Governors Special Responsibilities

Student Discipline/Staff Appeals: Mr Martin Andrews and all available Governors

Special Educational Needs: Ms Linda Newman & Mr Chris Allmey

Training & Development: Mr Martin Andrews

Safeguarding & Looked After Children: Mrs Nikki Fabry

Governors Network Representative: Mrs Jacqi Buyukertas

Buildings: Mr David Watts

Health & Safety: Mr Martin Andrews

Governor Profiles

Name: Martin Andrews
Governor Type: Community Governor
Committee Membership: Chair of Governing Body

Name:  Frank Considine
Governor Type: Community Governor
Committee Membership: Personnel and Finance Committee, and Curriculum and Standards Committee

Link Governor for the following subjects: Performing Arts

I live in Rottingdean with my wife and 2 daughters, and first developed an interest in becoming a governor during the 2007 debate over the Brighton and Hove Secondary Schools Admissions Review, during which I carried out considerable in-depth research into the whole subject of secondary education.  I was subsequently invited to become a Community Governor at Longhill.   My motivation in serving is a desire to make a difference and help to implement changes which will ultimately benefit children from all parts of the new catchment area.

I believe an education is the single most valuable thing a young person can be given.  In a time of economic recession it is more important than ever.  Although it cannot be that every pupil should be expected to achieve a string of A grade GCSEs, it is our policy that each pupil be given the opportunity to achieve his or her potential.

I would like to see the Government’s Community Cohesion policy become a real success with Longhill developing as the central point for the community as a whole.  In order to achieve this we look to students, parents and the wider community to support us in this endeavour.

 Name: Nikki Fabry
Governor Type: Parent
Committee Membership: Community Cohesion

Link Governor for the following subject: Opening Minds & RE

I have been involved in my children’s primary school’s PTA and now Longhill’s PTFA for as long as my children have been at school – and their pre-school before that. I felt that when my son joined Longhill I would like to be involved in the Governing Body and the training courses run by Brighton & Hove Council has given me a certain degree of knowledge to understand the role better. I am particularly interested in the role of the school within the wider community and the challenges of inclusiveness.
Although I have no direct experience of education I have long been involved in charity and voluntary work that supports young people and have been involved in setting up peer listening schemes, promoting anti-bullying and understanding equality and diversity working directly with young people and schools. My day job involves me in areas such as restorative justice and supporting young people through the criminal justice system. This gives me an understanding of partnership agencies and community groups which helps me see a bigger picture. Being a parent governor is a steep learning curve but I have found my fellow governors supportive and encouraging. For me Longhill is a school improving all the time and it is rewarding to be part of that.

Name: Chris Deans
Governor Type: Parent
Committee Membership: Curriculum and Provision

I am a widowed parent with 2 children currently at Longhill. I have a background of working in health and social care for over 20 years.  As an Occupational Therapist I am experienced in enabling people to overcome adversity, achieve their potential and lead fulfilling, independent, lives.

I have become a Governor in order to support Longhill in its aim to maximise the potential of each individual child, as they develop into young adults, and eventually leave Longhill, to take their full place in our modern, changing society.

I am keen for Longhill to offer a fully inclusive, healthy environment for all its staff, students, Governors, families, friends and carers so we can work in partnership to ensure Longhill is a fantastic, successful school and our experiences of Longhill are positive and rewarding.

Name: Chris Allmey

Governor Type: Local Authority
Committee Membership: Teaching & Learning (curriculum and standards)

Link Governor for the following subjects: Science, S.E.N.Gifted & Talented

As a former teacher I have an interest in education. I am also a foster carer for Brighton. I aim to be part of the continuing improvement at Longhill so that every child achieves their full potential.

I believe it is important that students and their families together with staff and governors work closely together aiming for the very best for each child.

Name: Jacki Buyukertas

Governor Type:  Local Authority
Committee Membership : Personnel & Finance and Curriculum & Standards
Link Governor for the following subjects: English

I recently joined the Longhill High School Governing Body in September 2009 but I have been involved in education as a teacher for over 30 years.  For the last 10 years of my career I was Deputy Head at a large successful North London comprehensive school.  
In 2008 my husband and I moved to Saltdean and opened a café in Brighton but I soon realised that I missed being involved in school life! Hence my application to become a school Governor and fortunately there was a vacancy at Longhill.
I have considerable experience and understanding of the education system and the issues facing schools particularly when it comes to raising standards.  I hope to be able to bring this knowledge and understanding to my role as Governor and thus be able to support the Head and the school in decisions on, and the monitoring of, policy and practice.
Being a Governor is not just about going to meetings, it includes supporting the school in attending functions and events as these help bring a greater understanding of how a school “ticks”.  I look forward to spending time in getting to know the school and its community just as I hope the school’s families also do.

Name: Linda Newman

Governor type: Local Authority
Committee membership:  Community Cohesion and Personnel and Finance

Link Governor for the following subjects: Learning Support

I have lived in Woodingdean for nearly all my life and I now have two sons, who both attended Longhill School. I have been a school governor for nearly 20 years but Longhill is the first secondary school role.  I am also a community governor at Woodingdean Primary School.
I currently work for an education trade union where I am their senior resources manager with strategic responsibility for finance, personnel, property and IT.  I have worked in and around higher education throughout my career. I look forward to offering my professional experience to the governing body at Longhill. Another reason for taking on this new role is to complement my voluntary community work. I have been a voluntary youth leader for 40 years and I am currently Trustee and chair of the Deans Youth Project based at Woodingdean Youth Centre. Our team already works in partnership with the school and we also run the Friday evening youth session there.  I firmly believe that education is a 24 hour, lifelong process. The whole community has a role to play in the education and development of children and young people. Longhill also has a central role to play in the community of the Deans area and in other communities that it serves.
I look forward to helping Longhill achieve educational excellence as well as developing its community role.

Name: Dionne Fowle

Governor Type: Parent
Committee Membership: Community Cohesion

Link Governor for the following subjects: PE

I became a Governor when my son was in year 7. I had heard several stories about bullying and unruly behaviour. I wanted to see for myself and find out what actions the school/Governors were taking. I also wanted to be able to dispel the stories that were going around Primary schools where parents were looking at Secondary schools for their children.
Since joining as a Governor I have been impressed with the actions taken by the Leadership team to deal with situations as they arise.

I have recently gained an NVQ level 3 for Teaching Assistants and also work voluntarily in a Primary school 2 days a week helping children with extra requirements, a role I find very fulfilling and one that I am hoping to pursue I the future.

Having 2 boys means a very active household so being the Link Governor for the PE department made good sense. I am very much looking forward to stretching the team in the PE department to ensure that the young people here at Longhill, regardless of ability feel that they have achieved in both an educational and physical area.

I am also on the Community Cohesion committee, this year our goal is very much around inclusion for all. We will be reaching out to the school and surrounding community at different times to ensure that we offer a school for all facility.

Name: Melanie Wilkins

Governor Type: Parent
Committee Membership:  Curriculum & Standards

Link Governor for the following subjects: Science

Education is such an important part of a child’s life , the more we can do to make education enjoyable, accessible and productive the better for the child during their time at school and in their life in the future.

As parent governor and ex-pupil I am keen to see Longhill excel as a school in providing for each young person the education they need.

Name: Dr Christopher Boyne

Governor Type: Community

Committee Membership: Curriculum & Provision

Link Governor for the following subjects: Technology, Information & Communication Technology, Business Studies.

I have been involved in technology education most of my working life and am committed to excellence in education.  I first came to Brighton in the 1960s as a student at Sussex University. After spells in school teaching, in technical education and at several other universities, I came back to Brighton in the 1980s as an information scientist at the University of Brighton, where I have been teaching ever since. Both my children have gone to Longhill, and I have been a parent governor since 2007. I wanted to be a governor in order to play a more active role in helping students and staff at Longhill to continue raising standards, not just in areas of technology teaching, but also in the application of technology to the processes of learning and communication generally. Schooling works best when teachers, pupils and parents can all work together and share aims, and well-planned IT provision makes this more possible than ever before. I want to help Longhill achieve this.

Name: Mr David Watts

Governor Type: Local Authority

Committee Membership: Personnel & Finance

Link Governor for the following subjects: Maths, Administration

I am a Local Education Authority (LEA) Governor, a member of the Personnel & Finance Committee and the link Governor for Maths and Administration.  I have been a Governor at Longhill since the early 1990’s when both my daughters were at the school.  A product of a very good, traditional grammar school, I worked for Royal Mail for 31 years after graduating from Leicester University (BA Hons, Geography & Economics).  I took early retirement from my post of Operations Director 7 years ago.

For the past 4 years I have been working as a Cover Supervisor at the school which obviously gives me a unique opportunity to see at first hand all of the issues that affect “life at Longhill”.  Major interests outside of the “usual family stuff” are travel, theatre, music, cinema and sport, especially England Rugby, Surrey cricket and Crystal Palace FC (legacies of my London SE4 upbringing).

My wife and I also enjoy gardening and are members of the National Trust and English Heritage and enjoy visiting properties and gardens in many parts of the country.  We are also Friends of the Theatre Royal and The Royal Pavilion.

I also try to play some golf (mid Sussex) and am a volunteer at Wakehurst Place helping with their learning programme (school educational visits) and I also organise all the box collections in this area for the RNLI on behalf of the Brighton Lifeboat.

Name; Michelle Kidman

Governor Type: Community

Committee Membership: Personnel & Finance, Curriculum & Standards

Link Governor for the following subjects: Modern Foreign Languages

As a resident in Brighton for 17 years and having worked in social housing and related community services for over 20 years I am very keen to support Longhill Community School as a governor and help maximise its contribution to the welfare and education and prospects of its students. The last very good Ofsted report showed how much can be and is being achieved and I would very much like to play a part in ensuring its continuous progress.

What have I got to bring to the table? Considerable experience in both delivering service improvement on the ground, and in regulating services from my work in the Housing Corporation and Tenant Standards Authority.  As a regulator I worked closely with boards, residents and other partners to ensure excellent  services tailored to the needs of residents and communities, effective governance arrangements and business planning and viability.  I know the importance in working closely in partnership with all stakeholders and in enabling and empowering parents, residents and communities to monitor performance and to have a real part in the decision making process.

In order to be effective as a governor we need the involvement and engagement of students and parents to ensure that the school is achieving its objectives.

 Name: Mr Ray Packman

Governor Type:Community

Committe Membership:Curriculum & Standards

Link Governor for the following subjects: History, ICT(Associate)

I applied to become a Governor because working within the HI-Tech Crime Unit of Sussex Police and dealing with child protection issues on a daily basis, I thought that helping with aspects of my local school would be positive and lighter way of helping within the local community.

 I have always been passionate about learning and finding myself having to constantly train for my own career be it a the Royal college of military science or at a software manufactures course I have found that my thirst for knowledge over the years has increased, and so I would love to try to pass on some of my enthusiasm for learning to others.

I have numerous skills in IT and as a computer forensic specialist and feel I have skills that the school could possibly use. I am very interested in history and am studying for a part time degree with the Open University, I love books art and literature and am very keen on military history and would love to complete a masters and the a PhD in this subject.

As a school governor I hope to bring my skills in IT and my enthusiasm for learning and my passion for history to the table and hope that these will be of use to the school as a whole.

Name: Sheila Love

Governor Type; Parent

Link Governor for the following subjects; Personnel & Finance

I am currently working in tandem with the Link Governor for Administration and look forward to sharing my knowledge, skills and experience of Human Resource Management. I have over twenty years management experience in the public sector and have worked in  education and local government.

 Name: Miss A Smith

Governor Type: Staff

Link Governor for the following subjects: Art

I applied to be a Governor and was appointed this year in July – I hope that as a Governor I can apply my passion for a fair and quality education for all children who attend the school and help portray the importance of creativity in a child’s development.