Local Governing Body

The Local Governing Body for our school is a vital part of the governance structure of this school and the Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools.  The structure is outlined below and for more information about the Trust click here.

Local Governing Bodies (LGBs) undertake a crucial role in providing detailed challenge and support to ensure that the school’s leadership team fulfil their responsibilities for delivering strong educational outcomes. Their valuable role in community, parent and partner engagement and their visibility in the schools is immeasurable and goes beyond any core delegated responsibilities as presented in the Trust’s scheme of delegation.

LGBs are established as committees of the Federation Board. Their role is to advise, support and challenge school leaders and to provide a focal point for building strong relationships in the interest of progressing the chances of students at Leathersellers’ schools. In essence the role of LGB members is to:

• understand what it feels like for a child to be educated at the school
• understand the experience of being an employee of at the school
• understand the relationship between school staff, families and the community
• and be an ambassador for the school and the federation

The membership for LGBs is expected to include

• Two elected parents
• One staff member
• Two members appointed by the Leathersellers’ Company
• A minimum of four co-opted members

Membership of the LGB

1. Mark Hewitt (Chair) - Co-opted
2. Zoe Kinstone - Parent
3. Julian Barrow - LSC
4. Ashley Matthews - Co-opted
5. Shikira Alleyne-Samuel - Co-opted
6. Faith Agbakoba - LSC
7. Claire Grant - Co-opted
8. Claire Styles - Co-opted
9. George Dada - Parent
10. Jess Tratt - Co-opted
11. Dominic Barnett - Staff

Contact Prendergast Ladywell School LGB:  governance@leathersellers-federation.com

LGB Terms of Reference

LGB Declarations of Interest

Current Governing Board

Year 10 announcements 

Please ensure that all pupils remain in lessons unless they have a valid pass. Only students with an authorised pass should be allowed out of class. Please check ClassCharts before allowing the pupils out. 

We are seeing an increasing number of Year 10 pupils leaving lessons without passes, often to find their Pastoral Manager. This is causing unnecessary disruption and taking Simone away from important administrative duties.

Please uphold this expectation consistently, in line with school policy.

Thank you for your support.

 

Prendergast Ladywell LGB Register of interests
Current governing board
		Interests
Name and appointment	Confirmed	Organisation	Type of interest	Notes				From	To
Name: Faith Agbakoba Appointment: Foundation governor Term of office start: 23/07/2025 Term of office end: 22/07/2029 Appointed by: -	Nothing to Declare: 23/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Shikira Alleyne-Samuel Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 16/01/2028 Appointed by: Fed Board	Nothing to Declare: 20/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Dominic Barnett Appointment: Staff governor Term of office start: 13/04/2026 Term of office end: 12/04/2030 Appointed by: Staff	Nothing to Declare: 13/04/2026	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Julian Barrow Appointment: Foundation governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 16/01/2028 Appointed by: LSC	Nothing to Declare: 10/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Claire Grant Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 25/11/2024 Term of office end: 24/11/2028 Appointed by: Fed Board	Nothing to Declare: 22/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Niall Hand Appointment: Headteacher Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Nothing to Declare: 02/10/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Mark Hewitt Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 03/05/2025 Term of office end: 02/05/2029 Appointed by: Fed Board	Confirmed: 11/09/2025	Kent County Council	Business or finance interests	Employer				18/08/2024	-
	Confirmed: 11/09/2025	Unison	Business or finance interests	Union membership				01/09/2024	-
Name: Zoe Kinstone Appointment: Parent governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 16/01/2028 Appointed by: Parents	Confirmed: 24/09/2025	Prendergast Ladywell School (Primary)	Personal or close family relationship	My wife is contracted to run Forest School sessions for Reception and Year 1. She also runs after school forest school club for Y1-6. She previously worked as an Early Years Practitioner in reception during the 2022-23 academic year, including delivering Forest School sessions.				01/09/2023	31/07/2026
Name: Ashley Matthews Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 16/01/2028 Appointed by: Fed Board	Nothing to Declare: 18/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: George Nada Appointment: Parent governor Term of office start: 01/09/2025 Term of office end: 31/08/2029 Appointed by: Parents	Confirmed: 23/09/2025	-	none	-				-	-
Name: Claire Styles Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 24/01/2025 Term of office end: 23/01/2029 Appointed by: Trust Board	Confirmed: 15/09/2025	Prendergast Ladywell School	Personal or close family relationship	Son in Year 10				01/09/2022	01/07/2027
	Confirmed: 15/09/2025	Prendergast School	Personal or close family relationship	Son in Year 10				01/09/2022	01/07/2027
Name: Jess Tratt Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 01/09/2025 Term of office end: 31/08/2029 Appointed by: Trust Board	Confirmed: 03/09/2025	Ambition Institute	Work for a education organsation	I work for an organisation that provides teacher training and ongoing teacher professional development.				05/06/2022	-

 

Other positions
		Interests
Name and appointment	Confirmed	Organisation	Type of interest	Notes				From	To
Name: Mel Aitken Appointment: Clerk Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Nothing to Declare: 16/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Edmund Coogan Appointment: Observer Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Not Confirmed	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Kelly Lovegrove Appointment: Observer Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Nothing to Declare: 23/09/2025	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Karen  Monaghan Appointment: Observer Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Not Confirmed	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Viv Nicholls Appointment: Head of School Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Nothing to Declare: 23/09/2024	-	-	-				-	-
Name: Jill Palliser Appointment: Other Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: -	Not Confirmed	-	-	-				-	-

 

Historical positions
		Interests
Name	Confirmed	Organisation	Type of interest	Notes	From	To
Name: Thomas McCarthy Appointment: Staff governor Term of office start: 14/10/2024 Term of office end: 28/01/2026 Appointed by: Staff Effective removal date: 28/01/2026	Nothing to Declare: 23/09/2025	-	-	-	-	-
Name: Jacqueline Phillips Owen Appointment: Foundation governor Term of office start: - Term of office end: 22/07/2025 Appointed by: LSC Effective removal date: 30/07/2025	Nothing to Declare: 11/09/2024	-	-	-	-	-
Name: Helen Ingham Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 01/08/2025 Appointed by: Fed Board Effective removal date: 29/07/2025	Confirmed: 15/09/2024	Ivydale Primary School	Business or finance interests	I am headteacher at Ivydale, a primary school that is local to PLS	01/09/2010	30/04/2024
Name: Tom McTague Appointment: Parent governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 28/04/2025 Appointed by: Parents Effective removal date: 29/04/2025	Confirmed: 15/09/2024	UnHerd	Business or finance interests	Journalist	23/01/2023	-
Name: Tom McTague Appointment: Parent governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 28/04/2025 Appointed by: Parents Effective removal date: 29/04/2025	Confirmed: 15/09/2024	Windmill Manor Ltd	Business or finance interests	Director — book writing and other media	16/06/2021	-
Name: Andrew Spencer Appointment: Co-opted governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 16/01/2028 Appointed by: Fed Board Effective removal date: 31/12/2024	Confirmed: 12/09/2024	Barbican Arts Centre - City of London	Personal or close family relationship	My wife is the CEO and employed by The City of London. Leathersellars  operates within The City of London Corporation.	17/01/2024	-
Name: Alex  Gwinnett Appointment: Staff governor Term of office start: 17/01/2024 Term of office end: 16/01/2028 Appointed by: Staff Effective removal date: 01/03/2024	Confirmed: 27/01/2024	NEU	Union	NEU rep for Prendergast Ladywell Member of Lewisham NEU Committee	-	-
Name: Mel Greener Appointment: Clerk Term of office start: - Term of office end: - Appointed by: - Effective removal date: 27/11/2023		-	-	-	-	-

LGB Record of Attendance

	Prendergast Ladywell LGB Attendance 2024/25
	Y = Attended, N = Apologies Accepted, NA = Apologies not Accepted, NS = No Apologies sent, ? = Attendance Not Marked, Blank = Not Required, CA = Consent for absence, - = Not applicable
	PLS LGB PLS LGB PLS LGB PLS LGB Governor Governor Type 18 Sep 2024 25 Nov 2024 17 Mar 2025 10 Jun 2025 Faith Agbakoba Co-opted governor     Y Y Mel Aitken Clerk Y Y Y Y Shikira Alleyne-Samuel Co-opted governor N Y Y Y Julian Barrow Foundation governor Y Y Y ? Claire Grant Co-opted governor     Y Y Niall Hand Headteacher Y Y Y Y Mark Hewitt Co-opted governor       Y Helen Ingham Co-opted governor Y Y Y Y Ms Zoe Kinstone Parent governor NS Y Y Y Ashley Matthews Co-opted governor Y N Y Y Thomas McCarthy Staff governor   Y Y Y Tom McTague   Y Y N   Dr Jacqueline Phillips Owen Foundation governor Y Y N Y Mr Andrew Spencer   N Y     Claire Styles Co-opted governor     Y Y