The governing body of Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School is chaired by Zoë Silverman and is responsible for setting the direction of the school, including the approval of school policies and the appointment of staff.
Governor Profiles
Zoë Silverman – Chair of Governors
Zoë is an accomplished Architect with over 20 years’ experience in residential, education and commercial sectors. She leads a successful practice as a sole practitioner with expert local knowledge and planning credentials. In 2014 she led the conversion of a former Victorian school building into new premises for Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School including creation of the school hall as a multi-use mezzanine space and sensitive modern additions to the historic building fabric, winning a Barnet Architecture award. She is now leading the second phase of development of the school building having obtained planning permission to include two additional classrooms. A former parent of three children at the school, Zoë was appointed Chair of Governors in November 2021.
You can contact our Chair of Governors by:
Post: 31 Stanhope Road, London, N12 9DX
Email: [email protected]
Elisa Angel – Co-Vice Chair
Elisa was elected Parent Governor in 2020 and has an enthusiasm and passion for teaching and learning at Sacks Morasha. She has a background in education, having done a PGCE in English at The Institute of Education, University College London. Her teaching career began at Park High School in Stanmore and continued at Immanuel College in Bushey, where she also had the opportunity to co-lead trips to Israel and Poland. Elisa is passionate about the role Jewish schools have in both providing excellent secular and religious education and also the important part they can play in strengthening communities. Elisa is married to Jonny and has three daughters, two of whom are current pupils of the school.
Luci Joseph – Co-Vice Chair & Communications Governor
Luci was born and raised in Liverpool and attended King David school. Having grown up in the provinces Luci acknowledges the importance and value of supporting and building a community and has always been an active participant in local Jewish youth movements and charities.
Luci was appointed Communications Governor in 2019 having spent the previous 2 years as co-chair of Sacks Morasha PTA. With a background in marketing and communications, as well as great passion for the ethos and future of the school, she takes on the role with great enthusiasm. Luci holds a degree in Public Relations and French, is married and has 4 sons, 2 of whom are current pupils of the school.
Scott Aaron – Parent Governor, Safeguarding, Health and Safety
Scott was appointed parent governor in 2018. He was educated at Ilford Jewish Primary, City of London, and Barts and The London Dental School. He is married with three children. As well as working as a general dentist and running a dental clinic, he is a clinical director of an emergency dental company. For the past seven years he has been a trustee of Am Segula, a small charity preserving the cultural heritage of Baghdadi Jewry.
Oli Goldman – Foundation Governor
Oli became Parent Governor in 2022 and has a particular focus on pupil progress and attainment. Oli is a partner at a commercial law firm, specialising in litigation, having previously studied History at Cambridge University, where, among other things, he was President of the Jewish Society. Oli lives in Hendon with his wife, Naomi, and their three daughters. He has been a Sacks Morasha parent since 2012.
Danielle Stone – SEND Governor
Biography coming soon.
Ele Osen – Admissions Governor
Ele has joined the governors with a focus on Admissions. She will also pick up the equality and diversity link role. Ele is also currently Head of Learning at the Royal Free Charity, where she runs the learning and organisational development agenda. This newly formed charity fundraises for The Royal Free, Chase Farm and Barnet hospitals. Prior to this, Ele worked as a senior member of the Learning and Development team at Jewish Care, where she combined her employee engagement skills together with communications to run a broad scope of work for this leading care charity based in Golders Green. Her varied skills were honed during her early roles; a 7 year stint with Deloitte Consulting specialising in Change Management and a number of years at Britvic Drinks heading up Employee Engagement. With a degree in psychology and also in Human Resources, Ele has a wide range of skills in various roles and sectors that she will bring into her role as a Governor. Ele has two children at Sacks Morasha and an older child at JFS. She also has a much loved family dog (Bibi) and cat (Marble).
Daneille Churney – Staff Governor
Danielle was born and raised in London and always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She qualified with a PGCE from Middlesex University in 2012 and started her career teaching at a small school in Finchley, where she taught for 4 years. When her children were born, she made the decision to take a break from work in order to spend time with them whilst they were little.
This year she has made an exciting return to the classroom and thoroughly enjoys every day of her job. She is enthusiastic, hard-working and extremely motivated. She sees teaching as a way to inspire young minds, and believes there is nothing better than to know that she’s able to make a difference and help to lay the foundations for a child’s future.
Danielle is married to Ben from Liverpool, and they have two primary aged children.
Mandy Lawrence – Kodesh Governor
Mandy Lawrence has been involved in informal Jewish Education for over 30 years and has supported students with Hebrew Reading and Kodesh in Jewish Schools at primary and secondary levels. She has been involved with recruitment and management of Bnei Akiva Shlichim over several years. Since returning to England, Mandy has run the successful Megillah Club at Morasha training up to 40 children a year to become active participants in the school’s Megillah reading on Purim. Professionally, Mandy works as the Data & Reporting Manager for Noa Girls – a local Jewish Charity. She is passionate about effective Jewish Education that leads to knowledgeable students who feel connected to their heritage and want to play their part in the Jewish future.
Michelle Benton – Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Governor
Michele became a governor in March 2023. She began her career after graduating with a B.Sc as a research chemist but quickly entered education where she has spent over thirty years. She began teaching mainly A level chemistry, vocational science courses and adults returning to education but eventually became Head of Faculty of Science and Health at a large tertiary college, with a responsibility for approximately a thousand students and seventy staff. On leaving her full time job, she became an educational consultant carrying out a major quality improvement project for A level Sciences in two large London Boroughs. She is passionate about giving young people the best possible opportunities to fulfil their abilities and dreams. She has a Certificate in Education Management and a M.A in Jewish Ethics. She is married to Mike, has four married children and eight grandchildren, two of whom were former pupils at the school.
Suzi Slavin – Parent Governor
My name is Suzi Slavin and I have worked in education for over 15 years. I have experienced a variety of roles both in and out of the classroom. After 10 years working at Sacks Morasha, I am now an assistant head teacher at another Jewish primary school. I have a daughter currently in the school and another one joining soon. I look forward to working on the governing body to make Sacks Morasha the best it can be.
Emma Swerner – Parent Governor
Emma runs her own interior design practice specialising in renovating family homes. She studied at the University of Cambridge, qualified and worked as a solicitor before leaving the profession in 2021. Emma is married to Nick and they have three sons, two of whom are currently Morasha pupils. Emma is passionate about children’s experiences of school and is keen to use her skills to give back to the school community.
Governors' interests
Details of each member of Sacks Morasha's current governing body, including information about their pecuniary and other personal interests, and attendance at meetings.
Minutes of Recent Governing Body Meetings
- 20 March 2023
- 29 November 2022
- 30 June 2022
- 24 March 2022
- 20 January 2022
- 22 November 2021
- 30 June 2021
- 21 April 2021
- 13 March 2021
- 19 October 2020
- 21 July 2020
- 6 May 2020
- 29 January 2020
- 18 September 2019
- 15 July 2019
- 15 May 2019
- 6 February 2019
- 12 December 2018
- 10 October 2018
- 17 July 2018
- 30 May 2018
- 25 April 2018
- 20 March 2018
- 24 January 2018
- 14 December 2017
- 25 October 2017
- 12 July 2017
- 29 March 2017
- 10 January 2017
Honorary Principals
Founding Honorary Principal – Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis is the eleventh Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth since the office was introduced in 1704. Chief Rabbi Mirvis was installed in September 2013, succeeding Lord Sacks. Born into a rabbinic family in South Africa, Chief Rabbi Mirvis has held educational and community positions in Israel, Ireland and the UK, as Rabbi of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation, Chief Rabbi of Ireland and Senior Rabbi at Finchley United Synagogue (known as Kinloss), where he founded pioneering education projects such as the Kinloss Learning Centre (KLC). Chief Rabbi Mirvis has served as the President of the Irish Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ), and was the first United Synagogue rabbi to host an address by an imam, Dr. Mohammed Essam El-Din Fahim, in his synagogue. He has also led a delegation of members of his community to the Finchley Mosque. In 2012 Chief Rabbi Mirvis appointed the United Kingdom’s first female halachic adviser (Yo’etzet Halacha) at Finchley Synagogue. Chief Rabbi Mirvis has now assumed the role of Associate President of the Conference of European Rabbis, and has previously been a member of the steering committee of the Conference of European Rabbis. He was appointed to the Chief Rabbi’s Cabinet in 1996 and was Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue. Chief Rabbi Mirvis is married to Valerie, a local authority senior social worker who now works in adoption. Chief Rabbi and Mrs Mirvis’s eldest child, Liora Graham, passed away in 2011, following a long battle with cancer. They have four sons, a son-in-law, two daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren.
Honorary Principal – Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence
Rabbi Lawrence is the Senior Rabbi at Finchley United Synagogue (Kinloss), London. He has an MA (Hons) in Jurisprudence from St Catherine’s College, Oxford University. After university he served for three years as the National Executive Director of the Association of Jewish Sixth Formers. He qualified as a rabbi in Jerusalem, attending Yeshivath Knesseth Beth Eliezer and Yeshivat Hamivtar on a Stanley Kalms Fellowship, and underwent training for Diaspora rabbis. Rabbi Lawrence served for two years as Deputy Head of Jewish Studies at Carmel College boarding school, was Senior Rabbi of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation and most recently was the Chief Minister of The Great Synagogue, Sydney. He is also a qualified Disaster Relief Chaplain and is active in interfaith dialogue at national and international levels. He is a regular lecturer at Limmud and LimmudOz. Rabbi Lawrence is married to Mandy, who has a postgraduate qualification in health psychology and great experience in informal education. They have four children.
