Our Governors

I am delighted to be the Chair of Governors at Willingdon Primary School. I have been a governor at the school for four years.

I have had over 35 years' experience in education and come from a family where my maternal and paternal family have also been teachers and school leaders. 

I have held two headships- one in inner city London and one in inner city Birmingham. Following my retirement from headship in 2020 I have ensured that my contribution and commitment to education continues. I do this through my volunteer roles as a governor at Willingdon Primary and as a Director of Schools of Tomorrow (a Community Interest Company) which focuses on supporting school leaders to navigate their way through the ever-changing education landscape.   

My passion and commitment has been my mission to reduce the inequalities that exist in society through empowerment and holistic education with the belief that we can all learn and grow when we are nurtured and valued. I am proud to be a governor at Willingdon Primary because the school whole heartedly embraces partnership working with the local community. Recognising that together we can bring about sustained and meaningful change leading to positive outcomes for the future. 

School leaders and staff have incredibly rewarding and privileged roles but they are also incredibly challenging with the many demands locally, nationally and globally. As the Chair of Governors, I shall work hard to support the staff and community at Willingdon Primary to meet our school aims and vision with compassion and an appreciation for the amazing work and outcomes the school has achieved. 

I look forward to meeting you and working with you all.  

If you see me around the school, please stop me for a chat. I am always happy to hear your views.

Azita Zohhadi- Chair of Governors

Meet our Governors

The Governing Body of Willingdon Primary School consists of 12 people drawn from the school’s wider community, including parent, staff, local schools and the Local Authority. In line with regulations, our parent governors are elected by other parents with children at our school; staff governors are elected by school staff; co-opted governors are appointed by our governing body, and our Local Authority governor is recommended by the Local Authority. Working in partnership with the Headteacher and her senior leadership team, the individual members bring a diversity of knowledge and experience to our school.

The Government is encouraging governors to focus on three core strategic functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;

Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

The Governing Body has a number of legal responsibilities. It is required to meet at least 3 times a year and is legally responsible, amongst other things, for:

Arranging for the National Curriculum and its assessment procedures to be carried out

Deciding how to spend the delegated budget
Staff appointments, staff pay and grading and other aspects of staff management

Sex education policy

Discipline (or behaviour) policy

Health and safety policy

Determining the admission policy

Some Governors take on responsibility for a specific area such as Literacy, Special Educational Needs and Safeguarding. This allows the nominated Governor to focus on a particular area, work closely with the relevant staff, and feed back to the full Governing Body.

All Governors are expected to visit the school regularly to get to know the staff and pupils and observe our school at work. The visiting Governor reports back to the full Governing Body to help with the strategic role and future direction for our school.

The Governors are responsible for policy and strategy, and the Head Teacher is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school.

The school is very fortunate in having a committed and supportive governing body that is actively involved. We are also working hard to make the partnership between home and school a valuable one and to make the school approachable and welcoming.

To get in touch with the Governing Body, please email: clerk@willingdonprimary.co.uk

There are currently 2 vacancies for Co-opted Governors on the Governing Body.  If you are interested in volunteering as a school governor, please contact clerk@willingdonprimary.co.uk

Please click on the links below to open the referenced document:

• Attendance at meetings 2024-2025
• Attendance at meetings 2025-2026
• Register-of-interests-Willingdon Primary School 8 Oct 25 1

 Governing Body Minutes are available on request via office@willingdonprimary.co.uk