Governance

Careful and experienced counsel by a highly qualified and professional Governing Body is the cornerstone of Bishop Vesey's Grammar School's stewardship.

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Governance

School governors have three key roles:

They are responsible for ensuring the school has a clear vision, clearly understood values and for its strategic direction.
They are responsible for holding the Headteacher to account, for the educational performance of the school.
They are responsible for ensuring the school’s money is spent efficiently and for the benefit of students.

In addition, to understand the culture of the school and to ensure its values are demonstrated every day, governors will be involved in attending school events, such as music concerts, sports fixtures, presentation evenings to name a few.

Every governor is a member of the governing body, which is established in law as a corporate body. Governors may not act independently of the rest of the governing body. Click on a governor’s photo or name to find out more about each governor. Full details of the governors and the committees of the Board can be found in the Governance Statement.

We welcome conversations with potential new governors. Should you be interested in the role please contact Clerk to the Governors, Ruth Houghton, r.houghton@bishopveseys.bham.sch.uk to arrange an informal conversation with our Chair Mark Maybury.

Mark Maybury Chair of Governors

Mark Maybury

Mark joined the Governing Board in January 2020 and served as the SEND Link Governor and Vice Chair of the Governing Board, before being appointed Chair in December 2022.

He spent his whole life in education, firstly, as a teacher in local secondary schools, including time spent as an Assistant Headteacher. Mark then worked in the IT sector as an Educational Consultant advising school senior leadership teams in the UK and internationally on maximising the benefit of IT in supporting teaching and learning.

In his spare time Mark enjoys football, cricket, music, walking his dog and attending Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church. He is married and has two grown up children.

Mark’s motivation to support Vesey is to give back to the local community some of the experience he has gained from his years in education, and contribute to the outstanding education and development of the young people that attend Bishop Vesey Grammar School.

Dominic Robson Headteacher

Dominic Robson

Dominic has been the Headteacher of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School since September 2012. He studied at History BA(Hons) at Durham University, and stayed on to study for a PGCE in History and Religious Education.

He began his teaching career at Bishop Walsh School, where he became Head of History and Politics. He moved to Bishop Vesey’s in 2001 as Head of History and Humanities. Between 2003 and 2010, he was Head of Sixth Form, and Deputy Headteacher between 2009 and 2012.

In 2009 he attained the National Professional Qualification in Headship (NPQH). As part of this course, and was fortunate enough to be mentored by, Mr Kamal Hanif OBE, as well as our very own Mr Iddon, Dominic’s predecessor as Headteacher.

Family time is very important to him. To relax, he often enjoys football, playing the piano, going to the cinema and watching live theatre and concerts. A self-professed avid reader, Dominic follows current affairs and political debates with a keen interest.

His hope for all our students here at BVGS is that they enjoy making the most of the inspiring and excellent academic and social opportunities that the Vesey Experience offers them.

Ravinder Bhandal Co-Opted by the Governing Board

Ravinder Bhandal

Appointed in September 2020, Rav is an Old Veseyan (1998-2005). He is a member of the Finance, Estates and People Committee and is also the Careers Link Governor.

With a background in Investment Banking and Finance, and in his current role at Jaguar Land Rover, Rav has much to offer BVGS and is keen to use his passion to maintain/further the excellent standing of the school that was the foundation for his development.

Rav prides himself on always being approachable and understands from a ground level the full experience of being a pupil at BVGS.

In his spare time he plays football, rugby and loves being in the outdoors.

Ian Myatt Vesey Community Governor

Ian Myatt

Ian has been Governor since 2016 and has been chair of the Teaching and Learning Committee since September 2018.

In his day job he is Director of Educational Enterprise at the University of Birmingham responsible for leading the development of a growing portfolio of digital learning initiatives. He also manages the University’s Market Insight and Digital Channel Management teams – informing strategic decisions on what we do and advising on the best use of digital communication technologies.

Prior to joining the University he was Head of Knowledge and Learning at BBC Online where he led the team responsible for developing all factual websites including BBC Food and BBC Bitesize. Highlights of his career include playing a key role in the roll out of BBC News Online across the UK and the launch of BBC iPlayer.

He is an Old Veseyan (1991-1996) and is passionate about music. He is a trustee of Town Hall & Symphony Hall in Birmingham and of Birmingham International Piano Competition, he founded Made in Sutton and runs the New Streetly Youth Orchestra.

Declarations of Interest

Name of business or organisation	Nature of business or organisation	Nature of Interest	Date of appointment or acquisition
Performances Birmingham	Arts Charity	Director/Trustee	18/6/2009
University of Birmingham	University	Employee	18/8/2014
Birmingham International Piano Competition	Piano Competition	Trustee	2014
Streetly Youth Orchestra	Youth Orchestra	Chair	2000

Andrea Wesson Vesey Community Governor

Andrea Wesson

Andrea has been a Vesey Community Governor since 2017, she is Deputy Chair of Finance, Estates and People Committee.

Andrea is the Chief Financial Officer of a rolling stock company. She is a Chartered Accountant and Corporate Treasurer with many years’ experience in a variety of finance roles in the private sector. She became a governor to put her experience to use for the benefit of the school.

Andrea has two sons at the school, they are both enthusiastic members of school rugby teams as well as rugby, football and cricket teams outside school. Inevitably, Andrea spends many hours standing on various touchlines but when time allows she enjoys walking, cycling, skiing and cooking (and eating).

Andy Quach Co-Opted by the Governing Board

Andy Quach

Andy is an Old Veseyan (2007 – 2014) that is passionate about the power of education, having been one of Vesey’s first students to achieve 5 A*s at A-level in the school’s history. He is a member of the Teaching and Learning Committee, and as a Cambridge graduate, also works closely with the Oxbridge Coordinator to improve access to Oxbridge.

Having started his career in strategy consulting, Andy now leads the Commercial function at a FinTech business where he is responsible for international expansion, sales enablement and account management – by combining his experience as a former student and his corporate skills & background, he hopes to help all students at Vesey to realise their academic potential.

As a former member of the rugby team, Andy continues to play sport to this day, regularly playing tag rugby and cycling during the week.

Satish Rao Governor

Satish Rao

Sean Andrews Governor

Sean Andrews

Sean is an Old Veseyan (1988 – 1994) and was appointed as a Governor in June 2022. He is a member of the Teaching and Learning Committee. He has always worked in education following completion of a music and teaching degree at Birmingham Conservatoire and UCE. He has worked in several secondary schools across the West Midlands in a number of roles such as Head of Music, Head of Sixth Form and as an Assistant Headteacher.

Sean now works as a Commercial Project Director for an Awarding Body providing financial education qualifications in the schools (11 – 18), corporate (professional) and university sectors.

In his spare time, Sean enjoys supporting his children playing Rugby as well as running, watching football and playing the piano. He wanted to become a governor to give something back to the education system and support his old school to continue to deliver a most excellent and enriching Vesey Experience.

Waseem Ahmed Governor

Waseem Ahmed

Waseem is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Directors. He joined the BVGS Governing Board in January 2022, and became Vice-Chair in December that year.

He is passionate about diversity and inclusion, and founded the Mentor Matters programme to pair up Midlands based employers with aspiring talent from diverse social backgrounds.

Away from work, Waseem likes to keep active. He especially enjoys running and is a Run Director at Sutton Park parkrun.

He is married with 3 boys, all of whom attend the school. He wants to use his experience to help BVGS continue and improve its fantastic provision of education, in order to help all pupils realise their full potential.

Bineet Desai Co-opted Governor

Bineet Desai

Bineet’s career spans over 15 years working with several organisations such as Department for International Trade, Aston University, Greater Birmingham, Coventry & Warwickshire Chambers of Commerce. He is also a mentor for Princess Diana Award which supports school children to develop self-confidence and empowers them with skills required for employment.

Bineet has been instrumental in building Public – Private Partnerships, Strategic relations and putting West Midlands on International Map by enabling and increasing the international competitiveness of West Midlands companies in international Markets. Bineet has also been supporting Educational institutions in fostering international collaborations in different countries.

Bineet currently work with Barclays bank as Vice President. His role is to manage Governance and Controls for strategic Change programmes with the teams based in India, EU and USA to implement regulatory changes for various technology programmes related to Wholesale Credit Risk, Finance & Treasury.

Bineet likes to travel and experience different cultures. In his spare time, he loves gardening.

John Collins Parent Governor

John Collins

John joined the Governing Board in June 2023 as a Parent Governor.

John’s background is within primary school teaching and he has nearly 30 years’ experience, many of which were at senior leadership level. In addition to this, he has worked as a lead teacher in Staffordshire which entailed supporting and advising school and teachers in their development. John has also been a governor in various schools and taken on many responsibilities including safeguarding, assessment and finances within this role. In addition to teaching, John also set up and ran a successful business, importing old British cars from California back to England.

Currently, John has taken a break from teaching and owns a business based in the centre of Lichfield.

In his spare time, John enjoys spending time with his two sons, which may mean watching the older one play Rugby or Cricket or playing with Lego with the younger one. His other passion is classic cars and you may find him driving, restoring or researching them.

John wanted to become a Governor in Bishop Vesey after his older son joined BVGS, and he was extremely impressed with the support and opportunities given to the children in school and he wished to take an active role in the development of the school as a parent governor.

Sonia Foxall Governor

Sonia Foxall

Sonia joined the Governing Body in May 2023 and is part of the Finance Estates & People committee.

She currently works as an Independent Financial Adviser working with families and businesses in Sutton Coldfield and the surrounding areas.

Sonia has two sons one who is a pupil at BVGS. Joining the governing body is her way of giving back to the school community that provide amazing opportunities both as part of the curriculum and beyond.

Away from work Sonia has been known to say she works so she can holiday, travelling to new places and having adventures is what she loves to do along with reading a good crime book is the genre of choice and supporting her children by the side of a rugby pitch in all weathers.

Andreea Gamulescu Governor

Andreea Gamulescu

Andreea is an experienced Indirect Tax Manager at PwC with a profound commitment to education, currently serving as the Governor at Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School. Joining the board in September 2023, Andreea brings her wealth of experience to the Finance and People Committee.

Fluent in three languages – Romanian, English and Spanish – Andreea holds a degree in International Relations and Spanish, reflecting her diverse cultural understanding and global perspective.

Andreea is a new mom, her son being born in 2023. When not immersed in the world of academia and business, she enjoys watching and playing tennis. Andreea also enjoys exploring new cultures through travelling and indulging in various cuisines.

Mark Jordan Governor