Governors

The Foundation Body for Rosh Pinah is the Scopus Jewish Educational Trust, affiliated with the United Synagogue.

As set out in The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013, the functions of the Governing Body include the following core functions:

Ensuring that the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the School are clearly defined
Ensuring that the Headteacher performs his or her responsibilities for the educational performance of the School
Ensuring the sound, proper and effective use of the school’s financial resources.

The responsibility of the Governing Body is for overall policy. The day-to-day business of organising children’s learning and of managing time, space, staff and resources is for the professional team led by the Headteacher.

The full Governing Body meets termly and these meetings are clerked. There are also sub-committees which usually meet termly and they currently include:

Admissions
Education, Ethos & Welfare
Finance & Operations
Staffing, Performance & Pay
Strategic Planning

An individual Governor has been delegated responsibility for Special Educational Needs, welfare and safeguarding matters and small working groups of Governors have been established to oversee matters of governance, security, Jewish studies and finance.

The Governing Body may be contacted via the school office admin@rpps.org.uk or by email at governors@rpps.org.uk. The Clerk to the Governing Body is Saru Balakrishnan.

The Governing Body is comprised of 12 Members plus 3 Non-Voting Observers

7 Foundation Governors (Appointed by Scopus)	2 Parent Governors (Elected by Parents)	1 Staff Governor (Elected by Staff)	1 Local Authority Governor
Dawn Frangi (Chair of Governors)	Lee Benson	Ruth Mellish	Cllr. Sarah Wardle
Nicole Blech (Vice Chair)	Daniel Nivern	Headteacher
Alex Schock (Vice Chair)		Jill Howson
Lee Sidney		1 Non-voting observers
Darcie Richman		Rabbi David Lister (Hon Principal)
Pippa Shenkin
1 Vacant Position

ROSH PINAH GOVERNOR COMMITTEE

Dawn Frangi - Chair of Governors

Dawn joined the Governing Body as a Foundation Governor in 2021. Both of her sons are currently pupils at the school. Dawn wants to help the school continue to thrive and to give the children the best possible start to their school life, helping to instil in them strong Jewish values and meet every child’s potential.

Dawn is a chartered accountant by profession, specialising in management accounting in the financial services sector. She is also a trustee and treasurer of a Jewish charity, is active within her local synagogue and is a member of the school PSA.

Appointed by Scopus Jewish Educational Trust
Current term of office ends: 7 April 2025
Committees and Subcommittees: Finance & Operations, Staffing and Performance, Strategic Planning

Register of Business Interest

Darcie Richman (Foundation Governor)

Darcie grew up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and was privileged to have received a Jewish Education having attended a Jewish day school from Nursery through to completing high school. As a result, Darcie always knew that she wanted the same education for her child. She is an optician by profession, working part time in a practice that specializes in children’s vision in Radlett. She has served and continues to serve on various charity and shul committees. Darcie and her husband, Geoff have one daughter who is a past pupil of this school and who now attends JFS. Whilst her daughter was still at the school, Darcie was a volunteer at Rosh Pinah, reading with infants for many years. Her passion is in both formal and informal Jewish education. Darcie was also involved in arranging the school’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations for 2016 and continues to play an active role in the school.

Appointed by Scopus Jewish Educational Trust
Current term of office ends: 9 November 2025
Committees and Sub-committees: Education, Ethos & Welfare and Jewish Studies

Register of Business Interest

Nicole Blech (Vice Chair)

I have two children who very happily attend Rosh Pinah, and have seen as a parent the wonderful education and opportunities the school offers.

I am a qualified primary school teacher, and worked at another Barnet school for 17 years in a range of roles including foundation stage leader, Maths subject lead and Assistant Headteacher. This gives me an in-depth understanding of the running of the school and of the curriculum, so I am able to bring this knowledge and experience to the governing body.

I have the desire to work with the senior leadership team of the school, to continue to move Rosh Pinah forward, so that it can offer the best possible education and experiences to all of our children.

Appointed by Scopus Jewish Educational Trust
Current term of office ends: 20 June 2026
Committees and Subcommittees: Education, Ethos & Welfare

Register of Business Interest

Alex Schock (Vice Chair)

Alex is the father of 3 young children, 2 of which are currently at Rosh Pinah. He is proud to be a Rosh Pinah parent. He’s passionate about supporting the school and making sure that it has a sustainable future for our children as well as the wider community.

Professionally, Alex is a senior leader in the UK Rail sector, responsible for managing and directing large teams, delivering complex digital transformation programmes. Alex is a strategic thinker, level-headed by nature and action-orientated. Alex is focussed on driving continuous improvement, and is not afraid to challenge the status quo. Listening to people’s views, ideas and expertise and then acting on these is how he works best.

Aside from work Alex loves to spend time with the family and socialise, football, and exercise.

Elected by Scopus Jewish Educational Trust
Current term of office ends: 26 October 2026
Committees and Subcommittees: Finance & Operations

Register of Business Interest

Lee Sidney (Foundation Govenor)

Lee was appointed to the school’s Governing Body in December 2021 with responsibility for security, making sure all the children and staff can learn and work in a safe environment He is a senior leader in the Civil Service and has held a number of leadership roles in tax compliance and policy delivery at both HMRC and Cabinet Office. He has also held voluntary communal roles with Mitzvah Day, CST, UJIA and JLGB, as well as being involved in his local synagogue. Having lived in Edgware since birth and with his children at Rosh Pinah, Lee is determined to see the school thrive and be recognised as a top choice for Jewish primary education in the area.

Elected by Scopus Jewish Educational Trust
Current term of office ends: 15 December 2024
Committees and Subcommittees: Finance & Operations

Register of Business Interest

Ruth Mellish (Staff Governor)

Ruth Mellish has been a class teacher at Rosh Pinah since 2008. She is currently teaching Year 6, a post which she notes is extremely challenging but highly rewarding. Ruth is also a Rosh Pinah parent with one son in Year 3. She is fully committed to all aspects of school life and helps run sports tournaments and also leads the Key Stage 2 School Council. Being a governor is important to Ruth as it allows her to have a greater say in the vision and future of the school.

Appointed by the Staff Body
Current term of office ends: 22 October 2025
Committees and Subcommittees: Education, Ethos & Welfare

Register of Business Interest

Lee Benson (Parent Governor)

Lee joined as Governor in 2023. He has 2 children, one already in attendance at the school. Lee professionally is a Property Developer with over 10 years experience in the construction industry covering project management; financial control; staff management and site management before setting up a family run business 4 years ago which delivers a number of multi-million pound projects. In his spare time Lee likes spending time with his family, football, mixed martial arts and chess.

Elected by Rosh Pinah Parent Body
Current term of office ends: 13 November 2027
Committees and Subcommittees: Finance & Operations

Register of Business Interest

Daniel Nivern(Parent Governor)

A graduate from Oxford University, with a Masters Degree in International Management and Chinese, I have 18 years of experience in the education sector, as the founder of two companies, Virtual Internships and CRCC Asia. As CEO of these companies, I have raised £15m in funding and have managed teams around the world, including setting up offices in the UK, US, China and Vietnam.

I am a proud dad to two sons at the school and want to use all of my experience and expertise in fundraising and in the education sector to support the board and Rosh Pinah in becoming the best Jewish Primary School in the country.

Outside of work, I love football (Man United fan and Manager of London Maccabi Under 8s), boxing and politics, and speak French, German and Mandarin.

Elected by the Parent Body
Current term of office ends: 18 November 2027

Pippa Shenkin (Foundation Governor)

Pippa is the mother of two children currently at Rosh Pinah. Pippa wants to help continue Rosh Pinah’s upward trajectory as a great local school.

Professionally, Pippa has an engineering background and 20 years of corporate experience, as a management consultant for multi-national brands and then as a senior Amazon manager where she led complex, technical projects for its books division. Pippa now runs her own tech education company, focussing on teaching touch typing to students and professionals.

Pippa’s broad and varied career has given her the ability to adapt to changing environments and develop innovative solutions. Pippa is a problem solver and action orientated; these skills can help to enhance the educational experience of our school.

Elected by the Rosh Pinah Parent Body
Current Term of office ends: 6 August 2027

Register of Business Interest

Councillor Sarah Wardle (Local Authority Governor)

Sarah was elected to represent Edgware ward in 2018 and is Vice-Chairman of the Housing and Growth Committee. Sarah is passionate about bringing investment into Edgware, improving the town centre and the local environment and expanding opportunities for the Borough’s young people. Sarah is also trustee of One Stonegrove, the Day’s and Atkinson Almshouse Charity.

During the day, Sarah is an Associate Director at Built Environment Communications Group and leads the London team working on a variety of housing, energy, infrastructure and social value projects across the UK. Sarah is also a member of the New London Architecture’s Expert Panel for Planning.

Appointed by the London Borough of Barnet
Current term of office ends: 15 March 2025
Committees and Subcommittees: Finance & Operations

Register of Business Interest