Yavneh College became an Academy Trust in 2011. In May 2016 it became a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) when Yavneh Primary School was founded and then opened to its first pupils in September 2016..
The role of the MAT is to drive the core strategic functions of the Yavneh Schools, to ensure that each school within the MAT has a clear vision and ethos and that they strive to provide excellent outcomes for all pupils within their ambit. Each of the schools has a Local Governing Body. There are also various sub-committees of the MAT which perform various functions such as Admissions, Premises and Finance and Personnel. The MAT holds school leaders and local governing bodies to account to ensure that the highest possible educational standards are met and sustained.
In order to meet its core objectives, Yavneh College Academy Trust has 10 trustees who sit on the MAT Board, each with a particular focus.
The chart below shows the organisational structure of Yavneh College Academy Trust.
MAT BOARD |
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Jo Grose (Chair) Susy Stone (Vice Chair) (YC LGB Chair) Roz Levin (YPS LGB Chair) Spencer Lewis (Executive Headteacher) Natalie Leon Michael Firestone Caroline Field (Observer) |
Roland Hyams Richard Gilbert Sue Neale Aaron Kaye Jacqui Rudolph Eddie Hammerman |
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Local Governing Bodies |
Standing Committees |
Ad Hoc Committee |
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Yavneh College |
Yavneh Primary |
Finance and Premises Committee |
Personnel Committee |
Pupil Disciplinary |
Staff Grievance and Staff Appeals |
Admissions |
Susy Stone (Chair) Spencer Lewis Rolanda Hyams Richard Gilbert Aaron Kaye Michelle Spevick Jacqui Rudolph Rebecca Lermer Lara Levinson Caroline Dulin Russell Goldstein |
Roz Levin (Chair) Caroline Field Nicole Wilson Rolanda Hyams Gemma Peters Sue Neale Richelle Joseph Amanda Bookatz Leanne Redstone Lisa Collins Mike Rubenstein |
Rolanda Hyams (Chair) Spencer Lewis Aaron Kaye Jacqui Rudolph Caroline Field Susy Stone Michael Firestone Jo Grose Richelle Joseph Natalie Leon |
Roz Levin (Chair) Rolanda Hyams Spencer Lewis Caroline Field Jacqui Rudolph Susy Stone |
Three governors appointed by the MAT board as required – excluding parents and Executive Headteacher/ Primary Headteacher |
Three governors appointed by the MAT board as required – excluding parents and Executive Headteacher/ Primary Headteacher |
Richard Gilbert (Chair) Spencer Lewis Caroline Field Sue Nyman Jo Grose Susy Stone Aaron Kaye |
If you wish to contact any of the trustees please contact them via email to trustees@yavnehcollege.org.
Meet our Trustees:
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Jo Grose
Chair of YCAT since 1 January 2022. Jo has three children, all of whom attend Yavneh College. With a background in educational publishing and the management of Jewish curriculum and engagement programmes, she is now Director of Communities and Strategy at the United Synagogue. She also sits on the Yavneh Foundation Trust Board. |
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Rolanda Hyams
Trustee since May 2016 – previously a governor of Yavneh College Rolanda is the Chair of Yavneh College Local Governing Body and also sits on the MAT board as a trustee. She is a Chartered Accountant who combines an active life with being a trustee.. Rolanda enjoys being part of the family and her roles involve assisting on the finance committee and chairing the Personnel Committee. Rolanda’s background as an accountant allows her to help the Business Manager with any technical accounting/audit queries. Rolanda works full time in a chartered accountancy practice in Paddington. When she is not working you will find her training for triathlons and spending time with her 6 grandchildren. |
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Spencer Lewis
Trustee since May 2016 – previously a governor of Yavneh College Spencer Lewis was educated at Hasmonean High School in London and moved on to Jews College London where he gained a BA and MA in Rabbinic Literature from the University of London. After graduating Spencer began his teaching career at Hasmonean High School and the Independent Jewish Day School. In 1993 Spencer spent a year at Bar Ilan University in Israel on the Senior Educators’ Programme after which he joined King Solomon High School in Redbridge. Spencer spent 19 years at King Solomon beginning as a teacher going on to Head the Jewish Studies department, moving to Head of Year, Assistant and Deputy Head Teacher and finally Head Teacher between 2007 and 2013. Spencer has a Post Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from the University of Hull and the National Professional Qualification for Headship from the NCSL. He was appointed as Head Teacher of Yavneh College in September 2013. |
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Roz Levin
Trustee since May 2016 – previously a governor of Yavneh College Roz qualified as a teacher in 1973 and has been involved in education all her working life. Roz was Headteacher of Wohl Ilford Jewish Primary School until her retirement in July 2014. Roz enjoys spending time with her family; reading, theatre, travel and volunteering. Roz is a trustee on the MAT Board and is the Chair of the Local Governing Body of Yavneh Primary School.
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Sue Neale
Trustee since December 2017 Sue qualified as a teacher in 1974 and has been involved in education all her working life. For the past 23 years until her retirement Sue taught in a primary special needs setting and is still actively involved in special needs education. Sue enjoys spending time with her family; volunteering, reading, theatre, travel, gardening and entertaining. Sue is a member of the MAT Board plus the Local Governing Body of Yavneh Primary School.
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Susy Stone
Trustee since March 2019 Susy is a retired Headteacher with over 40 years experience in Education. She was Head of Bell Lane Primary and of Akiva School and served as a governor of both schools and of JFS, where she taught and was a parent. |
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Richard Gilbert
Trustee since November 2018 Richard Gilbert has two sons, both of whom are pupils at Yavneh College. Richard has been a Governor of Yavneh College for many years having sat on the school’s Temporary Governing Body before the school opened and then on the school’s Governing Body until the formation of the Multi Academy Trust. Richard chaired the Education Committee for many years, sat on the Finance Committee and has been the Governor with responsibility for Child Protection issues. Since the formation of the Multi Academy Trust, Richard sits on the Local Governing Body for Yavneh College as its Vice Chair. |
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Aaron Kaye
Trustee since September 2019 Aaron and his wife have lived in Borehamwood for 9 years and have three children, all of whom attend Rosh Pinah Primary School. Aaron is an active member of the Borehamwood and Elstree United Synagogue and Aaron has served on the Board of Management and various other committees for the Shul, whilst his day job is that of an internal Financial Analyst for Springer Nature Publishers. Aaron has been unofficially helping Yavneh since 2011, with data, statistics and communications for the Yavneh College Primary School and more recently, admissions related issues and demographics for Yavneh College. Aaron joined the Yavneh College Local Governing Body in July 2016, where he hopes to use his analytical and statistical strengths on both admissions and wider school performance data. |
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Jacqui Rudolph
Trustee since May 2019 Jacqui has been the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at Menorah High School for Girls since 2006 and before that was SENCO at Mathilda Marks Primary School. For a number of years Jacqui was the vice-chair of the Stanmore and Canons Park United Synagogue where she continues to be involved in communal affairs. Jacqui was a Yavneh parent for 7 years, “graduating” in 2016. She has also been a parent at Immanuel College and JFS, so has wide experience of Jewish schools both as a parent and as a professional.
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Michael Firestone
Trustee since Feb 2021 Michael and his wife Gabrielle have lived in Borehamwood for 19 years. They have three children, one of whom is at Yavneh College. Michael has been a Commercial Property Agent for the past 14 years. He is a committed modern orthodox Jew, having been active in his youth in Bnei Akiva as their Technical Director and as an adult very involved in his shul, Ohr Yisrael Federation. He leads the services during the year and on high holydays and enjoys learning daf yomi every day. Michael is very proud of his Scottish and Jewish heritage, is a keen cyclist and has completed several charity bike challenges. He is also partial to a dram or two of fine malt whisky. |
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Eddie Hammerman
Trustee since Jan 2022 Eddie started his career as a broadcast journalist at BBC Manchester and was involved in producing groundbreaking programming during the formative days of talkRADIO and talkSPORT. He moved into PR and marketing joining Markettiers4DC followed by TVC and became managing director at The 10 Group in 2015. Eddie leads on strategy, ideation and activation on regional, national and global campaigns for British Gas, Confused.com, Honda, Mishcon de Reya and Genpact as well as educational clients including UFI Voctech Trust and University Technical Colleges. Eddie is a long standing member of Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue and has been heavily involved in the BES Yavneh community’s development from the outset. He currently leads youth discussions, connecting topical issues with Jewish thinking. He served on the Shul board between 2016-2018 holding the Israel portfolio, securing high profile speakers as well as organaising Yom Hazikharon and Yom Haatzmaut celebrations to help promote a closer connection with Israel. In addition, Eddie has conducted numerous media training sessions for the Zionist Federation. In 2019 Eddie co-founded The Jewish Organ Donor Association (www.joda.org.uk (http://www.joda.org.uk) ) to promote organ donation within a Jewish framework (https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/survey-finds-significant-confusion-over-organ-donation-among-jews-1.495755) . JODA has been working closely with the Office of the Chief Rabbi in raising awareness of the issue in line with halacha. His latest content led campaign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc_gg6s1zD8) uses social media and Jewish media to reach a mainstream Jewish audience. He is proud to be a recovering journalist, glacial half Iron Man, amateur behavioural economist, unashamed Arsenal fan and has three wonderful children who sometimes listen to him. They all attend Yavneh College. |
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Natalie Leon
Trustee since October 2022 I am a Chartered Accountant and commercially astute Senior Executive, with 25 years’ experience working within the Corporate, Advisory, Not for Profit and Education sectors. I am a collaborative leader of diverse specialist functions – Finance, Operations, IT, Governance, Company Secretariat and HR and pride myself on balancing the strategic vision with an eye for detail and total commitment to excellence. Currently I am the Director of Finance and Resources for the Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools, which comprises 2,650 students and 500+ staff, with responsibility for their Finance, HR and IT functions. I am also a trustee of two grant making charities, one of which supports children in the Jewish community. I have two primary school-aged children and live locally in Elstree. |
Yavneh College Local Governing Body
Rolanda Hyams was appointed chair of the Yavneh College Local Governing Body in September 2019. In addition to Rolanda, Spencer, Richard, Susy and Jacqui are also MAT board Trustees who sit on the local governing body. Rolanda is also supported by the governors detailed below.
Yavneh Primary School Local Governing Body
Roz Levin was appointed chair of the Yavneh Primary School Local Governing Body in June 2017. In addition to Roz, Rolanda and Sue Neale are also MAT board Trustees who sit on the local governing body. Roz is also supported by the governors detailed below.