Register of Interest

Governor Attendance

Mr Fred Steel

Fred is a Chartered Surveyor and has reached the highest level in his profession, being elected a Fellow of both The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and The Chartered Institute of Building. He is also a Member of The Institute of Civil Engineers and a Member of The Chartered Management Institute. He has over forty years’ experience as a construction professional and manager.

Fred is currently working as Major Works Manager for a local London Borough. Prior to this he was employed as Head of Building Services at another London Borough where he worked for over thirty years. During this time a major part of his role was dealing with schools’ new build and major maintenance.

Fred has extensive experience as a school governor in Havering and has currently served thirty-one years at Benhurst Primary School (where he attended school as an infant). He also served for over twenty-five years at Parklands Junior School and four years at Hall Mead Secondary School. Fred was Chair of Governors at Benhurst for twenty-five years before stepping down from this role in 2018.

Other positions include being a Vice-President of Upminster Cricket Club and previously as Honorary Construction Officer of The Kenneth More Theatre in Ilford.

Fred has experience of working with young people outside of school and has managed local youth football and cricket teams in the past. Also, outdoor adventure and other events under the umbrella of the National Association of Clubs for Young People.

Mrs Abiola Fakayode

Abiola has been a parent-governor at Benhurst Primary School since 2011 and a co-opted governor since 2015.

She is employed at the Department for Education in Westminster and has the responsibility for overseeing Behaviour & Safety along with another governor.

Her passion is for children to make progress in life and to contribute positively to our society. Outside of family and work, Abiola’s interests are traveling, photography and cookery.

Mrs Kayleigh Martin

Kayleigh is a Graphic and Web designer. She is originally from South Africa where she worked for a large retail company, focusing on Web Design and Social Media.  After moving to the UK Kayleigh worked for Dunelm, Argos, Sainsburys and Habitat as a Digital Designer, where her role required not only design but also client/supplier management and day to day project and time management.

During Covid Kayleigh started her own business including project management, accounts and client management which is flourishing. Kayleigh has also volunteered at Benhurst

Kayleigh has children at Benhurst and wanted to be a governor because she truly believes the saying “Be the change you wish to see” and she would love the opportunity to be a part of the school trust and wider team of Benhurst – being able to contribute any skills that will benefit staff and students at Benhurst.

In her spare time Kayleigh runs and has recently completed a half marathon.

Mrs Foluke Sangobowale

Foluke was appointed to the Local Governing board in 2018 and is the link Governor for Finance.

She is married and has 3 children who all attended Benhurst school.  Foluke briefly worked in the Banking industry but has now worked in the Social Housing sector for 20 years and has extensive experience of dealing with specialist and complex Housing legal and management matters.

Foluke currently works as the  Head of Housing Service at one of the largest G15 Housing Associations in London.

Foluke has a Law degree, other postgraduate qualifications in Law, Risk, Governance, Compliance and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Foluke is also a qualified Company Secretary and a member of the GERN (Governance, Ethics, Remuneration and Nominations) committee of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).

Foluke is an author of two books who also has the experience of working with young people, preparing them for entry into selective independent and Grammar schools. She is particularly passionate about developing children’s literacy skills especially through reading.

Mr Chowdhury Sultan

Chowdhury takes a keen interest in education and he is a parent of a  pupil at Benhurst.

Chowdhury is a Barrister by profession and a practising member of the Bar Council of England & Wales.  He has experience across the areas of family, immigration, crime and civil litigation. Chowdhury’s experience in criminal and public law allows him to give practical advice and solutions in complex cases.

Chowdhury studied law at university and obtained LL.B in 2006. He was elected as the Vice President of the University’s Students’ Union where he served two terms that required him to represent students and meeting senior academics. He was called to the Bar in 2009 from the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. He completed LL.M in ADR before going to work with the United Nations at their Headquarters in New York. He worked in the Administrative Law Unit preparing cases for the UN Dispute Tribunal.

Chowdhury has experience dealing with a range of private law matters including matters involving child Arrangements Orders and Prohibited Steps Order. He represents individuals at court proceedings around the country.  . Chowdhury has knowledge of financial matters and he regularly appears in financial proceedings. Chowdhury is instructed on behalf of Claimants and Defendants in a range of matters including road traffic accidents, contractual and credit hire cases.

Chowdhury is an Agent Prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service and appears for both Prosecution and defence. Chowdhury also appears in the Crown, Magistrates and Youth courts for trials, bail hearings, sentencing, traffic trial and extradition hearings. He has good knowledge of asylum, human rights and deportation law.