Governance

Katie Edern

Chair of Governors

I have been a governor at Devonshire Road since 2015. My eldest daughter finished Year 6 in 2021 and my youngest in 2024. I am so proud that my children began their education at Devonshire Road; I love the diversity, the learning, the strong sense of community and the wealth of opportunities all children are given here. I feel privileged to be able to contribute to the strategic leadership of Devonshire Road. I really value the strong relationship I have with our school and the opportunities the role has given me. My background is in HR, Administration and Business in both the public and private sector, so I am able to bring a wide variety of skills and experience to the board. I have a number of roles on the board as well as sitting on all committees. Since 2021 I have been Chair of Governors. I loved guiding the board as we grow and develop with our school, going from strength to strength. I aim to ensure that along with everyone at Devonshire Road, we are kind, curious and the best that we can be.

Hazra Akuji

Vice-Chair of Governors

My name is Hazra Akuji and I sit on the Governing Board as a Parent Governor. I was elected in July 2021. I am Bolton born and bred and live locally. I am a parent to two children; a daughter in LKS2 and a son who joined Devonshire Road in EYFS in September 2022. My professional background is as a Civil Litigation Solicitor and I have been practising law for the last 11 years. In my spare time (of which there is very little!) I volunteer as a Group Secretary for a local Scouts Group. It is an honour and privilege to serve the school community and hope to make a real contribution to the ongoing success of the school.

Emma Hodge

Headteacher

My name is Emma Hodge and as Headteacher I sit on the governor board. I attend all committee and full board meetings. My role is to work alongside our very strong team of governors to make our school the best it can be. If you have met me, then you will know how much I love my role. I feel very privileged and fortunate to be serving this excellent school which is at the heart of a wonderfully diverse community. If you haven’t been to our school yet, I would urge you to watch our welcome video or follow our social media threads.

Dave Bevitt

I am a co-opted governor having been first appointed as a parent governor in 2010 when my daughter attended the school. I live locally and have spent most of my career in the voluntary and community sector, particularly with not for profit advice and information providers, spending 20 years as Chief Officer of Bury District Citizens Advice Bureau Service. I am very proud to be a Governor at this fantastic school, we felt the friendliness and professionalism from the day we first walked in and it is a real pleasure to see the progress made and desire of the children, staff and parents/carers to make the school even better. I also sit on Boltons’ School Forum as an elected Governor Representative and on the Formula Review Committee looking at the wider challenges for schools across Bolton. Devonshire Road is a great school with all the right values and a fantastic staff team in all roles, going above and beyond to help our children be the best they can be and learn the values and skills they need to prepare them for the future.

Barbara Porter

I have been the Local Authority Representative on the Governing Board for a number of years, and have been re-appointed to serve until August 2024. I am married with two adult children and two grandchildren. I have lived locally, just around the corner from the school all my adult life and both my children and grandchildren were born and educated in Bolton. I have a degree in Hotel and Catering Management, and have worked in both Bolton and Manchester before working with my husband in our local Pharmacy business. I stepped down as Chair of the Governing Board in 2017, but remain active on the board, attending both the termly meetings and all the committee meetings. I am the designated Governor for both Child Protection and Looked after Children, and also the Partnership Governor. This governor position acts as a link between the school and the Local Authority. I am also a member of the Head teacher’s Performance Review panel. Although I have been a member of the Governing Board for a long number of years, I still find life at Devonshire Road interesting, fascinating and worthwhile and hope I am still able to contribute to the success of the school.

Tom Abraham

I am a co-opted governor at Devonshire Road as well as Deputy Headteacher. I am an active member of the Finance, Premises and Personnel committee, and have previously sat on the Pupil Welfare and the Quality of Provision committee in recent years. I also hold 2 other roles within the Governing Board:  Link governor for Training and Development, which ensures that all governors undertake statutory and other relevant professional development for their specific roles;  Link governor for Health and Safety, which includes making sure that the building is safe in liaison with the School Business Manager and the Site Manager. I am passionate about the education and development of all the children at Devonshire Road, and in all my roles, I aim to ensure that the entire school community is following the 3B's: Be Kind, Be Curious, Be The Best You Can Be. It has been a pleasure to work alongside such hard-working, dedicated governors at the school over the past few years, and I cannot wait to continue making excellent progress in the future.

Emily Hayton-Brooke

I am in my sixth year of teaching at Devonshire Road, having previously taught Year 6 in Huddersfield for two years. I love my job and may be slightly biased, but Devonshire Road truly is an amazing school, where the children and adults are valued for their different strengths and personalities. Prior to training and qualifying as a teacher, I studied Learning Disability Studies at The University of Manchester. I am a strong believer in Howard Gardeners Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which identifies eight different intelligences that we as humans possess from linguistic and logical to rhythmic and interpersonal. As a teacher and governor, I am really passionate about ensuring children have every opportunity available to grow and develop their different intelligences through the broad and balanced curriculum we design and experiences we offer. As a new governor, I am yet to be linked to a specific board, however I would feel privileged to sit on the Pupil Welfare and Quality of Provision committees.

Lynsey Merrick

I was born & raised in Bolton with my first job in the Arts at the Octagon Theatre, where I first trained in community & youth facilitation. I still live in Bolton with my young family, two of whom attend Devonshire Road in Y4 and EYFS. I have been a Governor at the school since September 2020 and chair the Pupil Welfare Committee; I am a nominated board member for Safeguarding. In my professional life I am an Applied Theatre Practitioner, Arts Leader, Consultant & Coach who has worked extensively with young people & communities across Greater Manchester and internationally, for the past 20 years. I undertook postgraduate research in Applied Theatre at the University of Manchester, focussing on the therapeutic outcomes of cultural engagement for vulnerable young people. During this period of study I also worked closely with TiPP (Theatre in Prisons & Probation) and undertook international practice as research around Theatre in areas of conflict. My most recent role was Executive Director for Learning & Engagement at The Lowry – transforming the organisation’s work over the past 12 years with children, young people & wider communities. I also held a strategic remit to support city wide Cultural Strategy, including the set-up of the Salford LCEP. In this role, I held national partnerships and facilitated national impact for the organisation through work alongside Arts Council England, British council, The National Theatre & established the national Co-creation network alongside Battersea Arts Centre. The long-term social impact of my work in this role, along with meaningful organisational change over the 12 year period in post, has been recognised with various awards and national profile around best practice in the area of socially engaged practice. Since leaving The Lowry, I have been working as a freelance consultant & practitioner for the past 2 years, under the name Cultural Democracy. I support small, medium, and large-scale cultural organisations in their strategic development around engagement for children, young people & communities, co-creation & socially engaged practice, youth voice, diversity & inclusion and safeguarding. I am also a member of the Clore Leadership and STRIDE Women in Leadership Programmes.

Chloe Hardingham

I’m Chloe and I was pleased to be elected as a co-opted governor in June 2019. I am a year 5 teacher at another primary school and Bolton. I am married and I have a young baby boy. I was born in Bolton but I currently live in Bury. I love to travel, eat out and play netball. On Friday evenings, you’ll find me at a local Beaver Group where I am one of the Leaders. I have been a volunteer there for the past 11 years. I studied Law at the University of Salford in 2010-2013. After graduating, I worked as a paralegal for just a few months before deciding to go back to university to complete my teacher training. I worked with a supply agency as a teaching assistant, learning support assistant (SEN) and a nursery assistant until the following September when I started my PGCE at Edge Hill University. In September 2014, I qualified as a teacher and started working as a Year 6 teacher. I completed 4 years teaching in Year 6 and I now teach in Year 5. I absolutely love my job as a teacher as every day is different and I get to build relationships with 30+ children each year and see them make lots of progress both socially and academically. I currently sit on the Quality of Provision committee which has allowed me to see some of the great things already happening at your school and I am looking forward to helping the school do even more fantastic things and make your school even better. I am also Lead Governor for Maths which suits me perfectly as I am the maths co-ordinator of maths and my school and I absolutely love it!

Shirley Hartnell

My name is Shirley Hartnell and I am thrilled to join the Parent Governor Team. I moved to Bolton over 20 years ago and I have never looked back. I am mother to an energetic, inquisitive son in KS2, who I have seen flourish thanks to the Devonshire Road Team, in the main, because they have listened and seen my son as an individual. Professionally, I worked as a qualified accountant for many years. After having my son, I had a complete career change and now work in retail. In July 2021, I was part of the parental engagement steering group, led by a TLR (Teaching Learning Responsibility), I found this to be an excellent forum to share my thoughts and the comments of other parents whom otherwise may not have been heard. Being a parent governor will be the natural progression, it will be my pleasure to serve Devonshire Road Primary School.

Alex Kirby

As an elected co-opted governor since September 2021, it is a real pleasure to work alongside the pupils and staff of this vibrant, diverse and inclusive forward thinking school. I have twenty-three years’ experience as a secondary school teacher of Design Technology working within the Bolton area. During which time I have gained a breadth of experience in middle and senior leadership positions. For the last nine years, I have been working at Rivington and Blackrod High School as an Assistant Headteacher with the responsibility for Special Educational Needs and Pastoral Care. In November 2015, I completed a National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination, which was on the back of achieving Masters Certificate in Education, specialising in inclusive practices. In recent years, my training has centred on Safeguarding and Mental Health, which has helped support my role as a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for the School. As a co-opted governor at Devonshire Road Primary School, I look forward to working with the children, families and staff to contribute to the schools’ ongoing success in the many years to come.

Marie Ahmad

I was re-appointed as a Co-Opted Governor in October 2022, after sitting on the Governing Board between 2011 and 2021. I first joined the Board as a Parent Governor as both of my children attended Devonshire Road Primary. This school is a very special place with a big heart. Being a member of the Board gives me the opportunity to give something back to the school and my community. I currently work for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) as a Volunteer Support Officer. My role involves co-ordinating and supporting the recruitment, training and management of GMFRS Volunteers. I have spent the majority of my working life working with volunteers in a range of settings including Local Authority, Community and Voluntary Sector and Adult Education. It has been a privilege to be back on the Governing Board, working with our school community of amazing children and families and dedicated staff to bring out the best in everyone.

Arfan Ali

I have been a Governor at local Primary and Secondary Schools since 2003, having joined Devonshire Road as a Parent Governor in 2021. I live locally and have 2 children attending Devonshire Road. My professional background is within IT infrastructure management for Banks and Government agencies, which I really enjoy. Since joining Devonshire Road, I have been impressed with the quality of education, leadership and governance. I look forward to working with Devonshire Road school and parents to continue with the success seen over the years