Governors

Mr. Tom Peryer - Chair

Tom Peryer has worked in education for more than 30 years.  A graduate of York and Southampton universities with an MBA from the Open University, he started his career as an English teacher in a London inner-city Comprehensive. After teaching, he moved into local authority educational management, focussing on special education. Subsequently he led the successful development of an innovative inner-city Teacher Training Centre for a consortium of universities and then became Director of Education for Church of England schools in Somerset.  From 1999 to 2009 he was the Director of Education for the Diocese of London where he was a national figure pioneering and developing the Academy Programme.  He received the OBE for services to education in 2007. As well as being Chair of Leeds West Academy he is also a Trustee of E-ACT which is the sponsor of Leeds West.

Mrs. Helen Anderson   Vice-Chair

Helen is the Director of HR for E-ACT. She was born and completed her main education in Scotland studying Modern Languages at Edinburgh University. She then moved to London and studied for a Diploma in Personnel Management at the London School of Economics and has worked in HR in London now for over 30 years. She has worked in HR in the public, private and charity sectors but her greatest interest has always been working in the education sector.  She still remembers with affection and gratitude the great teachers and staff at her secondary school in Scotland and how that helped her to realise her ambitions. Helen is very pleased to have been nominated by Sir Bruce Liddington, Director General of E-ACT, to be his representative on the Leeds West Academy Governing Body to work with the Principal and the whole Academy community to make Leeds West Academy a great place to be.

Prof.  Darren Shickle

Professor Darren Shickle is chair of the Academy Standards Committee. Prior to becoming a Governor at Leeds West Academy he was a Governor of Intake High School. As a medically qualified doctor he takes a particular interest in science and mathematics teaching within the Academy.
Darren is Professor of Public Health at University of Leeds. He is responsible for leading undergraduate and postgraduate courses in public health within the University. His research interests are public health genetics, ethics, sexual health and eye health. He is an honorary consultant in Public health at NHS Leeds and Bradford Teaching Hospital Trust. He has previously acted as an advisor to Ministers within Department of Health in England and the United States. He has also represented the United Kingdom at the Council of Europe, and is an ethics expert for the European Commission.

Mr. Chris Jones

Chris Jones was born on the outskirts of Leeds in 1952. After attending Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield, he studied at the Leeds School of Architecture. Not only did all his education take place in Yorkshire, but so has his entire career as an architect – most of it in Leeds.

After working for Calderdale Council and a number of architectural practices, he formed Carey-Jones Architects in 1987 and he has been an ‘anchor’ to the practice ever since. Carey-Jones has produced many ‘ground breaking’ high quality designs, winning many competitions and receiving awards for their finished buildings. Projects include the award-winning Princes Exchange office building, Exchange Quay Manchester and a number of specialised projects including the restoration of several listed buildings and the master planning of the Leeds University precinct. Chris is a widely respected member of the business community. This was recognised in 2006 when he received the Institute of Director’s Award for his “Contribution to the Yorkshire Economy”. Given his life-long commitment to Leeds, it is no surprise that he enthusiastically agreed to become a Governor of the new Leeds West Academy.

Ms.  Victoria Goddard

Victoria is a Partner at international law firm Pinsent Masons LLP.  Victoria went to comprehensive school in South Wales and then attended the University of Bristol where she studied law and gained a 2:1.  She then attended Chester Law School where she received a Commendation and joined Pinsent Masons in 1993 as a trainee solicitor.  She has worked in Pinsent's London, Birmingham and Leeds offices and for the last six years has been a Partner in the Property Group in Leeds.  Her work entails mainly acting for universities, heading up the University Estates practice at Pinsent Masons, with a particular niche in student accommodation work.  She is married with three young children and lives in Horsforth. 

Ms. Rebecca Brady

Rebecca currently works for Sanctuary Housing and Care as a Quality and Performance Manager.  She grew up in Whitley Bay and moved to attend Leeds University and has since completed an MSc in Public Policy and Management from SOAS, part of the University of London.  Her career in the voluntary sector began during university when she volunteered with women’s charities, then following university she was employed to support people with mental health difficulties to live independently before now working nationally to improve standards across 250 individual services and has advised government on assessing quality.  Rebecca is passionate about giving young people the best start in life and wants to work with the Academy to ensure that all children enjoy learning at school and realise their aspirations.

Mr. Chris Fitt

After spending time working in London, Chris decided to move to the Leeds area in 1997.  He works for the accountancy firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers specialising in giving tax advice to businesses.  He has also worked for GE Capital (in Leeds) and Prudential (in London).  Chris specialises in advising businesses on the efficiency of tax accounting and operations, specifically the best practice use of technologies.  He runs a very successful business team, within PricewaterhouseCoopers, and says "...I believe that, whatever your chosen field of expertise is, personal success relies on self motivation, having clear goals, taking personal ownership of your own career and ultimately enjoying work...".  Currently living in the Wakefield area, Chris spends his time either in the Leeds PricewaterhouseCoopers office, or across the UK and Europe at his client's offices.  In the past he has been involved in various business workshops for students from schools in the Leeds area and is happy to be involved now with Leeds West Academy as Governor and Chair of the Finance Committee.  Outside of work he is a keen gym enthusiast and finds this a great way to unwind, having spent the day in the office.

Mrs. Su Edwards

Su Edwards has been headteacher of Raynville Primary School for thirteen years and lives in North West Leeds. Before she came to Leeds she lived and worked in London in a very ethnically diverse school and was once a secondary RE teacher for a while. Su has been closely involved in working with the high school here through many changes and especially supporting transition work from primary. She is particularly interested in inclusive work with children with special needs and behaviour problems. She is a School Improvement Partner so has a good understanding of the pressures from OFSTED and government targets. Su retires this July and is going to continue working part-time in education as well as having more time for travel, kayaking, knitting and ceramics.

Cllr. Ted Hanley

Ted Hanley has lived in Leeds for about forty years and it was his trade that brought him here in the first instance. He is an Ornamental Fibrous Plasterer and was a Director of the largest plastering company in Leeds until starting his own business in 1979. The company Aagaard Hanley Ltd have trained many apprentices over the years and have won some significant awards for quality and safety. Ted's main interest outside the business and family is politics. He has been an Elected Member of Leeds City Council for several years and, at present, is a Scrutiny Board Chair for Adult Social Services. He was Chief Whip of the Labour Group for a period and he has held many positions in the Labour Party during this last decade. Ted is passionate about education and delighted with the progress to date on the new Academy.  Can we make it work! Will this be a true benefit to Bramley and help its students to be more successful.  The new Board of Governors is certainly different to the old one and it will be interesting to see how the Board and the Academy develop. 

Cllr. Bill Hyde

Councillor William. S. Hyde represents the Local Authority on the Governing Body. He is the Conservative Education shadow cabinet member and a governor at Temple Moor High and Colton Primary Schools. A former Lord Mayor of Leeds and Childrens Services Scrutiny Chair Bill has been a member of Leeds City Council for more than 30 years.

Although now retired from business he also brings many years of commercial experience in retailing to our decision making process. His leisure interests include membership of Leeds Rotary Club and the Leeds Group of the Royal British Legion.

Mr. Chris Carey

 Chris Carey is a Parent Governor at Leeds West Academy. Born in Leeds, he spent most of his upbringing in Headingley. Subsequently in 1984 he joined the army and served in the UK, Germany, Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland as a Royal Engineer. Since leaving the Army his careers have varied from driving a skip wagon to re-lining sewers, until ultimately attending college and university gaining qualifications in IT. In 1999 he was part of a small team who were set up and ran a company in Sheffield which distributes precision metal cutting tools. His role was as the IT manager. Chris is still with the same company today, however now works in a different area, and also develops databases on a private basis for companies and organisations. Chris now lives in Cookridge with his wife, Suzanne and three step daughters.

Mrs. Beverley Vincent

Beverley Vincent is 40 years old and mum to 2 daughters currently at Leeds West Academy. She has been working in a Senior Administration/ PA position for many years at various companies throughout Leeds including Premier Farnell, O2 and First West Yorkshire. She has been in her current role at DHL for the last 3 years.  Outside of work she enjoys the gym, cinema and cooking for friends and loves nothing more than spending time with her family in the Yorkshire Dales. After losing her mum 14 years ago she now helps raise money twice a year for Breast Cancer Research and Wheatfield’s Hospice by holding Coffee Mornings at a local church in Pudsey.  She takes a great deal of interest in the current transformation of Intake to Leeds West Academy and will give 100% commitment to both the children and the school.

Miss. Alison Cant

Having graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2002, Alison Cant joined the predecessor school (Intake High School Arts College) in 2004 as a Newly Qualified Teacher of Drama. Throughout the past 6 years Alison has had a range of roles within the school, including Interim School Leader for Post 16 and is now Area Team Leader for Performing Arts. Within these roles Alison has developed working relationships with people from right across the academy and community, and is a vibrant member of the teaching staff. As well as teaching Drama, Alison has supported staff and students through a number of events including taking part in the recent Staff Stars in their Eyes competition.

 Mr. Matthew Hague

Matthew joined LWA in September 2009. Initially Matthew was employed to the role of Behaviour Service Leader but has since been appointed to the role of Director of Learning Support Services. Prior to working at LWA Matthew had spent ten years working for a specialist education and residential provider. He held a number of positions in that time including that of Residential Care Manager and latterly Assistant Head of School and Vocational Training Centre Manager. In addition to this experience Matthew has worked with homeless children in Dublin and for an NGO in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. Matthew represents the ‘non teaching’ staff at LWA on the governing body. His role, which requires him to work closely with all staff at the academy will he hopes, enable him to fulfil this position effectively.