Meet the School Board

Ms Ally Sophia

Chair of School Board

  • Parent Elected
  • Trustee West Midland Academy Trust (WMAT)
  • Expiry date 15.11.2026

SPECIAL RESBONSIBILITES

  • Link for Safeguarding & Pastoral Faculty (including anti-bullying) and Educational Trips and Visits

I am a qualified secondary school teacher and have worked as part of the Safeguarding team. I am able to use my passion for academia by staying up to date with Safeguarding Updates and educational research. I believe this knowledge will be useful on the Governing body as I will be able to ask probing questions. Being a parent-elected Governor is a great way for me to use my skills to aid the local community.


Mr John Abbott

Vice Chair of School Board

  • Member Appointed
  • Expiry date 10.12.2027

special responsibilities:

  • Link for Sixth Form, CEIAG & Pupil Premium

As a life long resident of Birmingham and an Architect, I have always enjoyed contributing to local community life in a variety of ways.

I joined the Birmingham office of a local firm of Architects in 1989 after graduating from Cardiff UWIST and I am now a Director of the practice. Our work covers many sectors but particularly services relating to new build and refurbishment projects for both Primary and Secondary Schools nationally.

I first became a governor at St Mary’s C of E school while my two daughters were pupils there twelve years ago. When my youngest daughter left St Mary’s I became a sponsor Governor and have been Chair of Governors for the last five years. In this time I have contributed to changes which include the introduction of a completely new Senior Leadership Team and a 1FE building expansion.

KNGS has enabled my eldest daughter to maximise her potential and she left the school last year in 2015 to study Chemistry at Manchester University.  My youngest daughter has just finished her GCSE’s and progressed into the sixth form.

I welcome the opportunity now, as a Parent Governor of KNGS, to contribute to the strategic direction of the school while my youngest is still a pupil here. I relish the challenge that assisting in maintaining and improving standards in a secondary school environment will bring and hope to contribute, if only in a small way, to ensuring that all of the students develop and flourish in a safe, caring and educationally rich environment.


Mrs Karen Reynolds

      • Member Appointed
      • Expiry date: 22.09.2026
  • special responsibilities:

      • Link for Arts Faculty & SEND

I am originally from Yorkshire and have lived locally in Birmingham for the past 20 years. I work as a Risk Analyst in the Financial Services sector. I have 3 children aged 18, 16 and 12. My youngest daughter has just started Year 8 at KNGS; my role as a Governor will give me the opportunity to play an active role in school life; shaping the future and helping to ensure that KNGS achieves its strategic objectives and short and long term plans.

My professional status as a Chartered Internal Auditor with 25 years + experience in the area of Risk Management and Internal Audit require me to be independent and objective and these attributes are key to the Governor role in relation to challenging and supporting the SLT at KNGS.

I’m new to the Education sector, although I have been an External Examiner at Birmingham City University, for the MSc Internal Audit Management and Consultancy programme for the past 4 and a half years. However a fresh pair of eyes is always beneficial and supports good governance.

In my spare time I enjoy attending music concerts and festivals, visiting the theatre and socialising with family and friends.


Professor Deborah Longworth

      • Member Appointed
      • Expiry date: 16.12.2025
    • special responsibilities:

      • Link for English Faculty and Equality & Diversity
  • I am Professor of English Literature and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Birmingham, a role I took up in January 2021. My specific remit focuses on all aspects of student academic experience and the student education journey, from transition to graduation, with attention to their teaching and learning, wellbeing, and personal development and employability. I also lead the University’s Fair Access and Participation Committee, and the Strategy Group for Aim Higher West Midlands, a partnership of local universities working to support learners who face a number of challenges to broaden their horizons and make informed decisions about their future educational and career choices. Prior to this I was Head of the Department of English Literature from 2017, and I still enjoy teaching regularly in the areas of nineteenth and early twentieth literature, women’s writing, and popular genre fiction.

    I was lucky to have incredibly inspiring teachers throughout my own school years, who nurtured a passion for literature and a strong belief in the value of the humanities. In my university career I am privileged to work every day with colleagues who are committed to providing an inclusive and transformative education, and students from a diverse range of backgrounds who are emerging from the pandemic with an excitement about the collaborative learning and educational opportunities opening up to them again after two years of severe disruption.

    I hope that as a governor I can bring my disciplinary skills and my education leadership experience to the support of KNGS, and to work with the wider team to help the school achieve its ambitions, providing every pupil with a supportive and caring learning environment in which they can flourish both intellectually and personally.


Mr Scott Bennett

  • Member appointed
  • Expiry date 05.12.2026

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

    • Link for PE Faculty, GDPR and Health & Safety
    • I am a parent of a student at the school with her sibling to follow along in due course. Having enjoyed my experience as a parent governor in a primary school I was looking to step up and engage further with the educational system and support the leadership team at our daughters chosen secondary school. I am pleased to have this opportunity to bring my resources/facilities management and board level management experience to the governing board and hope to be able to contribute to the continued development of this already excellent school. My career in procurement and supply chain management has given me wide exposure to financial analysis, complex regulatory and governance environments such as defence and services provision to primary ministries such as Home Office and Education both in the UK and abroad and I am looking forward to upskilling on specific knowledge in the schools environment to better carry out the role of Trustee.

      Outside of work I coach both boys (under 10) and girls (under 12) rugby, support my son in his club rugby and my daughter in her developing netball activities. I am a keen advocate of team sports and the development of important life skills that derive from playing them such as resilience and self-confidence.


 

Ms Nahieda Bi

      • Staff Governor
      • Expiry date: 15.07.2025

I am Head of Pastoral Faculty and a staff trustee. I am immensely proud of being part of KNGS and supporting the school to deliver an exceptional service to our students.  It is a privilege to be part of the decision making process from which students can be aspired and receive the highest level of education.I have three children of my own; two who have finished their education who now work in two very different fields and a new baby who has such an interesting, adventurous and exciting life ahead of him. They are confident individuals and it is the amazing contributions from professionals at school that have led to this and will also be impacting the key milestones baby Rumi will experience. Therefore, I am a strong believer of ‘getting it right’ for our students as the impact of this is seen through the rest of these young people’s lives as well as ‘getting it right’ for a new technology based generation. Before joining KNGS, I have been privileged to have worked in varied settings; primary and secondary schools as well as the wider community through outreach work, community development projects and supporting families who have been affected with mental health.In addition to this, I have worked closely with the police services to deliver the ‘Safe Haven’ programme to young people who are at risk of gang affiliation.In my spare time, I am an avid student and am currently completing my Masters in Learning and Teaching. I must also share that I am an amateur gardener and hope to learn to ‘grow’ in all my roles.

I am very excited and looking forward to our future here at KNGS and hope to support in every way.


Mr Ilkem Yildiz

  • Member Appointed
  • Expiry date 05.12.2026

SPECIAL RESBONSIBILITES

  • Link for Science Faculty

I am a father of twin girls, one proud to be a student of KNGS. Professionally, I look after energy procurement at Cadbury as it’s known in the UK, Mondelez International. My role’s responsibility is finding business partners, holding large sourcing events and negotiating contracts in over 21 countries in Europe where Mondelez has a chocolate, biscuits, gum or candy manufacturing plant. My career started back in Turkey where I acquired a Masters degree in automative/industrial engineering. I have 18 years of corporate supply chain experience, worked in planning, manufacturing, project management and procurement. I am very passionate about supporting children who aspire to a similar corporate career.


Professor Philip Young

  • Parent elected
  • Expiry date 15.11.2026

SPECIAL RESBONSIBILITES

  • Link for Maths Faculty

I am a Professorial Teaching Fellow in the School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick. I am the Director of Educational Analytics, with an educational focus on curriculum design, constructive alignment and award gap analysis. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and am one of only 12 UK-based RSB Fellows who sit on the RSBs National Education and Science Policy Committee (ESP). One of the main roles of the ESP is to provide RSB-responses to bioscience-related Government white papers.

I have a direct and active interest in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. I sit on both the SLS and Warwick Athena Swan committee and I am a national RSB D&I Ambassador. My research is currently focused on attainment gaps introduced during lockdown in neurodiverse students.


Rev. J. Douglas Sembuuze

  • Member appointed
  • Expiry date 27/02/2028

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Link for Humanities Faculty

I am an ordained Minister and a Reverand. I am a husband and a father to three crazy boys.Until recently, I was one of the Ministers at Rowheath Pavilion Church, a role I held since 2018.  I am currently working as a Chaplain with His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Services, supporting families, victims and staff across a wider range of disciplines.I became Governor at KNGS & Sixth Form at the beginning of 2024. Before then, I had been involved with the school, and witnessed its exceptional standards. In my engagement, I did take part at assemblies and in different multi-faith forums ‘which are aimed at educating and enhancing cohesion & mutual respect among different faith groups.I have a Masters in Missional Leadership, which has enhanced my strategic leadership abilities across diverse communities. In all this engagement, I am committed to demonstrating a strong ability to work across divides (whether its ethnic, faith based, cultural or age group) in a meaningful way.

In relation to gifting and imagination, I have demonstrated creative imagination to every role I have picked up, pioneering different initiatives and inspiring communities and individuals to think and act differently albeit more outwardly missional. I do believe that I can make a real difference to the young people within the school and the staff team by bringing more creative and innovative ideas which could enhance fresh engagement.

In my work, I have a track record of excellence with community engagement, pastoral leadership, volunteer management and coaching. My excellence was demonstrated by an award I received from the Prince’s Trust in the North-West (of England) for the community projects initiated to help vulnerable teenagers.