Local Governing Board
Our school is part of a family of schools supported by the Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET). BPET are responsible for our core educational vision, for setting rigorous academic standards, and for supervising the quality of teaching and the school’s progress.
To assist BPET in these tasks, we have a sub-committee of local advisors called Local Governing Board appointed by the BPET Board of Trustees.
The local board’s main focus is educational strategy, school outcomes and high educational aspirations that meet the needs of our local community. They are responsible for:
- Setting the vision, ethos and strategic direction for our school, within the BPET overall vision
- Holding the headteacher and senior leadership team to account for the educational performance of our school, the pupils and the performance and management of staff
- Ensuring investment in educational improvement is value for money and having a real impact.
These functions have been formally delegated to the local board by the BPET Board of Trustees, which is the maintaining authority for our school. The formal delegation for The Heights Primary School is set out in the BPET Scheme of Delegation.
Structure of the Local Governing Board
The chair of the group is formally appointed by the BPET Board of Trustees, serving at the discretion of the BPET Board. Together with the headteacher, the chair can appoint local governors according to the skillset needed in the group. The suggested group size is 6-10 people and there must be a minimum of two parent advisers (no maximum).
The local governors are provided with the BPET Local Governance Handbook which sets out the terms of reference and structure of the group, along with a code of conduct.
Our Governors
Laura Tudor, Chair
Laura is a parent governor and took on the role of Chair in July 2025. She has been a member of the Board since November 2023. She is a lawyer specialising in commercial and corporate transactions, working with private entities and public bodies in the telecommunications sector. Having lived in Caversham for most of her life, Laura is keen to support the school and contribute to the local community.
Anne Bajorek
Anne is a parent governor and was chair of the group from 2021-2025. She has one daughter at the school, whilst another has just left in 2025 for secondary school. Anne has worked in the charity sector for 25 years, the last 15 in a senior charity management role. Her professional expertise is in fundraising, communications and organisational and strategic management.
Linda Glithro
Linda has extensive experience of primary education and school management, having taught in the local area for more than 30 years and been an inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate. Since retiring from full-time working, she has co-authored a number of primary maths text books for various leading publishers. She has been a governor since the school opened in 2014.
Yang Cao
Yang was elected as a parent governor in June 2024. Her daughter is a pupil at our schools. Yang has been working in business and global marketing roles for 15 years, with a multicultural background. She is keen to contribute to the school community to represent the views of the Heights parents and to ensure the best possible educational environment.
Sumit Thapliyal
Sumit has been elected as a parent governor in Sept 2024, and his son is studying at the school since 2023. Sumit works in a global technology company and has extensive experience of creating and managing large, complex, international business engagements. In his role as a parent governor, Sumit is committed to support the pupils, parents, our school and the local Caversham community.
Daniel Pagella
Dan is a chartered surveyor with extensive experience in commercial property development projects from warehouses to hospitals. He was appointed to the governing body in January 2021, having been a trust member and passionate supporter of the school since its inception in 2013.
Jess Tyrrel
Jess manages an alternative education provision for post-16s having helped set up the social enterprise in 2015. Jess is a trained coach and is currently studying an MSc in Coaching and Behaviour Change. She specialises in working with teenagers and the adults in their lives and has a deep passion for wellbeing. Jess is used to working in a small education start-up and understands what is needed to scale it.
Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Anderson MBA RLC
Nigel is a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army and has served within the Royal Logistic Corps for over 25 years. He is a logistic specialist, has extensive leadership experience, and is happiest when driving organisational change and team building. A keen student, he actively promotes life long learning and lives by this ethos himself.
Aimee Crofts
Aimee is a parent governor, who is also a Headteacher at another Reading primary school. Through her roles of Leading Practitioner and Literacy Network Leader, Aimee has worked extensively in leading and developing teachers across the borough. With a chemical engineering degree as her background, Aimee has also worked with the Department for Education as an expert panellist for assessing both primary mathematics and science.
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