Governors

Corinne Greenslade

Corinne is a staff governor on the Curriculum and Standards Committee. She trained at Hertfordshire University and is an experienced teacher. Currently, she is teaching Year 6. Prior to her training, Corinne worked as a teaching assistant in England and an English teacher in South Korea and Tanzania. She also has a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts with Performing Arts from Middlesex University. Corinne enjoys keeping her body and mind healthy by going to the gym regularly and meditating.

Edmund Miller

Edmund is staff governor at Harbinger School. He was born and raised in Tower Hamlets and he attended Malmesbury Primary School and Bangabandu in Bethnal Green and later Swanlea Secondary in Whitechapel. He became a teacher at Harbinger in 2006 after completing a degree in Maths and Music. He has worked at Harbinger ever since. He is fully committed to the pursuit of excellence in education and believes that children who are happy and feel safe will always flourish. He works hard to provide a creative and supportive environment for the children in his class.

Katy Bennett-Richards Chair of Governors

Katy has been a governor at Harbinger School since 2007, initially as a parent governor when her son attended the school and subsequently as a local authority governor. Katy has lived and worked in East London since 1991. She is a Consultant Physician with Barts' Health and also plays an active role in delivering and developing medical education. Katy is a great believer in inclusion and the use of partnerships to provide excellent educational experiences for all our children so that every child should be afforded a high quality education, regardless of background.

Kiran Rahman

Kiran is parent governor at Harbinger School and a busy mum to three boys, all of whom attend Harbinger, and a 17 month old little girl. She is very keen on being involved in all aspects of their education, at home and at school, academic and otherwise. Kiran trained as a Health Carer and is always completing courses to better herself, in any which way possible. She also loves creating things, be it sewing, crochet, writing or DIY. In her spare time she loves listening to music and reading.

Kris Cawood Vice Chair of Governors

Kris is an economist at the Department for Education, where he has been working since 2013. He is also a governor at Ian Mikardo High School in Bromley-by-Bow. In his spare time, he mostly focuses on being a data nerd, and attempting to play guitar. Kris sits on the Curriculum & Standards, Finance & Resources and Personnel & Salaries committees.

Stephen Purse

Stephen is a Chartered Accountant who, until his retirement in 2016, was the Chief Financial Officer of Clifford Chance LLP, which is one of the world's largest international law firms. He is a director of Tower Hamlets Education Partnership, an organisation which helps member schools to develop and to improve and he volunteered for several years in another Tower Hamlets primary school, helping with maths. Stephen has been a governor of Harbinger School since March 2015 and chairs the Finance & Resources Committee. He became a governor in the hope that he can help with providing to every child the excellent education which is his or her right.

Vaughan Pilikan

Vaughan has been a governor at Harbinger since 2015. He is an artist, writer and filmmaker and has published and exhibited widely in the UK and overseas. His own studies were rather unorthodox, including ancient Greek, Sanskrit, painting and animation. He has lived for many years on the Isle of Dogs, and keeps an allotment at Mudchute farm. Education is entwined with his professional work: he has taught on projects and courses in schools and colleges around east London.

Andy Smith Headteacher

Martin Young

Martin has been a governor at Harbinger for many years since his daughter attended the school, where she was very happy. He is a barrister and has lived on the Isle of Dogs since 1987. He is an active member of the local community particularly with the charities Docklands Sailing Centre Trust, the SPACE, Docklands Settlement Trust and EastEnd Homes.

Blair Wright

Blair is a co-opted Governor and lives in Tower Hamlets. She believes passionately in the Harbinger values of learning, well-being and togetherness.

After reading Law at University, Blair has had a varied career as a car salesperson, wedding planner and over the last 10 years as a HR professional. She is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and and brings her knowledge in this area to support Harbinger's Governing Board.

Raphael Richards

Raphael is a Strategic Relationship Manager at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He has worked extensively across the education sector, including as a secondary science teacher in Tower Hamlets, an assessor for OCR, and in qualification and test development for Pearson Edexcel and the Department for Education. He is passionate about ensuring all children get the support they need to become their very best selves. Raphael used to be an actor and singer, but is now striving to write a good suspense novel.

Charlie McKnight

Charlie is the Press Secretary to the City Minister at HM Treasury, where he has been working since 2017. Prior to joining the Civil Service, Charlie was a Communications Manager at Lloyds Banking Group, and the founder of a community project which taught Politics in Primary and Secondary schools across Warwickshire. In addition to being a Governor, Charlie is also a mentor and volunteer for the Royal Society for Blind Children. Charlie is motivated by a want to see all children succeed through adversity, no matter what their ability or background. When he’s not working, Charlie is a committed Liverpool fan and keen reader.

Lawrence Houldsworth

Lawrence is a maths teacher that works in Islington, having previously worked in Tower Hamlets in Bow. He recently completed a masters in education at Harvard on a Kennedy Scholarship, where he focused on education in armed conflict settings and better understanding the barriers to accessing quality education. He has always been very attached to Tower Hamlets following his time working and living there, and cares deeply about ensuring that fantastic opportunities in education are open to all.