Governing Body

Governing Body

Here is some information about our Governing Body.

Structure of the Governing Body

The Governing Body is the directors of the company and is also the trustees, constituted under the Articles of Association of the Academy Trust. Governors may also be Members of the Academy Trust.  Click here for links to the Memorandum & Articles of Association and the Funding Agreement.

The Full Governing Body meets 4 times in each academic year. The Chair of Governors is Dr Timo Hannay and the Vice-Chair is Mrs Lisa Coffman, who can be contacted via the School address.  In addition, there are 7 permanent Committees. Please see the links below giving information about the Governors’ Strategic Plan and Code of Conduct, Governor Committees – Areas of Oversight,  Governor Appointments and Governing Body Attendance Table. The Clerk to the Governors is Veronica Haidar, who can be contacted at [email protected].

The Members are:  Mrs Kate Bearman, Ms Francesca Barnes, Mr Peter Cosmetatos, Professor Gary Stephens, Mr Kirit Amin and Mrs Lisa Coffman.

  • Property & Premises – meets 3 times in each academic year (Lisa Coffman (Chair), Jonathan Kendall, Pragya Mehta, Sarah Rollo, Natasha Rosen plus Head, School Business Manager and IT & Estates Manager).
  • Education & Wellbeing – meets 3 times (termly) in each academic year (Governors: Yang Hao (Chair), Lisa Coffman (Safeguarding & Pupil Premium Link Governor), Vanessa Gearson, Esther Bannister, plus Head, Assistant Heads and School Business Manager).
  • Finance, Audit & Fundraising – meets 3 times (termly) in each academic year (Governors: Farah Zaidi (Chair), Gumayel Miah, Timo Hannay, plus Head and School Business Manager).
  • Pay – meets in July each academic year and again as needed (Governors: Chair & Vice-Chair of Governors, Chair of Finance, Audit and Fundraising and Head).

A register of interests can be found below.

 

The Chair of Governors and Clerk to the Governors can be contacted at c/o The Henrietta Barnett School.

Central Square
Hampstead Garden Suburb
London
NW11 7BN
[email protected]

HBS Governors' Strategic Plan and Code of Conduct
Committee Oversight at Henrietta Barnett School
HBS Information about Governors
Dr Timo Hannay - Chair of Governors

Timo is founder of SchoolDash, an education data analytics company, and serves as a non-executive director of SAGE Publishing and Arden University. He is also an advisor to Ada Lovelace Day, which promotes women in STEM, and the Institute for Ethical AI in Education, among other organisations. Two of his daughters attend HBS and another graduated from the school in 2020.

Lisa Coffman - Vice-Chair Governors

Lisa is a corporate lawyer and has worked in several large City private practices as well as in-house.  She now freelances for a number of charities and is the treasurer and co-ordinator for the Barnet Parent Carer Forum as well as a Director of BELS (Barnet Education and Learning Service). She has three daughters, two of whom attended the school, and is an old girl. She has been a parent governor since February 2014 and also governed at the school between January 2006 and December 2009.

Peter Cosmetatos

Peter has been a governor since 2011 and was chair of governors from September 2015 to September 2022, having previously chaired Finance and Property & Premises. His daughter was a student at the school between 2010 and 2017. Peter read modern languages at university and his career spans a decade as a solicitor in the City, followed by more than a decade in senior positions at trade associations for the commercial real estate investment and finance industry.

Vanessa Gearson - Parent Governor

Awaiting bio

Professor Yang Hao

Professor Yang Hao has a daughter at HBS and he is the Dean for Research (Science and Engineering) at Queen Mary University of London. His research interest is applied physics and advanced materials for ICT applications and he is keen to advocate the core values of STEM for school education.

Jonathan Kendall

Jonathan is an architect by profession, specialising in urban design and complex large scale masterplanning. He is a partner in a practice based in central London with approximately 120 staff, and has led significant projects across the UK and internationally. He has also been a lecturer at UCL for over twenty years, where his teaching and research work is focused on urbanism and interdisciplinary practice. He was previously vice chair of governors for a newly formed primary free school in Camden, and has a daughter who joined HBS in 2021.

Farah Zaidi

Farah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC.  After a role at Deutsche Bank, she moved to work with startups and growing companies and has been doing so for the past 10 years. She has two daughters at HBS.

Natasha Rosen

Natasha Rosen is a qualified solicitor with a background in corporate and commercial law, and is currently an advisory lawyer in the Government Legal Department.  She studied Classics at Cambridge and is a former HBS student.

Sarah Rollo - Staff

Sarah Rollo is a Staff Governor. She has been a part-time member of HBS’ Classics department since 2013, teaching Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation. After studying Classics at Oxford, she worked in press and public relations in the charity and health sectors and oversaw communications for BBC World.

Esther Bannister - Co-Opted Governor

Esther taught at HBS between 2014 and 2024, prior to which she worked in financial services. She has a daughter at the school.

Pragya Mehta - Parent Governor

Pragya is a Technical Delivery Leader and a Transformation  Programme consultant at a Fintech firm in London. She has a Masters in Computer Applications and an Economics Honours. She has been associated with the HBS Parents Association for the last 8 years as a member and chair. She has one daughter currently studying in HBS and one who graduated in 2020.

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