Beam has an excellent governing body with a diverse background, with each member bringing unique skills to our school. Anyone aged 18 or over can become a school governor; no specialist qualifications are needed, and people from many different backgrounds can volunteer for the role: enthusiasm, commitment and an interest in education are the most essential qualities. As a school governor, your duties will include assessing the strategic direction, policies and objectives, approving the budget, reviewing progress against the budget and objectives, challenging and supporting senior staff, and playing a part in appointing staff.
The purpose of governance is to:
… provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.
The 3 core functions of the governing board are:
Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils and the performance management of staff
Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent
To read the full Code of Conduct for the Governing Body:
You can contact the governing body by sending a letter to the school, marked for the attention of the ‘Chair of the Governing Body’.You can also email CoG@beam.bardaglea.org.uk.
The membership of the Governing body:
The role of a local governing body is important. The governing body monitors the school’s key performance indicators and acts as a critical friend to the Headteacher and the school’s Senior Leadership Team, providing challenge where appropriate.
INSTRUMENT OF GOVERNMENT
The name of the school is Beam County Primary School
The school is a community school.
The name of the governing body is "The governing body of Beam County Primary School"
The governing body shall consist of:
Three parent governors
One LA governor
One staff governor
One headteacher
Six co-opted governors - the Instrument of Government to be increased by one additional co-opted governor.
Total number of governors = 12 – this will be updated to 13
The term of office of all categories of governor is four years.
Co-opted Governors
The majority of governors we place are co-opted governors. These volunteers don’t have to have a connection to the school, religion, or local authority. Co-opted governors, in the opinion of the governing board, have the skills and experience required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. They are sometimes called community governors as they often (but not always) come from the community the school is in and know the needs of that community well. They will act in the best interests of the school and the wider community.
Parent Governors We have three parent governors. They are there to offer a perspective from the parent community on the board. A proxy parent governor can join the board if a school can’t recruit a parent governor. A proxy parent governor is simply someone who has children of school age. Parent governors have the same responsibilities as other types of governors.
Staff Governor A staff governor is elected as a representative staff member on the board. Their role is to bring a staff perspective to discussions held by the governing board.
Associate members are not governors, and they are not recorded in the instrument of government; they are appointed to a committee of the governing board for their specific skills and expertise.
Sevim is a former Beam pupil who is now a Strategy Advisor at the Department for Education. She leads on apprenticeships in schools and has also worked in Social Mobility in the Department. Sevim’s previous experience includes international policy at the Department of Health, strategy at the London Borough of Camden and graduate recruitment at TeachFirst. She also worked at the Social Mobility Foundation after completing her Philosophy and History degree at the University of Southampton.
I am Donna Lumsden, I am a foster carer who specialises in looking after challenging behavioural children. Some of the children that I foster may be: autistic; have mental health issues; complex needs; subject to substance abuse; have special needs or a disability. My current foster child is a very challenging child who I have to teach to live a very good fulfilled lifestyle.
My current foster child is a very challenging autistic child who I have been supporting and nurturing to live a fulfilling lifestyle by giving him holistic care.
My current job as a foster carer was inspired while working as a support worker with Tower Hamlet authority working with mental health and substance abuse patients and Newham authority working with disabled, autistic, special needs and complex children, where my manager told me I have a good heart and am passionate about my job.
I was encouraged and recommended by the Councillors of River Ward to become a School Governor to a prestigious school like Beam County School. This has been a real honour and pleasure for me. The Executive Head, Head of School and all the teachers are a fantastic team to work with.
My hobbies are: Cake decorating, flower making, reading and gardening.
Vision: Beam County School to be the first to achieve London level grade.
I am of Caribbean heritage, where I started my career as a Mathematics and Sciences teacher. While I thoroughly enjoyed being a teacher, and the satisfaction of seeing my students’ progress with successful achievements in examinations, I had a deeper passion for e-Commerce and Digital technologies; hence I migrated to the UK to pursue postgraduate studies in this area. Since then, my career in the UK has evolved within the discipline of E-Commerce and Digital Marketing.
When I initially moved to Dagenham, I was a bit unsure as I had no family or friends in the local area. However, I’ve come to love and thrive here, and my son now attends Beam Primary School. I’m very pleased with his progress so far, his love of school, and the excitement in his voice when he talks about what he’s learned, or the day’s activities with his friends and teachers.
I am honoured to be selected as Parent Governor and look forward to taking on and growing in this role. I’m very enthusiastic, excited, and committed to working with the other Governors to help shape and positively influence the direction of the school, to continue the great progress and attainments the school has achieved over the years.
Simon Cole is an office/commercial professional with over 35 years of experience working within the electricity utility industry. He has been a Governor at Beam for over 15 years, and both his children and nieces and nephews have been pupils at Beam. With his wealth of commercial and financial acumen, Simon chairs the Finance Committee.
Simon is an extremely hardworking and professional Account Manager with a distinguished history; he is a very well-organised and detail-oriented individual with experience in managing overlapping projects, keeping track of deadlines, and being proficient in time management. A strong analytical thinker with problem-solving skills and proactive in identifying opportunities for improvement. Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build rapport and working relationships with customers. Simon has exceptional leadership and supervisory abilities; successfully recruit, train, mentor and motivate highly productive teams and support personnel.
In Simon’s spare time, he is a Goal Keeping coach for a local grass-roots team, and a number of pupils from Beam are active players at the same football club.
Lando Du Plooy brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to educational excellence in his role as Interim Chair of Governors for Beam County Primary. As a practising Headteacher of two primary schools in Newham, Lando has a strong track record of leadership, school improvement, and governance. His expertise extends beyond individual schools, as he also serves as Chair of Governors for the management committee overseeing Newham’s Pupil Referral Units, ensuring high standards and strong leadership across alternative provisions.
Passionate about equity in education, Lando is the co-founder of an anti-racism education charity dedicated to providing training and development for school leaders, young people and staff. His work in this area reflects his commitment to fostering inclusive, high-quality learning environments for all children.
In addition to his leadership roles, Lando also currently serves as an Ofsted inspector, giving him valuable insight into best practices in school improvement and governance. His dedication to supporting school leaders in building great schools lies at the heart of his work, ensuring that every child receives the education they deserve.
Growing up in apartheid South Africa, I witnessed first-hand the profound negative impact the denial of quality education can have on individuals and communities. It instilled in me a deep commitment to promoting equality in education. It made me realise the importance of education as a tool for social mobility and an instrument to break cycles of poverty and oppressive ideologies.
After dedicating 28 years to teaching in both primary and secondary school settings, I am eager to share my experiences and contribute to shaping the educational landscape at Beam County Primary School. I am passionate about advocating for the needs of students, teachers, and the wider school community. I believe the school governor role presents a unique opportunity to serve the Beam community.
As an Early Career Teacher (ECT) mentor and wellbeing lead, I am wholeheartedly dedicated to supporting the next generation of educators to ensure their success in our noble profession.
My background is in politics, media and education.
After graduating with a BSc in Media, I worked in advertising and gained invaluable insight into how media can impact behaviour. Subsequently, a much-needed career change led me into mentoring, where I coordinated and delivered programmes for at-risk young people across London; I worked in this field for over ten years and am considered a mentoring expert when I do targeted intervention work and presentations..
I take a holistic approach to education and personal development, and in 2015, I entered the world of environmental politics by coordinating political campaigns for the Green Party. My media and mentoring background were invaluable, and my interest in environmental issues alerted me to the huge impact nature and environment can have upon a child's cognitive development. .
Currently, I am a secondary school English teacher.
I am delighted to join the Beam Governing Body as a Parent Governor from 2021. My child is currently in Year 1 and seeing how the school delivered online learning during the pandemic was exceptional and it feels good to be joining a great team. My past experiences include working in various Public Sector organisations, which include the NHS, Local Charities and now working for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Community Solutions.
In the past I have also worked as a voluntary youth worker and have been involved in setting up various community projects which included summer schemes and poetry writing projects for the local youth. I have also been involved in mentoring schemes as I was a peer mentor in my secondary school for Year 7 children and also part of the National Mentoring consortium at University of Greenwich. My previous role in the NHS as a Deputy Costing Accountant showed me how important financial decisions are, as they have an impact on the organisations service delivery. I hope my past experiences and knowledge would have a positive contribution to the decisions made by the governing body.
Councillor Philip Waker
I have been on the Governing Body for about 25 years and Chair of Governors for about 10 years.
I am also a Governor of Leys Primary and Eastbrook. I recently became Chair of Eastbrook School and believe in striving to get the children of Barking and Dagenham the best education possible.
I am particularly grateful to all the Governors of Beam School and the efforts they make to encourage, support and challenge the school to continue its amazing record of improvement.
Beam County Primary School was always good, but thanks to the efforts of all staff and the school leadership team I have seen it become even better each year that goes by. Some of its results are consistently among the best primary results in the country, but it also has a wide cultural and sporting focus that helps to create a well rounded school experience for all those that come to the school.
As a Village Ward Councillor for around 14 years I have had a particular interest in Housing and when responsible for Housing for the borough fought to change the national financing structure of council housing. We led and won that battle and were then able to start building council housing for the first time in well over 20 years as well as improving our current stock. I believe that decent housing is fundamentally important for the education of our children and am particularly concerned about the lack of decent housing and the high costs of housing, particularly in London and the South East.
As a Councillor I am currently the Chair of the Living and Working Select committee that scrutinises housing, environmental issues in the Council as well transport and employment issues in general. I am also a member of the Council’s Development Control Board and Personnel Board.
I was a Post Office/Royal Mail employee for many years and was a Communication Workers Union representative for much of that time. I was on the National Executive of the Communication Workers Union for about 10 years.
The staff of Beam School have always been willing to assist the improvement of other schools and I am proud of my association with the school through the Governing Body.
I am a former teacher and Head of a Pupil Referral Unit with experience in working with pupils with social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. I worked for over 7 years in Barking & Dagenham Council as Head of Inclusion and am passionate about supporting our vulnerable children and their families to succeed and thrive.
I am currently Director at my organisation, Educating Horizons and our ethos is "changing systems to change lives". We aim to address prevailing inequity in the education system for our underserved communities. My initiatives, such as the Vulnerable Pupil Hot Clinic, have resulted in the lowest exclusion rates in London at the secondary school level. My work addresses the disproportionate impact of oppressive systems and has earned me recognition, including a Global Impact Award and Distinguished Fellow status from the International Forum for Inclusion Practitioners and, most recently, the Catalyst for Change Award (2025).
I am proud to be a governor for an inclusive school such as Beam Primary in its quest to unlock a future generation of achievers (regardless of background or barriers)
Growing up in Dagenham, I attended Richard Alibon Primary School and Sacred Heart RC for Girls, Dagenham (predecessor to All Saints).
Teaching was a calling from a very young age (I loved school), and I was adamant that I would teach in Dagenham. At its core, Dagenham has a strong sense of community. As a headteacher at a primary school in Dagenham, I am proud to give back to the community where I grew up. Furthermore, I am pleased to say that all three of my children attended their primary school education in Dagenham. My daughter also attended Barking Abbey (for the Basketball Academy).
As an experienced educator and community leader passionate about fostering excellence in education and as a Trustee at a Secondary Grammar school and governor at Brook 6th Form and Academy, I bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to my role as headteacher.
Having served in various capacities within the education sector for nearly 30 years, I understand the intricacies of educational development.
I am committed to ensuring that every pupil at Beam receives a high-quality education that prepares our children for future success. Moreover, I believe in fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment where pupils can continue to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Pearl Kowlessar (RN, RM, MSc Quality & Safety in Health)
Parent Governor
I am a mother of 3 children, 1 on which still attends Beam County Primary School. I joined the Board of Governors as a Parent Governor in 2017.
I am very enthusiastic about being able to offer my support and professional skills to this wonderful school and team, whose values and ethos I share.
I have over 20 years’ experience of Governance and Senior Management within the NHS. With my experience of senior leadership, governance and risk management I am keen to back the development and progress of the school by providing support and being a critical friend to the Leadership of the School. I hope that I will be able to offer some of those skills in useful ways as a Governor, as well as providing more general strategic and practical support to the school.
Whilst I have worked in the Health Sector (UK and Trinidad) for more than 25 years, I have always been very interested in education and the development and welfare of children. I am pleased to give back to my community as I have seen from my 2 older kids, the positive impact this school have had on them and have nurtured them into strong, respectful and focused young adults.
I have taken on responsibility as governor for Health and Wellbeing, support the school with the Safeguarding agenda and I am also a member of the School Improvement Sub-Committee. I am really enjoying the role of Governor and look forward to continuing working with the teams.
The Governing Board currently operates a circle model of governance, whereby Governors work collectively as a 'whole team' with minimal committees; currently, they meet six times per year (once per half-term) to make decisions, consider monitoring reports and recommendations, and conduct routine business.
Our governing body operates a streamlined governance model that ensures effective oversight and strategic input while maintaining clear accountability. Unlike traditional committee structures with voting rights, we have adopted a working party system focusing on key school operations areas. These working parties are essential in facilitating discussion, reviewing reports, and providing feedback to the Full Governing Body (FGB).
Working Parties
We currently have two designated working parties:
1. Premises, Health & Safety Working Party
This group reviews matters related to the school's physical environment, health and safety protocols, and site management. They scrutinise reports the school team prepares, ask relevant questions, and ensure that the school complies with statutory requirements and best practices.
2. Pupil Experience Working Party Focused on pupils' holistic development, this group examines reports on teaching and learning, pupil welfare, extracurricular activities, and the overall pupil experience. It also discusses policies and initiatives to ensure that they align with the school's vision and the best interests of the pupils.
Process and Reporting The working parties do not have decision-making authority but serve as advisory groups that support the Full Governing Body. They review reports provided by the school team, raise pertinent queries, and engage in meaningful discussions to explore potential improvements or areas of concern. Their collective feedback and recommendations are then presented to the Full Governing Body, which makes formal decisions based on the information provided.
Benefits of This Model Efficient Governance: Allows for focused discussions in key areas without the complexity of multiple voting committees. Collaborative Approach: Encourages thorough engagement and input from governors without formal decision-making constraints. Strategic Oversight: Ensures that all decisions remain within the remit of the Full Governing Body, maintaining accountability and compliance with governance regulations.
This governance structure enables us to remain responsive to the school's needs while maintaining a clear and effective decision-making process. By leveraging the expertise and insights of our governors through working parties, we ensure that school leadership is supported in driving continuous improvement and delivering the best outcomes for our pupils.
Finance is currently a separate committee that scrutinises finance in more depth six times an academic year by looking at the accounts and audits, forecasting, and budgeting.
Provision is made for Governors to form committees and appeal panels to deal with Pupil Discipline & Exclusion, Staff Discipline and Dismissal, Admissions, Complaints, Grievances, Pay, and the Headteacher's Performance Review.
The membership of the Governing body:
The role of a local governing body is important. The governing body monitors the school’s key performance indicators and acts as a critical friend to the Headteacher and the school’s Senior Leadership Team, providing challenge where appropriate.
The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that diversity is important and wants governing boards to be increasingly reflective of the communities they serve. The DfE now encourages schools and trusts to collect and publish diversity data about the board and any local academy committees.
Below are the responses from Governors who chose to respond:
