Dean Jeffreys – Chair
A life-long Havering resident, Dean has a background in education and the not for profit sector and has been a governor at Benhurst since 2009. He became Chair of Governors in 2018.
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.
In his spare time, Dean is a volunteer with The Scout Association and was for five years the Regional Commissioner for London, managing the provision of Scouting to young people aged 6 to 25 across the capital and comprising of a membership in excess of 49,000. He is also a Freeman of the City of London and a Vice-President of Scouting in North East London.
Dean was also Chair of Trustees at an Activity Centre in Brentwood for seven years, with over 100 acres of woodland and buildings, offering countless hundreds of residential and daytime activities each year, and operating at a turnover of over £400,000 a year.
In his spare time Dean enjoys hiking, sailing, comedy, socialising and reading.
Sharon Harris – Vice Chair
Sharon is a trained neuro-physiotherapist but spent the latter years of her working life in bereavement. Having had a long held interest in education she is delighted to be working with Dame Tipping where two of her granddaughters are pupils. Sharon looks forward to assisting the school as it develops the needs and education of all its children so that they can grow to be ‘the best that they can be’.
Rev. David Anderton
David has been the vicar of St James’ Collier Row and St John’s Havering-atte-Bower since March 2016. Prior to his ordination he was a Dietician work in a large NHS teaching hospital and before that worked for Traidcraft plc a Fair Trade company and was responsible for purchasing and production in their food and beverages division. David is Governor at two primary schools and so brings with him an understanding of the challenges facing schools in maintaining and improving standards. His passion is to see children reach the fullness of the potential they are born with without prejudice or discrimination. Greg sees the governor role at Dame Tipping in helping children be the best they can be in all aspects of their life and was instrumental in helping to develop the school’s Christian ethos.
Eve Knightbridge
Eve has been a Governor at Dame Tipping for over 20 years and has served on the finance and curriculum committees. Eve previously worked as a Special Education Needs Support assistant at St Edwards Primary school and is an active member of the church of St James and St John’s Havering-atte-Bower.
Sarah Bimpong
Sarah is a trained Medical Anthropologist with experience working of in education, healthcare, welfare and service delivery settings that promote integration, equality, equity, diversity and inclusion.
As a parent of ethnic minority background in Dame Tipping School, Sarah has worked with the school to promote cultural diversity and witnessed the many positive changes that the school has undergone over the years. Sarah is very passionate about representing and supporting views in a process that is fair, inclusive, transparent, diverse and pupil-centred, ensuring the school reaches its full potential.
Paul Claydon
Paul studied History and Literature at Essex University and completed a PGCE at Anglia Ruskin University. Paul began teaching English in Essex in 2007. He has taught in 5 state schools, 2 of which were successful in moving out of Special Measures. In Essex, he was Deputy Head of Sixth Form and Deputy Head of English when the school was graded Outstanding by Ofsted and grained its highest GCSE results to date. He then worked as Head of Faculty at Frances Bardsley, securing the school’s best results at GCSE in English under the new specification to date.
Paul moved on to take on Leadership roles as Deputy Headteacher, supporting Primary Schools in their leadership and improving quality of teaching across the Academies, ensuring that they were able to secure improvements and Good Ofsted ratings. Having enjoyed his time at Frances Bardsley, Paul returned to work as Lead Practitioner, co-ordinating and developing support work for schools in English, Maths and Science. Paul has been working with secondary schools in Barking and Dagenham as part of their school improvement offer. Paul works as a Senior Adviser for School Improvement for Barking and Dagenham School Improvement Partnership, He also works closely with the Teaching School Hub in order to deliver the Early Career Framework and the new National Professional Qualifications across three London Boroughs. He is able to offer strategic and practical support having successfully led English Departments and been part of Senior Leadership teams since 2011. As a resident of Havering, Paul is aware of the local context and the importance of a good quality of education for young people.
Anthony Moran
Anthony is an accountant working initially within non-for-profit organisations but mainly across financial services. His skillset combines project & stakeholder management, analytical and technical knowledge as a bridge between businesses and their sponsors. This includes business case/funding support, regulatory & board oversight, keeping organisations within agreed financial and performance targets. Having a collaborative approach to working to achieve smart targets by maximising the resources available.
In his spare time Anthony likes any outdoors and sporting activities and is also a volunteer with the scouting organisation. Also having 3 children who study at Dame Tipping, he wants to maximise the experience and opportunities for students.