Our Governors, Members & Trustees
Community Links Academy Trust was set up in 2012 and operates an alternative provision Academy for young people aged between 11 and 16 years. The Trust grew from the education work of Newham-based charity Community Links Trust Limited, and became completely independent from the charity in 2014.
Education Links is a multi-site Alternative Provision Free School (Academy) located in Newham, London. The principal object of the academy is to provide alternative education for pupils referred by mainstream schools or local authorities, leading to those pupils being reintegrated into mainstream education; supported to further education or training, gaining appropriate accreditation.
Governance Chart
The current governance structure is as follows:
Members
The Members are, in essence, the shareholders of the organisation. This is currently our list of members:
| Name of Member | Governance | |
| Arfa Butt | Member | |
| Althea Baker | Member | |
| Linda Powell | Member | |
| Simon Herbert | Member | |
| Katrin Harrow | Member | |
| Simon Miller |
Member |
The members have several functions:
- Approve the Trust accounts and appoint the auditors
- Appoint trustees and governors
This group holds an AGM and audit meeting.
Trustees
The Trustees of our Trust have a range of powers and responsibilities which they are legally required to carry out, working in close partnership with the Director & Headteacher to ensure that the school provides the best possible education for all students.
| Name of Trustee | Governance | |
| Arfa Butt | Chair of Trustees | |
| Althea Baker | Vice Chair of Trustees | |
| Mark McCullum | Finance & HR Committee | |
| Naomi Brown | Student Curriculum Attendance & Progression Committee | |
| Paul Munday-Castle | Student Curriculum Attendance & Progression Committee | |
| Rachana Vaja | Student Curriculum Attendance & Progression Committee | |
| Chantelle Clarke | Student Curriculum Attendance & Progression Committee | |
| Ella Downs | Finance & HR Committee | |
| Nicola Middleton | Finance & HR Committee | |
| Eumara David |
Finance & HR Committee |
The Board of Trustees consider the vision and aims of the Trust and its school, as well as strategy and policy to deliver its key objectives. It has ultimate responsibility for all budgets, salaries and safeguarding.
Apart from ensuring good governance, the Board’s primary objectives are to assist the Director & Headteacher in delivering the best possible outcomes for all students, and to hold the Director & Headteacher to account for the ways in which this is carried out. It does this through Board meetings.
The Trust Board monitors key aspects of the school in accordance with its strategic plan. The majority of the leadership of the school is delegated to the Director & Headteacher.
Director/Trustee & Principal
Mr Errol Comrie
The Director/Trustee & Principal, supported by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), provides the overall educational vision, direction and leadership of the Trust. The Trust also provides leadership of key educational support services across the academy's – finance, estates management, IT, catering. marketing and human resources. For curriculum support, the academy draws upon the expertise of the Trust's School Improvement consultants and external expertise employed to work across the organisation.
The Director/Trustee & Principal has overall responsibility for the students’ welfare and progress. All senior staff lead on a range of school-specific key responsibilities and ensure that they are consistently implemented and delivered across the academy.
Register of Interests
CLAT Register of Interests of Members and Trustees
Biographies of Governance
A freelance Education Partnerships Director, youth & adult MHFA, global entertainment executive, cultural strategist and youth development consultant with 25+ years experience on all sides of the creative business in the UK, US, EMEA & Asia. Passionate about building partnerships that make the world a better place, exploring the potential of creativity, to challenge perceptions and build a deeper understanding of the world we live in.
Arfa joined Community Links Academy Trust (CLAT) in 2016 as a co-opted Trustee. She has advised some of the leading UK institutions across the creative industry, public, private and third sectors and has access to talent and a global professional network of contacts across education, arts, entertainment and the creative industries.
She is currently the chair of A New Direction, an award-winning not-for-profit charity and an Arts Council funded NPO organisation generating opportunities for children and young people to experience culture and develop and explore their creativity across East London, on the advisory board of The London Music Fund Amplify initiative supported by Youtube Music. They fund grassroots organisations that offer music and/or music technology activities in London for young people aged 11-21 and aren’t being funded by Music Services or schools, also helping the organisations to forge links with the music industry and the music education sector. Each successful application is awarded £6000 towards the proposed project.
She was on the Music For Youth board, vice- chair of the finance committee and the Mayor of London’s cultural leadership board (D&I and music education committees) an ambassador and delivery partner for the Sounds Like London Campaign, a celebration of women in the music industry, helped shape the Mayor's Culture Strategy, steer the delivery of the Mayor’s policy pledges and priorities and kept the culture team at the GLA abreast of issues facing the creative industries and culture sector.
Althea joined Community Links in 2008, and then became a founding Member of the Community Links Academy Trust (CLAT) in 2014.
At the time she was working on various policies at the Department for Children, Schools and Families (which became the Department for Education in 2010). Althea has over 20 years experience of school governance and is currently the Vice Chair of the Trust Board.
A neighbour to our Stratford site for over 13 years and an active member of the local community. Mark has had an incredibly eclectic career spanning television, fashion, law and gin; all since graduating drama school in London!
His experience at Senior Management level within a City law firm gave both valuable insight into corporate governance and legal frameworks, but also exposed the difficulties of breaking into such professions for those from under-privileged positions. Mark is passionate about equality of opportunity and fostering meaningful relationships at all levels to affect real impact and change.
Outside of work he has a mild obsession with exploring London; in particular its art, theatre and hospitality establishments. He is lucky enough to travel regularly with his family and has the pleasure of calling Colombia his second home after marrying into their wonderful culture.
Growing up in Newham, Naomi was inspired by her interactions with youth workers in the borough and this positive interaction motivated her to pursue a career in youth services.
She cares deeply about helping young people realise their potential, driven by her experience working in alternative provisions and the belief and need for a more inclusive and updated curriculum.
Her career spans both the private and public sectors, focusing on re-engaging young people who are most disaffected and at risk. With over a decade of experience in the youth service industry, she has held various roles, including Youth Development Manager, Youth Programme Worker, Pastoral Support, and various roles in the Youth Justice Service (YJS).
Passionate about innovative projects that provide opportunities to young people disengaged from mainstream society. She excels in networking, mentoring, and leading teams to achieve significant outcomes. Her expertise lies in building relationships and networks to improve the lives of young people.
Naomi’s open and approachable nature allows her to connect with even the hardest-to-reach individuals, developing meaningful relationships and providing reliable support during times of stress. In addition to her extensive experience in youth services, she is an avid spin goer and feels it helps promote fitness and well-being through high energy, engaging workouts!
Born in Nigeria and raised in various countries, Paul has lived in Zimbabwe, and the USA before settling in the UK in 1988. He began playing basketball at the age of 14 with the famed Brixton Topcats. Paul has represented England and Great Britain on the international stage in Basketball.
Paul started teaching in 2001 and answered the vocation of working with young people especially in inner London and has been educating and inspiring young people for over twenty years. He has spoken all over the world empowering students and teachers to step into their manifest destiny. Paul’s belief is simple “you don’t lose until you quit”.
As one of the few black secondary headteachers in Britain, Paul has an insight into the issues that prevent teachers from the global majority from breaking through the glass ceiling in education. He is an award winning historian who has delivered life changing history lessons, a well-respected keynote speaker and conference facilitator who combines humour with life experience and research to deliver impactful messages to his audiences.
Paul is a facilitator on the DFE Diversity and Equality program with a focus of getting more teachers from the global majority into leadership positions. Paul has held headships at Woodcote high school, Coppice Spring school, College Hall and was Principal at Richmond Park Academy and has worked for both the high achieving Harris and ARK Federations of school as a senior leader. He has been a systems leader with the Academies enterprise trust – the largest multi academy Trust in the UK.
Paul was teacher of the year in London in 2005 and has sat on numerous department of education planning groups and is heavily involved with the voluntary sector in London in his spare time. Paul is a school improvement partner and inspector with COBIS and currently chairs the external reference group for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Rachana has been teaching art and design for 12 years and is driven by making a positive impact on young people and the way they see themselves and the world around them.
Passionate about art education and celebrating young people’s achievements, Rachana is co-director of a Newham based arts organisation, Art Matters, leading the secondary art teachers’ network. At the end of every academic year, Art Matters holds one of the UK’s largest student art exhibitions at the University of East London.
Rachana also leads the cultural education partnership in Chelmsford, enhancing creative prospects and embedding strong innovative collaborations that will build sustainable opportunities in the cultural education partnership.
An educational leader with over twenty years of experience working with children and young people across various settings with a BSc in Social Policy, Criminal Justice, and Psychology from the London School of Economics and trained with Teach First in 2010 to become a social sciences teacher.
Following her Masters in Educational Leadership, Chantelle founded Rivers Coaching, a social enterprise focused on improving classroom practices. Currently the head of content for The Financial Times Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign. Beyond her career, Chantelle is a mother, foster carer, and engaged in various passion projects.
In 2018, she launched "Echoes of Love," an event for black women to share their experiences, funded by The London Mayor’s Cultural Seeds Award. This project culminated in a self-published collection, "Tales of a London Lass." Additionally, Chantelle hosts the Black Women Working Podcast, featured on the BBC and Stylist Magazine.
After working in schools and community settings in South London, Ella has spent the last 5 years managing programmes that support young people across London. This included working at education charity ReachOut, overseeing a portfolio of after school mentoring interventions designed to build confidence and key skills in local communities.
Currently working at the Mayors Fund for London, she leads on the Numbers@Work project, a pilot programme that builds engagement with maths for young people studying in alternative provision and those at risk of exclusion in a mainstream setting. By collaborating with corporate volunteers, students are invited to gain experience in the workplace and learn about how different professions use numbers in the real world.
Passionate about providing holistic support for young people facing the biggest barriers, Ella is a volunteer mentor outside of work. When not in the office or schools, Ella enjoys discovering new food spots and spending as much time on the water as possible.
Nicola is an experienced employment lawyer, with 10+ years experience working in the financial service sector. Through this, Nicola brings a wealth of experience in conflict resolution and strategic planning. She studied law at the University of Leicester and subsequently obtained a master's degree at the University of Birmingham.
Nicola grew up in Yorkshire, but settled in London in 2013. She lives locally near the Stratford site with her husband and two cats. She is an active member in the local community.
Outside of work, Nicola recognises the benefits of exercise for physical and mental health; focusing on yoga and weight training, as well as taking long walks into Epping Forest. She is a keen reader and enjoys a wide range of authors and subjects. She also enjoys cooking, and has attended cookery school on several occasions.
Mara has qualifications in Childcare, Education, Public Services, Health and Social Care, currently at university studying Counselling and Psychology. and planning to become a child counsellor as many children need someone to talk to and for them to know there's someone in their corner.
Mara has joined the board as a parent Trustee and is interested in this position as she has a child who attends the school.
She'd like to help the board understand a parent's viewpoint when making decisions and believes this could be a great way to facilitate strong connections between parents and the school. Mara is eager to share the vision of the school whilst working to achieve its goals and hopes to be supportive whilst challenging matters that may affect parents.
Education Links has felt like a safety net when Mara's sons' mainstream schools were turning their backs and giving up on him. He was treated as a bad child who wouldn’t listen when he needed more support put in place, this was seen by Education Links; now, her child is happier in the place he wants to be. This is an opportunity to make a difference, not only because her child is flourishing here, but for other children like him in the future.