Chair of the LGC
Dean Jefferys
A life-long Havering resident, Dean has a background in education and the not for profit sector and has been a governor at another school since 2009. He became Chair of Governors at the joint LGC of Holy Trinity and Fordham All Saints primary schools in 2024.
Professionally, Dean spent thirteen years working in secondary education, initially as a History Teacher and culminating as Associate Assistant Head. Along the way he held a number of roles including Head of Department, Head of Year, Head of House, Staff Governor and Induction Tutor. At various times he taught History, Geography, RE, Citizenship, PSHE, Sociology and Law. Dean has a BA in History & Politics and an MA in Educational Leadership & Management.
Dean was until recently the national Head of Learning at the Marine Society & Sea Cadets responsible for charity-wide learning of all cadets and adult volunteers across the organisation and line managing the four national training centres. In addition he was the charity’s national lead for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Vocational Qualifications and the National Citizen Service. He now teaches in a Havering Primary School and is lead for Primary Languages.
In his spare time, Dean is a volunteer with The Scout Association and is currently the lead volunteer for Scouting in Romford, managing the provision of Scouting to young people aged 6 to 25 across the capital and comprising of a membership in excess of 1,200 young people. He is also a Freeman of the City of London and a Vice-President of Scouting in North East London.
Ex Officio
Reverend Francis Blight
Francis has been the Rector of All Saints Church Fordham & Eight Ash Green since September 2020. He is currently a governor of Holy Trinity school and was previously a governor of Fordham School. Francis was ordained in 2008 and served his four-year curacy at Christ Church Virginia Water in Surrey. In 2012 he moved with his family to the Netherlands to take a post in the Church of England’s Amsterdam Chaplaincy. He worked there for six years leading Christ Church Heiloo, an English-speaking congregation 40 kilometres north of Amsterdam. Prior to church leadership, Francis worked in the music industry for MCPS/PRS as a Christian music specialist in their repertoire department.
Francis enjoys visiting Holy Trinity & Fordham All Saints school, taking occasional Collective Worship assemblies and school seasonal services. He notes the happy culture amongst the pupils which Ceri Daniels and Katie Welsh have enabled. His particular interest is in the maintenance and progress of the school’s Christian ethos and culture, as a school with a Church of England foundation. Francis is married to Georgina, and they have three children, Tom (17), Sam (16) & Zoë (13). He enjoys listening to and playing music, swimming and watching the Disney Star Wars spin offs with his children.
LGC Governors
Kerrie McGrory
Kerrie McGrory works as School Effectiveness Partner for Essex County Council Working. She has extensive experience in providing intensive support for schools in challenging circumstances including acting as adviser to Interim Executive Boards and Strategic Intervention Boards. Kerrie has been a successful teacher, senior leader and headteacher in a range of school settings, holding an honours degree in primary education and English, with qualified teacher status, gaining the National Professional Qualification for Headship in 2005. Kerrie is also Chair of a Local Governing Body within a large academy trust and has expertise in governance, training governors for Essex local authority and beyond. More recently, she supported a board within a Trust to significantly improve local governance within a school judged as inadequate, leading to a recent good Ofsted judgement with governance noted as a particular strength.
Kerrie brings this experience to her role as governor, endeavouring to make a positive contribution to the academy’s development, seeing it as a pleasure and a privilege to work with the governors, senior leaders, staff and parents at Fordham/Chappel, towards the shared goal of providing a high-quality education for children who attend the academy.
In her spare time, Kerrie enjoys riding her horse, running and Zumba.
Parent Governors
Alex Brenig-Jones
Having grown up in a household where his parents were a teacher at one primary school, and the Chair of Governors at another, he has had a deep appreciation for the value of teachers and a lifelong respect for the role of Governor since an early age.
He has served as Trustee and Treasurer of the pre-school attended by his son, overseeing the management of two pre-schools, overseeing significant financial developments resulting from the shifting statutory landscape in education.
He currently works as a senior leader in risk management at a large UK bank. In this role, he works with members of the bank’s Board and Executive Committee to oversee, monitor and scrutinise multi-year transformation programmes. He is also closely involved in managing relationships with regulatory bodies, and has written policies and procedures on various risk management disciplines. He is a qualified accountant, with expertise in financials, auditing and business ethics. He has a deep understanding of the importance of evidencing decisions and good governance, including through a lens of discharging personal accountability for regulated individuals.
Alex looks forward to applying these skills and experience in a way to benefit and shape the local community, by overseeing and monitoring school performance and priorities, informing decision-making, and supporting robust and demonstrable governance.
Outside of work, he is a father to two boys, and loves to create a happy environment full of creativity, time outdoors and reflection – owing to his love for playing various musical instruments, for gardening and for reading.
Edwin Lambert-Clark
Edwin has worked in and around education for the past 19 years. He has worked within the secondary education system working within an exclusion unit, setting up an inclusion unit which was referenced as outstanding within the school’s Ofsted report. He has further run a support unit and programme of flexible learning for KS4 students within a mainstream secondary school.
Additionally, he spent 8 years working as an education advisor for an independent fostering organisation, supporting children in care.
Currently he works for Suffolk County Council as part of the SEND team, supporting families and young people to navigate the EHNCA process and secure EHCPs where appropriate.
Clerk to the Governing Body
Hannaa Abou-Taleb
LIFE is supporting the Trussell Trust.
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