The Academy Council collectively provide a challenge and support function to the Head of Academy and the Senior Leadership Team.
The setting of rigorous and clear targets, and the frequent detailed monitoring and questioning of progress, is fundamental to providing the educational aspirations that Inspire Academy desires for all its students.
The Academy Council of an academy or Free School is responsible for ensuring that it is run to promote excellent pupil outcomes. Its duties include:
- Holding the Headteacher to account as a "critical friend"
- Supporting the Headteacher
- Agree policies delegated to this Council
- Making visits to the school to meet staff and pupils
- Monitoring the spend of the delegated budget, including Pupil Premium
Our Governors
| Michael Gray | Co-opted Governor and Chair |
| Martyn O'Donnell | Executive Director of Performance and Standards |
| Eleni Kyriazi | Vice Chair |
| Lynn Sims | Co-opted Governor - Behaviour/RRS link |
| Lynda Harris | Co-opted Governor - Headteacher of Wandle Valley Academy |
| Dawn Burkinshaw | Academy Councillor |
| Fiona Levy | Academy Councillor |
| Kerrie Nash | Academy Councillor |
Declaration of Conflicts of Interest and Attendance
Michael Gray
Michael works in a large charity which provides support to people with learning disabilities and/or autism. He lives locally and has two daughters who attend a nearby secondary school, where he was formerly a school-governor. In his spare time he enjoys running, politics, and playing his guitar.
Lynn Sims
Lynn has worked in Education for over 27 years and is currently an Inclusion Manager for Medway Council where she managed a small team. Her background is mainly behaviour support. She has had the pleasure of working in all types of educational settings from primary, secondary and special.
Lynda Harris
Lynda didn’t become a teacher until 1999, previously she was a Youth Worker and ran the Outreach Support for Hertfordshire. Alongside this, she was a Teaching Assistant in a large secondary school and an Outdoor Educational leader. Before Wandle Valley, she ran the behaviour support unit in a secondary school and assisted in the behaviour support across the borough. During her working career she has delivered CPD in a number of schools and in a DFE setting.
Dawn Burkinshaw
Dawn has been a Governor at Inspire Academy since 2021. She is an experienced sustainability professional in the metals and mining sector with expertise across a range of commodities in sustainability strategy, investment and technical research roles. Over the past fifteen years, she has also worked with young people in a variety of roles - as an instructor at air cadets, as a STEM outreach volunteer in schools, by working at a holiday club for disabled children and regularly volunteering at a sports club in London for disabled children and their siblings.
Eleni Kyriazi
Eleni joined the academic council in 2022. She has a science background with expertise on organic chemistry and fire retardants. She has worked for year in both Higher and Further Education sectors as a lecturer. She is currently working for an awarding body, responsible for VQ assessments.
Eleni has a thorough understanding of teaching, learning and assessment. She has significant experience in quality assurance processes in education. Apart from science, Eleni is a keen hiker and enjoys Greek cooking.
Fiona Levy
Fiona has more than 35 years’ experience in banking having held several client facing & people leader roles before joining HR in 2007. Fiona has undertaken both HR Change Manager & HR Partner roles. Fiona took on her current role in June 2022 as People Director for the offshore and investment banking arms of NatWest Group. In her spare time Fiona enjoys travelling and spending time with friends and family.
Kerrie Nash
Kerrie has spent the past 20 plus years of her career working in the international multi-sport event sector, including Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sydney and London. Kerrie was most recently HR Director for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and has also undertaken a wide variety of operational roles, including event operations, facilities management, volunteer mobilisation and information technology management. In her spare time, Kerrie likes to travel, attend live theatre and spend time with her two lively dogs, Rosie and Bailey.