The School Council

What is the role of the School Council?

The School Council oversees the strategic direction and performance of the school working within the framework set by the ESF’s Board of Governors.

Who sits on the School Council?

The School Council is comprised of community members, parents, staff, an ESF representative and the school principal. The Chairperson is independent of the school and is appointed by the Board.

How the School Council networks with other bodies in the ESF.

The School Council Chairperson (Sarah Rigby) sits on the ESF Committee of School Council Chairman (COMCHAIR). The Chair of COMCHAIR sits on the Board of Governors (http://www.esf.edu.hk/about-esf/governance).

The PTA Chair (Richard Walker), who is also a School Council member, sits on the ESF Committee of Parents (COMPAR). A further parent rep from the School Council (Michael McCool) also sits on this group. The Chair of COMPAR sits on the Board of Governors.

When do the School Council meet?

In 2009–2010, the School Council met on the following dates:

21 September
9 December
25 January
22 March
31May – summary notes

In 2010–2011, the School Council will meet on the following dates:

27 September – summary notes
22 November – summary notes
24 January – summary notes
28 March – summary notes
30 May – summary notes

Who are the school councillors?

The school councillors are:

Dr Sarah Rigby (Chairperson, appointed by the Board)
Dr Rigby is an educational publisher, editor and writer. She has lived and worked in Hong Kong since 1991 and has two sons in ESF schools – both at South Island School. Prior to becoming Chair of the WIS School Council, she was Chair of the ESF Joint Council of PTAs and a member of the ESF Executive Committee for two years, Chair of Quarry Bay School PTA for three years and a parent member of the QBS School Council for four years. Dr Rigby holds an Ed D from Durham University, a BA from Oxford University and a PGDE from the University of Hong Kong.

Nicky Clark (Community representative, appointed by the Board)
Nicky is trained as an accountant and used to work at West Island School as the Business Manager. Currently, she is the director at a health practice in Central. She is also a director for the educational programme for special needs children named The White Rose Children’s Foundation and a writer. She has lived in Hong Kong for 14 years and in Asia for 19 years.
Nicky has a son with special needs at the Jockey Club Sarah Roe School and serves as the parent of a special needs child on the ESF Board of Governors.

Nick Debnam (Community representative, appointed by the Board)
Nick trained and worked as a Chartered Accountant in the UK and moved to Hong Kong in 1990. He is a partner with KPMG, and is a practicing Certified Public Accountant in Hong Kong. Nick is Chair of KPMG’s Consumer Markets line of business for the ASPAC region. Nick works with multinational clients with operations in Hong Kong and China, including both European and US based groups and also looks after a number of Hong Kong based clients, including listed companies in Hong Kong. He has been involved in advising on business issues in Hong Kong spanning a range of diverse industries. Nick has two children in other ESF schools – a son at Glenealy School and a daughter at Island School.

Professor Richard Walker (Parent, elected by the parent members of the PTA committee)
Professor Walker has a son in West Island School and a daughter in Kennedy School. He is a professor of public management and policy at the University of Hong Kong in the Department of Sociology and the Kadoorie Institute. His family have lived in Hong Kong since 1985, though they were late arrivers in 2004.

Michael McCool (Parent, elected by the parents of the school)
Michael moved to Hong Kong with his family in 1996 from the United Kingdom. He has two children at West Island School and a third at Kennedy School. Michael graduated from Nottingham University with bachelors and masters degrees in Chemical Engineering and is a Chartered Engineer. In his professional life, Michael is a management consultant with A.T. Kearney in Hong Kong. He regularly works for clients in Hong Kong and in Mainland China and advises on strategic and operational matters.

Dr David Gardner (Parent, elected by the parents of the school)
Dr Gardner holds a BA, MA and PhD all from different UK universities. Professionally he has a background in education, spending the last 19 years at the University of Hong Kong. He has 2 children who were born in Hong Kong, have been with ESF since Year 1 of Primary at Kennedy School and are now in Years 9 and 11 at West Island. He likes to listen, observe and participate as much as he can in what’s going on at WIS. He attends as many school events as he can and helps out where he can. He has recently graduated from playing Santa at Kennedy (for 8 years) to the Bouncy Castle at the WIS Fair. He reads all the messages that come home and responds when he has something to say. WIS is a great school, standards are high and management is always open to comments and suggestions; and Dr Gardner is always ready to make them.

Mike Waller (Teacher, elected by the teaching staff of the school)
John Mason (Teacher, elected by the teaching staff of the school)
David Christmas (Member of the support staff, elected by the support staff of the school)
Heather Du Quesnay (ESF Chief Executive Officer, ex officio)
Jane Foxcroft (Principal, ex officio)