Governance

Harriet cares passionately that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a high-quality and inspiring education. She is a freelance communications consultant and formerly worked as External Relations Director for Teaching Leaders (now part of Ambition Institute), a national education charity, which develops middle leaders in schools in challenging contexts. Harriet’s background is in marketing and communications. Prior to Teaching Leaders she was Head of O2 Learn – a crowd-sourced revision website for secondary school students that she conceived, launched and ran as part of the brand innovation team at O2, UK. Harriet was an On Purpose Associate in 2010, the inaugural year, having spent 6 years as an Account Director at the advertising agencies AMV BBDO (London) and CLM BBDO (Paris). Harriet studied Modern Languages at Oxford University.

Patrick is a teacher of Mathmatics at a secondary and sixth form school. He has a passion for working with young people and ensuring they have the best education possible. Outside of school he is a marathon runner and a triathlete.

Ana Sofia is a Teaching Assistant at Ark Atwood.

Ozan is a financial services professional, currently working as a research analyst at a leading alternative asset manager. He is passionate about education, and strongly believes that every child should have the opportunity to thrive at their school. He will strive to leverage his experience for the benefit of Atwood and the local community the school supports. Outside of work, Ozan is a keen rock climber with an interest in music and the arts.

Following the completion of the TeachFirst scheme at a school in South East London, Lara joined Ark Atwood in 2016 as a year 4 class teacher. She has always had a passion for teaching and learning and a strong desire to create equal opportunities for all through the power of education. As governor, she is keen to maintain the high expectations of the school and positive impact on pupils.

Jess Lipson has two children, one in Y4 and the other in Y7. She has worked in Digital Design Strategy for 20 years for organisations such as Sky, Tesco, Just Eat and the Ministry of Justice. She brings a passion for technology and creativity and has been teaching app design to Y5 and Y6 after school at Design Club. She would love to work with the school on their approach to diversity, technology and creativity.

Clair is a barrister, mother of three and was formerly the Parent Governor for Ark Atwood. She strongly believes that education has the power to transform the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable children and wants to contribute something to a school which was trying to achieve that goal. For the past two years, she has been Counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (specialising in its work on children living in residential care). This has provided her with further insight into how some children are critically limited (from the outset of life) through the absence of stable, family life or other care.

Ella is the Managing Director of One Young World, a UK charity which serves as a global forum for young leaders. Ella oversees the annual One Young World Summit which has taken place in nine different cities across the world, from Bangkok to Bogota. Ella is the co-author of "How To Make A Difference" - the authoritative handbook to activism. Alongside this, Ella is the Co-Founder of the Sino-German Initiative, an investment vehicle with a charitable arm which aims to increase the business and cultural relationships between Germany and China. Ella read English Literature at Balliol College Oxford and began a law training contract with a Magic Circle firm before changing track and pursuing a career in the third sector. She was on the Scottish International Debating team and lives in Marylebone.

Sophie is a Senior Civil Servant, and currently works as a Deputy Director at the Department for Education, focussing on counter extremism, integration, and safeguarding children and young people from serious harm. She has worked in government since 2006, including roles on finance, academies policy and delivery, and as Private Secretary to successive Secretaries of State and Permanent Secretaries. She previously led on designing and implementing corporate governance arrangements, which was one of the things that attracted her to school governorship. Sophie is passionate about education and the transformative effect it can have on children’s lives. She lives in North London and is an active member of a number of community-based initiatives. She is interested in current affairs, sports and the arts, and speaks Spanish and French.