Goffs Local Academy Board

The Goffs Local Academy Board (LAB), plays a key role in providing a link between the school and the Board of Trustees.  The LAB meets every half term, acting as a 'critical friend' to the school's Principal and Leadership Team, with regard to a wide range of areas.

The committee focus on Pastoral matters, and has oversight of the tracking data and raising achievement work across all key stages.  The LAB also maintains close links with Heads of Department, to support with quality assuring work in those departments.

The agenda and minutes for each Local Academy Board will be available to the public, on request, once approved by the Chair.  Until formal approval (with appropriate amendments, if any) at the next meeting, any minutes provided must be understood as being subject to amendment.  Copy minutes made available to a member of the public will usually have redacted any information relating to individual employees (including teachers), prospective employees, students and prospective students.  This will include any information from which the Trust believes that the individual could be identified.  All other confidential information will also be redacted.  What might amount to confidential information will be dependent upon the state of affairs at the time of the request and consideration of issues relating to confidentiality can be time consuming.  Therefore, if a member of the public wishes to see only those parts of the minutes which relate to a particular topic, it would be helpful for this to be stated in the request.

LAB Member Biographies

Caroline Byrne: Chair of the Goffs LAB
Caroline has worked in the HR arena and has over 25 years of experience spanning both public and private sectors. Currently serving as a senior Civil Servant at HRD level within the regulatory arena, she brings strategic insight and a people-first approach to  organisational challenges. Her career has been marked by a strong focus on talent development, having previously designed and led early career initiatives that opened doors for aspiring professionals beginning their career journeys.  Caroline continues to champion inclusive, values-driven HR practices.

Outside of work, she’s a proud mother of three daughters and step mother of two—the youngest of whom is about to embark on her university journey after completing her education at Goffs Academy. Caroline is excited to be working with the Academy Trust on both the GA LAB and MAT People Committee.

Hayley Cole: is a committed parent and experienced professional with over 25 years of operational expertise in financial services. A passionate advocate for education, inclusion, and community, Hayley has served as a Co-opted Governor at a local primary school where she supported the development of the school’s vision and ethos, held leadership accountable for pupil outcomes, and ensured strong financial stewardship.
Hayley was a co-founder of a local charity dedicated to supporting the educational development of children in a local primary school, a project recognised that was recognised with the Borough of Broxbourne Community Hero Award in 2024.

As a member of the Local Academy Board, Hayley is dedicated to strong governance, educational excellence, and ensuring every child feels supported, represented, and inspired throughout their learning journey.

Savvas Efthimiou: has a background predominately in the IT industry within the financial sector and is also the Chairperson for the Parent Committee of the Greek School operating out of Goffs Academy building on Saturdays.  As a member of the Goffs LAB and with one child attending the Academy, Savvas relishes the opportunity to work with staff and contribute to raising performance and helping ensure our students achieve their potential both academically and creatively.

Angela Holtam: Angela is a former Goffs student and now a proud parent of children attending the school. She brings over 20 years of professional experience as an accountant with Thickbroom Chartered Accountants, where she leads corporate and business development teams.  A passionate advocate for education and community, Angela is the co-founder of a local charity dedicated to supporting the educational development of children in a local primary school—a project recognised with a Broxbourne Hero Award in 2024.  Angela also serves as Chair of the AAT Hertfordshire & Chilterns branch, where she supports qualified members and aspiring Accounting Technicians. She is an active member of the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and was recently appointed to the Intuit QuickBooks Accounting Council for 2025.  As a member of the Goffs Academy Local Advisory Body (LAB), Angela is committed to helping students prepare for their future careers and supporting every child to reach their full potential, whichever pathway they choose.

Debbie Hughes: Debbie has over 25 years of experience in higher education. In her current position at London Business School, she takes a leading role in supporting faculty in their research and teaching through the development and delivery of the department’s strategic plan. This involves a clear understanding of academic processes and policies, to ensure that both academics and staff are compliant with internal and external regulations and uphold academic standards. She is passionate about education and strongly believes that every child should be enabled to thrive at school and beyond.

Debbie has volunteered in the youth sector of the local community for many years, initially within Scouting and for the past seven years, as manager of a local youth football team. She is also a keen distance runner who has completed more than 20 marathons and ultra-marathons.

Bharvi Patel: Bharvi is an experienced recruitment professional with over 27 years of expertise in the post-16 further education sector. She holds a BA (Hons) in Marketing Communications and has built a successful career in education recruitment, supporting post-16 education colleges with their workforce recruitment strategy from teaching to senior leadership roles. In her role as Client Development Director for Reed, Bharvi leads on strategic service delivery, operational and contract management, recruitment & retention strategy, relationship management and business development.

Bharvi is passionate about education and strongly believes that every learner should have access to excellent teaching and the opportunity to succeed. With one child currently attending Goffs Academy and another now at university after studying there, she has a connection to the school and feels that by becoming part of the LAB group, she can use this to give back to the school community. She brings a broad understanding of the education landscape, education agendas and policies, can offer diverse perspectives on data and performance as well as working collaboratively to support key stakeholders to create a positive, engaging, and progressive learning environment.

Owen White: Chair of the Goffs LAB and Trustee. On sabbatical and currently inactive.
Owen has been a School Governor in other educational settings for over 10 years.  Owen has previously served on the Governing Body for Northaw C of E Primary before joining Goffs Primary School Governors in 2013, becoming Chair in April 2016, and is proud to work with such a committed group of staff and volunteers.  Initially, Owen became a Governor to give something back to the community and more recently he is driven to help to ensure that our children and staff strive towards providing all children with the opportunity to achieve their potential academically, socially and physically in a caring and well-ordered environment where each child can thrive and develop a sense of responsibility and worth. Owen recently joined the Goffs Local Academy Board to offer his help when and where needed.  He currently works as the Chief of Staff in a National Technology Programme role and has lived in the local area for over 20 years. Owen's family consists of his wife, their teenage daughter and four dogs.