Meet the team

Maggie Kalnins

Maggie Kalnins became the leader of governance services after an extensive career as a science teacher and school leader within complex urban secondary schools. Maggie provides strategic advice and support to Chairs of governors and school leaders, across a mixed economy of maintained and academy schools. She has developed an Hackney governance system review and risk assessment to support school boards in developing their effectiveness and also leads and delivers a comprehensive governance training programme and our popular and highly successful annual governors’ conference.

Maggie previously served as the CEO of an education charity which develops alternative models of learning. During this tenure, she introduced the term ‘pushed out’ to provoke a debate amongst practitioners focusing on the weaknesses in our education systems rather than the ‘abnormality’ of the individual child. Aware of the excuses used to explain student disengagement from mainstream education, in 2015, Maggie commissioned the publication of ‘The alternative should not be inferior: What now for ‘pushed out’ learners?’, which called on schools and alternative providers to find innovative solutions that support England’s overlooked pupils.

Maggie has dedicated more than 20 years to serving as a school governor. For the past 15 years she has been a member of the Mossbourne Federation Governing Board in Hackney. With a clear understanding of how strong governance can play a crucial strategic role in supporting and challenging leaders to drive school improvements, Maggie offers knowledge and expertise on how governance can make an exceptional contribution to ensure that no child is left behind their peers.

Maggie Kalnins - Head of Governance Services - Maggie.Kalnins@hackney.gov.uk

Madalina Brockmann

Maddie is a professional with strong experience of quality assurance, governance and regulatory compliance in the UK education sector. She is an experienced trainer, and a qualified complaints handler and mediator with over ten years of managing complaints and conduct casework.

Maddie is well versed in policy development and interpretation, and providing advice on complex governance matters. 

Simon Bravery

Simon provides clerking support to a number of schools for full governing board and committee meetings and for pupil discipline, HR and complaint panels. He also supports schools in the process of nominating local authority governors and amending instruments of government.

Donna Knight-Olds

Donna is a governance professional who brings experience both from educational settings and local authorities. Her earlier work within local government Democratic Services, including for London Borough of Hackney, involved supporting elected Councillors and minuting formal meetings. In addition, she has years of experience supporting school Governing Bodies (primary and secondary, mainly academies) directly as a Governance Professional and administrator. Her work with the Schools Team of the Diocese of St Albans offered her insights into the specific circumstances of Church schools.

Donna served as a co-opted Governor at her own children’s primary maintained school so she also understands the roles and responsibilities of a school Governor personally.

Donna is an advocate for the importance of strongly supported strategic governance as vital underpinning to the work done in schools to ensure the fulfilment of children’s potential.