Brudenell Primary School

Governors are a group of volunteers who include parents, staff and members of our local community.

Our main role is to promote ongoing improvements in standards throughout the school. We help the headteacher and staff plan the school’s long-term direction and we evaluate progress. We help set the school’s aims and values and are responsible for some staff appointments, including the head. Many of our responsibilities carry a statutory requirement. This means we are obliged by law to do things such as agree the annual budget.

Our role is sometimes described as a ‘critical friend’. This does not mean that we are there to criticise the head or the school. Instead we try to ask useful questions to gain a greater understanding of the school and to foster an ethos of continuous improvement.

Our recent Ofsted report in March 2018 identified the governors as a strength of the school and said:

'Governors know the school well and are proud of the inclusive ethos that school leaders have developed over time.  They share the leaders' high expectations and are highly ambitious for pupils.'

'Governors are knowledgable and provide robust challenge to the headteacher and co-headteacher.  Efficiently led by the chair of the governing body, they know the school's strengths and weaknesses well.  Governors are very well aware of the challenges the school faces with a large number of pupils joining the school at different times of the year.  They are proud of the strong progress pupils make from their different starting points.'

Headteacher:

Jill Harland

Jill is the headteacher at Brudenell Primary school and has been in  post for 15 years. She has always worked in Leeds and lives locally with her husband and 3 children. She has supported other schools and spoken at conferences acxross the U.K and the globe, including America, Dubai and Sweden. She is passionate about creating a culture where everyone can flourish and has a book published about the subject.

Foundation governors:

Debbie Smith (Chair of Governors) - Curriculum and Standards

Debbie has been a Governor at Brudenell since 2015 and feels so lucky to be involved in the school alongside some great teachers and families. She grew up in London and now loves living in Leeds with her young family. She can often be found walking around the city or in the Yorkshire countryside. During the working week, she is a Health Psychologist and works at The University of Manchester.  

Katie Haggerty - Early years and early reading 

Katie is a founding partner of a Leeds-based legal recruitment agency. She has worked in the recruitment industry for over twenty years’ and has extensive experience of advising organisations (including higher education settings) on the implementation of new staff members and growth strategies as well as guest speaking at university and secondary school career events. Outside of work she is mum to two primary school-age children, therefore the role as Early Years Governor seemed a natural choice.

Staff governor

Laura Hart - SEN

Laura is currently a Year 5 teacher at Brudenell Primary school but has been a part of the school team for 10 years and taught all age groups in Key stage 2. She has taken responsibility for Art and design Technology, EAL and now works closely with colleagues  as part of the middle leaders team to coordinate and manage English across school.

Parent governors

Hannah Harris - Finance Governor 

Hannah Harris is a parent to four boys, two of whom attend Brudenell.  Having only recently moved to Leeds she was delighted to discover such a great Primary school so close to her new home.  With a background in business and finance she is the link Governor for Finance.

Ian Joicey - Attendance and parental support governor

Ian has been a  resident of Hyde Park for 16 years and is very interested in helping with the success of Brudenell Primary and its continuing status as a pillar of this changing and vibrant community. He currently has one son at the school and works in the banking sector. 

Local Authority Governor

Jonathan Pryor - Health and Safety

Co-opted Governors

Naziya O'Reilly - Pastoral provision and well-being

Naziya O’Reilly is a lecturer in education and module lead for L7 professional studies on the PGCE Primary programme at Leeds Trinity University. A former primary school teacher, her doctoral research in the philosophy of education explored the implementation of restorative justice practices in schools. Her published articles have focussed on the themes of voice, risk and self-transformation and supporting best practice for teachers. In her current role Naziya seeks to develop an anti-racist curriculum that supports trainees to untangle complex and sensitive topics and that enables them to teach confidently and prepare their pupils for success in modern Britain.

Sheraz Arshad Bhatti

Sheraz Arshad Bhatti is as an international student at Leeds University underatking a masters in Data Science.  He has worked with several large international companies and is keen to support Brudenell during his time in Leeds. He got his first degree in Pakistan and has since completed 2 masters in the U.K.

Anna Dobos (Vice - Chair of Governors) - Child Protection, Child looked after and pupil welfare

Anna is a parent of 4 children who were all Brudenell students, the youngest one being a current student. She studied nutrition and public health at Leeds and York Universities and is now working as a patient coordinator at a health and wellbeing company in Leeds.