted through the school office

Mandy Roberts- Chair of Governing Body

I have had the privilege of being a Governor and also Chair at Manford Primary School since November 2019. I believe a child's early years are the foundation for their future development and became a School Governor because I wanted to work with the Head Teacher and Leadership Team at Manford and ensure the children are provided with a strong base for lifelong learning and have an excellent educational experience.

In my professional career, I am a Chartered Member of the CIPD and have over 20 years of People Management experience, having worked within both the financial and regulatory sectors.

I hope to use the skills that I have acquired throughout my professional career within the Governing Body, by supporting the school and its pupils.  My aim is to be able to make a positive contribution to the school and every child’s education and play an active role in helping the school to go from strength to strength.      

Rebecca Ayres

I am a parent governor and have one child at Manford primary. As well as mummy duties I work in a large private company in the city. I wanted to join the board to use my skills to support the school and all pupils and families in the local community. I believe education is key to getting the very best out of all our children and aim to help the school in achieving their vision.

Shahnura Hussain

I have had the privilege of being a governor at Manford Primary School since November 2019. I believe that education has the power to change lives and became a School Governor to support the leadership at Manford Primary School to ensure that our students have the very best academic experience.  

I am an ACA qualified Chartered Accountant with over nine years of financial accounting and auditing experience. My background is focused in audit and financial systems and control in Education. I am currently working for a leading London university and have been for the past five years. I sit on the governing board to provide my experiences and expertise to support the School Leadership in the challenges faced by school funding.  

I am also the Chair of the Finance Committee where my role is to challenge the School’s finances and monitor the budget to ensure the best value for money for the School.  

Avril Carnelley

I have been a Governor at Manford Primary since Sept 2019.

I have a wide experience as a School Governor having sat on many different Governing Bodies both in Redbridge and other local authorities. I spent my working life in education, twenty of them as a Primary Headteacher before I retired 5 years ago. I feel that I have, therefore, plenty of relevant experience which I bring to Manford, to support both the Governing Body and the school, in ensuring that every child gets the best educational experience possible.

Damon Last

I started as a parent governor for an Outstanding school in Essex for two years before joining Manford Primary’s governing board as Vice Chair in July 2017. I work for Redbridge Council as the manager of a team that supports Redbridge schools with data and IT, with over fifteen years’ experience. I will use my knowledge and links with the local authority to provide any advice and guidance that the school needs. My goal is to help the school to achieve an Outstanding Ofsted rating where every pupil can reach their full potential and leave with happy memories of their time at Manford Primary.

Jeanette Baptiste

I had the privilege of becoming a parent governor at Manford Primary School at the end of 2020. I had toyed with the idea of becoming a parent governor for years and felt that with the current situation, this was the right time to support my community and local school by being part of discussions aimed at facilitating change and development. 

As well as being a parent I am a teacher, inclusion leader and SENCO in a primary school so I have knowledge of the education system at a worker level. I hope to use this knowledge to support the ongoing development of Manford Primary School.  I particularly would like to offer support in relation to provision for children with SEND.

Mariam Mayet 

The opportunity to join Manford’s governing body is one I was keen to undertake. I have been a teacher for 14 years now; throughout my career I have been a Head of Department, Head of Year and most recently I have been appointed as a Director of Sixth Form. Working with young people has been inspirational, with a teachers’ role going far beyond academic education- a teacher plays a crucial role is helping their students to develop as responsible young people, realising their potential and building a set of skills and qualities which allow them to be successful well beyond their school journey. 

Prior to joining the teaching profession, I was employed by the Children's Commissioner, a body that works closely with the government to ensure we, as a country, are putting the rights of children at the forefront of all our political and legal decisions. Every child matters, and even more important than this is that every child knows they matter; and my colleagues and I on the Governing Body will ensure that every child at Manford matters and knows that they matter. 

Ellen Matheson Harley 

I became a co-opted governor of Manford Primary School in November 2019.  I believe that education is a social leveller and that every child is entitled to a good standard of education.  On visiting Manford I was struck by the positive energy and feel of the school.

I live and work in the borough.  As a Solicitor of many years with the Local Authority, I have considerable knowledge and skills that I can use to assist the Governing Body in its role to be a critical friend to the School.  The ultimate goal is to make Manford an outstanding school and a school of choice for parents. 

Declarations of Pecuniary Interests 2021/2022

Please see below for governors that have declared pecuniary interests for the current academic year:

Damon Last

Is employed by Redbridge LA 

Ellen Matheson-Harley

Is employed by Redbridge LA