Governance

Sarah Parsons

Date of appointment: 01.06.2019

Sarah was appointed Chair of the Whittingham Primary Academy Local Governing Body in June 2019, shortly after the school joined the United Learning Trust.  She is a mother of two young children, one of whom attends Whittingham Primary Academy and the other will start soon.  She trained in architecture and Urban Design, and has worked in planning and regeneration for two London Boroughs. In November 2019, she joined the London Borough of Waltham Forest as Head of Place and Design.

Vinnie Sivadev

Date of appointment: 03.12.2019

Vinnie graduated with an MEng in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southampton. She has since been working as a Management Consultant at Accenture and now Masternaut, focusing on business transformation and improving productivity of  public sector organisations and FTSE 100 companies. Vinnie has a keen interest in social mobility and has been a regular volunteer at education charities such as Teach First, Stemmettes and Young Enterprise UK before joining the governing body at Whittingham Primary Academy.

Maeve Cantwell-Hope

Date of appointment: 01.09.2019

Maeve is a mum of three with her eldest in Year 3 and her middle one starting Reception this year.  She has lived in Walthamstow for 16 years when she moved to complete her training to become a solicitor and moved to Higham Hill five years ago to accommodate her growing family and to take advantage of the excellent schools!

Maeve is practical, direct and willing to learn.  She has strong negotiating and mediating skills and is looking forward to being able to put these skills to use to help Whittingham become the school that everyone wants it to be.  Maeve is passionate about quality education and at Whittingham found strong academic focus alongside a warm nurturing environment and one that was keen to foster the children’s imaginations.  These are all the things that Maeve hopes she will be able to support and encourage within the school.  Maeve strongly believes that Whittingham should be engaged with its community, locally and across London and as part of United Learning feels that we have the benefit of being able to pool resources and expertise to make children’s education the most stimulating and rewarding experience possible.  Maeve is a good listener, approachable and would like to think that she will be an advocate for parental concerns and be able to act as an effective liaison with the school and United Learning.

Ensuring that the school provides a warm and welcoming environment for all children is important to Maeve.  She recognises that the school has a diverse and culturally rich community which offers so much opportunity for children to learn from and this should be encouraged and fostered.  Maeve's family has two mums and she will champion the joyful inclusion of LGBTQ+ children, parents and staff within the school.

Christopher Miller

Date of appointment: 01.09.2019

Chris is the longest serving teacher at Whittingham Primary Academy and his teaching career stretches to almost two decades.

Chris has a real passion for physical education and possesses a proven track record operating in leadership roles within both secondary and primary schools. Throughout his career, he has significantly contributed to pupil wellbeing, executing continued improvement programmes and instilling a culture of positivity, inclusion and diversity.

Stella Olukanmi

Date of appointment: 01.09.2019

Stella Olukanmi is an ordained Anglican Priest serving as the Minister of St Andrew’s Church, Higham Hill.  The church is a partnership of Anglicans and Baptists, but all are welcome.  The church serves the local community and the members range from 90+ to 3 year olds.  Stella's ministry has been in inner city and urban multicultural churches. 

Stella has been privileged to run holiday clubs for primary school children for several years as well as camps and Sunday school.  She loves to see all children thrive and encourages them to try new things whilst gaining confidence through activities such as music, role play, reading, sports and arts and crafts.

Natasha Bhambhra

Date of appointment: 15.01.2020