Governors

Mr Russell Willmer
Mr Russell Willmer

Chair of the Full Governing Body

First Appointed : 01 September 2017
Term Start: 01 September 2021
Term End: 31 August 2025

City of London Corporation

Russell graduated from Wadham College, Oxford with a First in Chemistry in 1981. From there he has spent over 35 years in the reinsurance industry in the City of London as both a broker and an underwriter. He founded the London operations of a US reinsurance company and has also been a non-executive director of a Lloyds Managing Agency. He is keen to support COLAI’s staff in their aim of delivering the best educational outcomes for the pupils and to aid the financial management of the Academy as Deputy Chair of the Personnel, Finance and Premises Committee. Russell has lived in Islington for the past 12 years and is a keen cricketer with 2 children.

Richard Kottler
Richard Kottler

Educated at Northampton Grammar School, he then graduated in Law from Cambridge, Richard’s career path began in Human Resources in Ford and ICI before moving into Sales and General Manager roles in the apparel and retail sectors

Richard then moved to the footwear industry, buying into and running the premium ladies footwear brand, H & M Rayne for 4 years.

In 1994 he established a specialist management recruitment company, which operated in both the footwear and fashion market areas. After 14 years he sold the company and took up the position of Chief Executive of the British Footwear Association.

He is a Past Master Pattenmaker and chairs the Company’s Education and Training Committee, with a special interest in London schools and how a Livery should support them. In the last few years he has managed a re-write of the Company’s History book and also a booklet describing how the Company – and the Livery movement generally – survived and prospered during the pandemic.

His main leisure interests are travel, cycling, walking and reading.

Professor Deborah Rafalin
Professor Deborah Rafalin

Deborah Rafalin is a Professor of Psychology and has worked at City, University of London for over 20 years. Across her portfolio career, Deborah has worked at a senior level in education, health, regulation and social care as a consultant and board member, in partnership with young people and their families, educators, health and social care professionals, commissioners, and regulators.

Currently, Deborah is Associate Dean (Interdisciplinary Portfolio Development) in the School of Health and Psychological Sciences at City, University of London where she holds a key strategic role in leading growth and innovation in the School’s academic portfolio. Prior to joining the School of Health and Psychological Sciences, Deborah was Associate Dean (Education) in the School of Arts and Social Sciences where she led the development and implementation of on-line and blended models of educational delivery during the period of continuous change brought about by Covid-19. Deborah has a national reputation as an expert in the complex relationships between academic integrity, academic misconduct, assessment design and student experience, and she is invited to speak on this issue in policy fora, academic conferences and in Schools.

Deborah was appointed as a Lead Assessor for the Office for Students (OfS) in 2022 and in this role, she leads teams of expert assessors to carry out investigations of academic quality and student outcomes at Higher Education providers. Deborah is an Hcpc Registered Psychologist who works in the field of adolescent and adult mental health. She is also an Executive Coach and has supported clients across private and statutory sectors to improve quality of provision and stakeholder experience. Deborah is driven by the mission to advance equity of opportunity, an ambition for students, a passion for driving continuous improvement and her unique perspective as an academic practitioner.

Mr Peter Lisley
Mr Peter Lisley

On graduating from Brasenose College, Oxford with a degree in Physics, Peter joined the Royal Navy. During his service he was able to use his degree by serving as a nuclear engineer officer on the submarine HMS Repulse before becoming a lecturer in Reactor Physics at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

On leaving the Royal Navy, Peter joined the City of London Corporation where he had a number of different positions in a 26-year career. These included Assistant Town Clerk,  Director of Major Projects and Culture Mile Director. His roles involved liaising with most of the City Corporation’s Departments and several of the City’s family of schools.

Hafiza Patel
Hafiza Patel

Sponsor Governors

First Appointed : 01 September 2020
Term Start: 01 September 2020
Term End: 31 August 2024

City, University of London

Hafiza represents City University of London whilst acting as a Governor for the City of London Academy Islington, she is a lead governor for safeguarding and is also a member of the Personnel, Finance and Premises Committee.

At the University she works as Assistant Director Financial Performance where she provides leadership to optimise the financial performance and promotes a culture of financial awareness to ensure delivery of financial results. The finance team was shortlisted in the Times Higher as outstanding finance team of the year in 2016.

She is also a Global visiting lecturer in Accounting and Finance as she teaches on the MSc Maritime and Operations Management programme both in London and in Greece, a programme ranked 12th in the world and 1st in the UK in 2020.

When she is not working or teaching, her love of sports, knowing the benefits it provides physically and more importantly mentally inspired her to help set up Muslimah Sports Association (MSA), a multi award winning charity, which aims to empower women through sports. MSA provides opportunities for women through participation, volunteering and coaching.  As trustee at MSA, she leads on Strategic development and risk management.

Reema Khan
Reema Khan

Sponsor Governors

First Appointed : 01 September 2020
Term Start: 01 September 2020
Term End: 31 August 2024

City, University of London

Reema has spent the majority of the past 20 years working in the Arts and Heritage sector in the field of membership, communications, and fundraising. She has worked at English Heritage, Historic Royal Palaces, Royal Academy of Arts and currently is now working within Higher Education at The Business School (formally Cass), City University as Advancement Director. Reema is a trustee at The Campaign to Protect Rural England, a trustee at The Liverpool Biennial and was previously trustee of the arts publishing charity Bookworks. Reema lives in London with her young son.

Mr Peter Colet Laurie
Mr Peter Colet Laurie

Co-opted

First Appointed : 01 September 2020
Term Start: 01 September 2020
Term End: 31 August 2024

The Worshipful Company of Saddlers

Peter is now retired, but upon leaving school, pursued a career in shipping for 50 years. For 45 of which he was a member of the Baltic Exchange as a shipbroker. Peter became a Freeman and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers in 1970 and worked his way up through the Company until he became Master in 2011/12. Throughout his time on the Court he has sat on various of the Company’s committees,particularly their Charities committee.
Mr Andrew Hesketh
Mr Andrew Hesketh

Staff Governor

First Appointed : 01 September 2022
Term Start: 01 September 2022
Term End: 31 August 2025

Andrew has worked within education for 20 years.  He has taught at Loxford School in Ilford, Langdon Park School in Tower Hamlets and, since 2011, The City of London Academy Islington.  Andrew joined the Academy as the Curriculum Leader for English, a post he currently holds.  During his time at the Academy, he has also been a part of the Senior Leadership Team as an Assistant Principal focused on Key Stage 4 achievement.

He is also the Contingent Commander for the City of London Academy Islington (HAC) Combined Cadet Force, a position he has held since 2017.  He is a company member of the Honourable Artillery Company and a Captain within the Cadet Forces.

Mr Keith Maylor
Mr Keith Maylor

Staff Governor

Keith has worked within education for over 7 years. He has worked as premises assistant and manager across three different London boroughs.   Keith currently works as Premises Manager at the Academy. Keith is a football fanatic and enjoys travelling, reading and cooking Caribbean cuisine.  He also enjoys spending quality time with his family and volunteering his time to feed the less fortunate in his local community. Keith mentors teenagers and young adults to support their self-awareness, personal development, and micro-enterprise.   Keith also runs an international charity focusing on the social and economic development and enjoys seeing how he is making a positive impact and empowering youths in Jamaica.

Mr Eric Sorensen
Mr Eric Sorensen

Community Governor

First Appointed : 01 September 2018
Term Start: 01 September 2020
Term End: 31 August 2026

Hannah McHugh
Hannah McHugh

Local Authority

First Appointed : 01 September 2022
Term Start: 01 September 2022
Term End: 31 August 2025

Hannah McHugh is a Labour Councillor for St Mary’s and James’ ward in Islington. Hannah therefore has a keen interest in the school’s outcomes for local students. Hannah chairs the Community Safety Policy Group for the Islington Labour Group of Councillors, with a particular focus on anti-social behaviour policy and strategies to tackle violence against women and girls. She is concerned to ensure that schools in Islington are actively involved in early intervention, safeguarding and social education and knows well the importance of school years in determining outcomes for young people.

Hannah is a PhD researcher in Political Theory. She is also a seminar teacher at University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science, meaning she has insight into the requirements of new undergraduate students and the preparatory work needed for this.

Hannah has a background in international policy and advocacy, having represented the City of London Corporation in Brussels during the Brexit negotiation period. Having worked for the Corporation, Hannah is well-positioned to contribute to the Academy’s aims of creating partnerships between the Academy and the City.

Hannah also chairs the Fabian Society’s Law and Constitutional Policy Group, which reflects her academic background in law, legal theory and political theory. In her spare time, Hannah is a keen marathon runner

Samantha Hobbs
Samantha Hobbs

Parent Governor

First Appointed : 03 May 2021
Term Start: 03 May 2021
Term End: 31 August 2025

Samantha joined COLAI as a parent governor in 2021. She has lived, worked and volunteered in Islington for nearly 20 years and has excellent knowledge of the local area. Samantha has gained sound knowledge of the education sector, not only as a parent, but through her volunteering experience as Treasurer of the PTA at a primary school also based in Islington. She has 20 years’ Human Resources experience gained within commercial, charity and sports sectors and she currently works at The Football Association managing learning, development and HR services.

City of London Academy Islington

Prebend Street | Islington | N1 8PQ

Telephone: 020 7226 8611

Registered in England: No 6426966, City of London Academy Islington Limited is a Registered Charity no: 1121962