Governor Biographies

Catherine McPhee – Parent Governor

Experience and Skill Set
Housing, Regulation, Governance, Risk, Management

Profession and Job Roles
Regulation Team Manager

About Me
I am first and foremost a parent to a wonderful son who really benefits from being part of the Wilson Stuart Community. My husband and I love to spend time with our two boys and our wider family – who we rely on so much!

I have worked in social housing for 17 years and in regulation for over a decade. Part of my job as a regulator is to observe governing bodies, so I have some idea of what works well. I have an MSc from the London School of Economics in Housing & Regeneration, but that seems a very long time ago now!

Motivation
I became a governor because I wanted to give something back to the school that has really changed my family’s life for the better. I work full-time so have been unable to participate in school life as much as I would like but given that meetings are in the evening this role gives me the opportunity to get involved. I understand first-hand the challenges of parenting a child with additional and complex needs and how fundamental a part of their lives school is. Wilson Stuart is an excellent setting; the dedication of staff to our son’s wellbeing and happiness never fails to impress us. I am keen to play a role in making sure that excellence continues and our children, who sometimes are unable to speak for themselves, get the education and care they deserve.

Iram Fardus – Community Governor

Experience and Skill Set
Project/ Programme Management, Community Development, Community Learning, VCFSE Partnership Development, Staff development, Quality Assurance and Compliance, Income generation for business sustainability and growth.

Profession and Job Roles
Head of Business Development and Performance

About Me
I am passionate about helping and supporting people professionally and personally. I worked in the FE sector for many years before joining the Community-Led Housing Association (Witton Lodge) in 2015. During my employment, I have had the opportunity to lead and manage various teams, and programmes and what inspires and motivates me the most is the impact we make in the community and neighbourhoods. I enjoy learning and meeting new people and am always keen to acquire new skills and knowledge and develop personal qualities to improve myself.

Motivation
I am keen to support young people and enable them to access services and opportunities that can help them achieve their potential. While working at Witton Lodge, CA, I have built a strong working relationship with colleagues at Wilson Stuart School and value their ambitions to support young people through ongoing community involvement. Over the past year, students have been involved in various projects while working at the Sycamore Court, Perry Common Library and most recently, the Eco Hub.
On a personal level, I have two nephews with special education needs, and spending time with them is always full of fun and excitement. This experience has also enabled me to understand some of the frustrations families and parents often face due to a lack of support or resources to provide good-quality support for their children. I look forward to supporting the school in establishing better connections with communities and wider stakeholders.

Si Halfhead – Community Governor

Experience and Skill Set
Education (Primary)

Profession and Job Roles
Having spent the majority of my teaching time in Early Years and Key Stage 1, I worked as a class teacher, phase leader and senior leader in Sandwell before moving to Stafford to carry out a similar role. This experience gives me an insight and understanding into strategic school development; specifically regarding curriculum design, high quality teaching strategies and maximising pupil progress. Since my previous role as a teacher, I have transitioned into Higher Education where I am involved with Initial Teacher Training (Primary Education) at the University of Wolverhampton.

About Me
Originally a northerner, I have spent the past 11 years living in various areas around the West Midlands before finally settling down in Stafford with my partner and my step-daughter. In my spare time, I spend a lot of time with friends and family, playing a reasonable amount of football and taking my dog for walks in the woods!

Motivation
Having come out of the classroom earlier than I expected, being a governor gives me the sense of belonging and purpose that I sometimes miss. Being an advocate for life-long learning, starting as early as possible, it took Simon less than 10 minutes to convince me to be a governor whilst walking around Wilson Stuart – I look forward to making positive contributions to what is, already, a fantastic setting.

Ruth Hopkins – Community Governor

Experience and Skill Set
Inclusive Arts, Business Consultancy, Executive MBA

Profession and Job Roles
Founding Director of K’antu Ensemble (music and heritage)
Professional Musician and Facilitator
Recruitment Consultancy

About Me
As a musician, I perform internationally as a soloist and with K’antu Ensemble. I have broadcast on TV and Radio and collaborate with dancers and actors for multimedia and site-specific historical performances for heritage events. My team at K’antu Ensemble deliver a diverse programme of arts projects and staff development for schools, care homes and disability charities in the UK and internationally.

I have explored innovative approaches to presenting music during an artistic residency in Canada and have undertaken postgraduate research assessing the impact of singing on communication development in non-verbal ASD children. Most recently, I led a 3-year disability outreach programme for the Commonwealth Games where K’antu Ensemble worked with schools across Birmingham, including Wilson Stuart.

Motivation
I advocate for the unique role music can play in breaking down barriers and increasing children’s confidence to support learning goals, communication, physical development and wellbeing, particularly in SEND settings. To this end, I undertook an Executive MBA at the Saïd Business School, where I focused particularly on strategy & innovation, inclusive design and diversity.

Each time I work with staff at Wilson Stuart, I am struck by their passion and dedication which creates an exceptional learning environment for pupils. I am keen to support ongoing innovations within the school as a governor. Continuing to develop synergies between arts organizations, charities and schools established during the Commonwealth Games project, will amplify the positive impact of such work.

Jagwant Johal – Community Governor

Experience and Skill Set

Local Government, Community Development, Voluntary Sector, Racial Equality and Equity, Campaigning and Activism 

Profession and Job Roles
Various roles in Local Government, inclusive of Chief Officer and currently Co-Founder of the Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG). Plus, a range of positions in a voluntary capacity at local and national level.  

About Me
After spending a lifetime in local government, I am now retired. However, busy as ever giving back with various voluntary roles at Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Trust, Witton Lodge Community Homes CIC and Legacy West Midlands. Most of my time is spent developing BRIG, which I co-founded after the racist murder of George Floyd in 2020.  

I am a dad of three daughters and a son. Now blessed with seven grandchildren. So much for retirement. Three of my children had a special educational needs (SEN) statement. As a family we had to constantly battle to secure the resources and provision to meet their specific education needs.  

Motivation 
First and foremost, I’m a community activist looking to bring about an equitable city where genuine opportunities can be secured by paralleled equitable access. My journey and outlook for justice, fair play and deep and meaningful change is grounded by my cultural lived experience in Birmingham. 

My own family’s experience of navigating the SEN system, going to tribunal, and supporting others to do so over three decades illustrates little has changed.in fact things have got much worse. In my view we now have a broken SEND system where resourcing children’s SEN’s has become secondary to propping statutory service from a reducing funding base.  

Whilst working at Witton Lodge Community Associations, I struck up an excellent relationship with colleagues at Wilson Stuart and highly valued the school’s work, achievements and contribution to the community. When I was approached to become Governor, I didn’t hesitate in agreeing to the opportunity of support the school. I’m particularly interested in supporting our young people in transitioning to society and work as valued members of our society and community.  

Sharon Wells – Community Governor

Experience and Skill Set

I have been a governor since 2008 at a local primary school. I am a member of the Finance, Staffing and Premises committee and have been Chair of Governors and Chair of Finance.

Profession and Job Roles
I am qualified School Business Manager, working at a local primary school since 2009. I am responsible for finance, human resources, premises, health and safety and the ICT infrastructure. As part of the leadership team we work tirelessly to provide the best outcomes for our pupils.

About Me
I am a proud parent and advocate of a child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. I have been married for 22 years, live in Sutton Coldfield and have two sons. My eldest son is a PE Teacher at a secondary school in Solihull and my youngest has just started at Leeds University. We have enjoyed holidays and the cultures in America, India, Dubai, Israel, Barbados, Spain and Portugal. I am a keen netballer and also enjoy reading and socialising.

Motivation
My interest in education extends beyond my professional role and I am keen to serve and make a positive difference to the community. I believe that every child should be given the opportunity to be the very best they can be and education is pivotal to that outcome.

Simon Harris – Executive Headteacher

Experience and Skill Set
I have been involved in education for 23 years and I passionately believe that every single individual child deserves a bespoke learning journey that prepares them effectively for their life beyond school.

Over the years I have driven a wide range of initiatives and taken on a huge number of leadership roles and I am delighted to now be Executive Headteacher at Wilson Stuart School

Profession and Job Roles
I started my mainstream teaching career as a Secondary School PE teacher and progressed to Head of PE in a large Birmingham Grammar School. I then moved into the Special School sector and have been employed by Wilson Stuart / Education Impact Academy Trust since 2002. Starting as a one man PE team and then through the School’s Sports College status becoming Director of Specialism. At this time, Wilson Stuart were at the forefront of National Sports Development.

As Applied Learning was added to the School’s specialisms, I became Assistant Headteacher in 2008 and then was promoted to Deputy Headteacher in 2011.

In July 2018, I moved to Mayfield School for 2 years as Interim Headteacher and then returned to Wilson Start as Executive Headteacher in September 2020.

About Me
I live in Sutton Coldfield and have been married for 20 years. I have 3 daughters who keep me very busy when I am not working and I love running and playing golf.

Motivation
Every student in our school deserves the very best educational experience and we will deliver that by constantly striving to innovate and improve our provision. Better Never Ends!

Neil Dawson – Staff Governor

Experience and Skill Set

Over my time at Wilson Stuart I have coached teams and individuals to many successes and honours at the following levels, local, regional, national and international. As we are still recovering from the fallout from the Covid Pandemic I am relishing the challenge of implementing the new daily physical development programme, focusing on gross and fine motor development, well-being through physical activity.

Profession and Job Roles
I started my mainstream teaching career as a Secondary School PE teacher and progressed to an assistant head of year and school sport co-ordinator where got my first experience of Wilson Stuart School. When an opportunity arose to become part of the Wilson Stuart Team/Family on a full time basis I moved into the Special School sector and have been employed by Wilson Stuart / Education Impact Academy Trust since 2009.

I began my time at Wilson Stuart as Assistant Partnership Development Manager for the School Sports Partnership and then became the Head of PE and in the last 12 months have been promoted to the position of Director of Learning for Physical Development, Health and Wellbeing.

About Me
I live in Sutton Coldfield and I have two young children who keep me very busy…when the opportunity does arise I enjoy playing or watching sport and getting on my mountain bike.

Motivation
Every at pupil at Wilson Stuart School deserves a fun and enjoyable educational experience which prepares them for life after they leave the school.