Meet the Governors

We have a very supportive Governing Body who put the children central to all their decisions. They ensure they are carrying out their three core functions:

1.) Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.

2.) Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of the staff.

3.) Overseeing the financial performance of the school and maing sure its money is well spent, including pupil premium.

Our Governing Body is made up of 12 Governors with two observers, Mr Aspinall and Mr Noblet. It is only our 12 Governors who have voting rights. You can find out more about the make up of our Governing Body by clicking below on the Instrument of Governance.

Miss Ailsa McCondichie - (Chair of Governors)

Ailsa is a clinical lead physiotherapist at Royal Preston Hospital. She leads a team of therapists across the acute surgical wards. Ailsa is in her second term as a parent governor with her son a pupil at school. She became vice chair in 2019 and is also English governor. Ailsa has a personal interest in special needs support, and enjoys spending time in school in her governor role. She strives to ensure that Queens Drive continues to offer outstanding education for all its children.

Mrs Kamala Satti-Patel - (Vice Chair of Governors)

My name is Kamala and I am a mother of 2 boys. I am passionate about helping children reach their potential. Learning is for all, and I am continually learning and building new skills.

I am in awe of the children I meet and their wealth of knowledge, confidence, and I would like to be a part of that growth. I am keen to take on challenges, taking myself out of my comfort zone for continuous improvement.

I have vast experience working in financial operations, having had 25 years working in the civil service. I am currently the Tax lead for a large government department, which covers 10,000 customers. Ensuring that tax processes, policies, and structures are current and are aligned with legislation. My previous role was as a Finance Senior Executive Officer for a Government Department, where I oversaw a £19 billion cash budget, ensuring funding is available for the department. I am also level 4 AAT qualified and achieved a CMI Level 3 Diploma in First Line Management.

As a Parent Governor, I will always look to the best interest of the children, upholding the school values and maintain a duty of good relationships with all stakeholders. I am a team player and will go the extra mile to help anyone. I hope to help the school continue to provide excellence in education and help build relationships between parents and the school.

Mrs Nicky Gomersall

My name is Nicky and I have been the Headteacher of Queen's Drive since September 2022. I was only supposed to stay for a term as Associate Headteacher, but Queen's Drive drew me in with its amazing family feel, welcoming children and hard-working, committed staff and I ended up applying for the permanent post and being successful. This is my third Headship, now in my 18th year of being a Headteacher with over 30 years of teaching experience. I love being a teacher first and foremost and committed to our children, staff and families of Queen's Drive. My passions are sport and music which permeate through and out of Queen's Drive.

I am very family orientated with a husband, who works in secondary education, and one child who has just started in Year 4 this time at a school in Lancaster.

Mrs Claire Anderson

My name is Claire Anderson, and I am a parent governor. I am a Clinical Psychologist with experience working with children and young people to support their mental health and emotional wellbeing. I currently work as a clinical tutor on a doctoral training programme for clinical psychologists. This role incorporates service review and development, alongside assessment and pastoral support. I hope to apply the transferable skills I have gained from these roles to the role of governor, focusing on accountability to promote positive experiences of education and learning for all pupils of the school.

Mrs Safeera Ahmed

My name is Safeera and I am the Local Authority Governor. I work in the NHS as a Transformation Consultant and I have fifteen years' experience working within the NHS. My experience includes leading on a wide range of service improvement initiatives and transformation across clinical and non-clinical teams, supporting service redesign programmes and leading on complex engagement activity with a wide range of stakeholders across the health economy to implement change. I have supported the delivery of various large-scale national programmes and have extensive experience in managing programme objectives, monitoring risks, meeting deadlines and targets. A key part of my role involves working with staff, patients and senior leadership teams to enable and deliver meaningful engagement and collaborative co-design.

Mrs Haleemah Hussain

My name is Haleemah. I had never thought to become a governor until Mrs Gomersall approached me. She probably thought being a mum of 9 children I might be able to bring some experience to the table. Hopefully I will! I have 4 children who have been through Queen's Drive and are now at high school and 4 who are currently at Queen's Drive. I have an 18 month old at home. I am a full time mum, but my profession is a cupping therapist, beauty therapist and nail technician.

I also volunteer in the community to prevent food waste.

I have managed to study alongside looking after my children & doing everything else. I have recently finished my AET (adult education and training) which allows me to train and teach other adults in any qualification I currently hold. I have also completed an NVQ in children's mental health and in adults mental health. I am currently working towards an event planner qualification. I was also 1 of the lead organisers in the fundraising that was done at school recently.

As you can see from all my qualifications and continued professional development, I think education is very important no matter what the age.

The skills that I have picked up along the way will help me work towards making the school a better place for the children, where they can grow & thrive.

I am keen to be involved in the school environment and help towards making school a safe and inclusive learning environment for all the students.

Mr Michael Aspinall

Michael is the Deputy Head teacher at a Queen's Drive Primary School. He has over 25 years of experience in primary education as a class teacher, Assistant Head, Deputy Head and recently as the Acting Head teacher. Michael has particular curricular interests in Science and Physical Education and is very keen for children, and adults, to be physically active. Outside of school work, Michael is a regular participant in adult gymnastics at which he competes at a national level. He has collected 14 British titles in recent years and recently represented Great Britain in a World Masters gymnastics competition in Germany. Michael likes to watch football and supports his home-town team of Preston North End. Michael has three children, one of which has just started at a primary school in Tarleton. His eldest child works in the health sector whilst his youngest attends a local nursery.

Mr Zuber Bapu

Zuber works in Local Government as an advisor to politicians. He has been in this line of work for over 20 years having previously worked for the Police Authority for 5 years. Zuber has Business and Management qualifications along with a mechanical qualification having served as a motor vehicle apprentice! He first became a Parent Governor in 2012 at another Primary school in Preston and then again at Queen’s Drive in 2019. He has a son who attends the school and so has a keen interest in the wider development of the Queen’s Drive Primary School. Zuber has experience of SEN as he has a child with Special Needs who is now in secondary education. In his previous role as a Parent Governor he was the lead governor for Pupil Premium and also served on the Finance Committee for a number of years. Zuber hopes to play an active role in helping Queen’s Drive Primary School through the challenging period ahead post Covid-19.

Mr John Hynes

I am a Community Governor. My strong analytical skills and financial experience provide important management skills to the Governing Body. I serve as a Governor to ensure the best interests of the children is always the primary objective.

Mrs Helen Brewer (Staff Governor)

My name is Helen Brewer, and I am a proud mother of three grown up children, I am also a Nana to 3 gorgeous grandsons (so far!) I have a degree in education, as well as being a qualified nursery nurse with over 25 years experience within primary education. I am currently working towards my level 3 Forest School training award which will enable me to teach the sessions and hopefully impart my love of nature to the children. I am particularly creative and I love to share my passion for art with the children. Outside of school I am involved with a local drama group where I produce props for pantomimes. In my spare time, I am also an exceptionally keen amateur photographer.