Governors « The Children First Federation

Governors

	Ray Rice - Chair of Governors My background is industrial management and retailing. I ran the Reapers Health Food Shop in Tiverton for 20 years, before which I worked in the food industry. I first became a Governor at Wilcombe in 1998.I personally benefitted a lot from education, and I want to do my best to help others get the same benefit. I believe that the federation structure enables us to provide the best possible education for the children of the Federation.
	Alison Rice- Curriculum and School Improvement Portfolio Lead I live near Wilcombe School, served as a governor when my own children were there and want the children here now to benefit, as mine did, from an excellent primary education. I believe we must work with other schools, sharing good teaching and good management, resources and expertise of all kinds to provide the best learning environment we can for our children. Federation enables this to happen and, importantly, encourages schools to keep their own individuality. Federation is an exciting advance in educational opportunity for the children in our community and I am very happy to be involved.
	Patrick Redwood - Curriculum and School Improvement Portfolio Deputy I am a past pupil of Hemyock Primary School and have lived in the Blackdown Hills all my life. I have four children, one of which now attends Uffculme Secondary School. I also have excellent links with youth and children’s work in the area and am extremely passionate and motivated about improving the standards and opportunities for children within the federation schools.
	Mrs Jennie Curnow – Finance Portfolio Lead I am a qualified accountant and work as a finance manager for Debenhams. My work frequently requires me to understand, question and challenge information produced by others in order to achieve targets. I grew up in Uxbridge, then studied maths at Exeter University. I then moved to London for my accountancy training. I have lived in Sampford Peverell for 12 years, having moved to the area when I married my husband David. I have two daughters. Stephanie is currently in class 2 at Sampford Peverell Cof E school and Rebecca is due to join the school in September 2012. By using my workplace skills to help the federation identify and achieve their strategic goals, I am hoping that I am helping to ensure the future success and continued existence of our local schools, thus providing a quality education for both my own children and others within the community.
	Dave Hodgson – Finance Portfolio Deputy I am a qualified accountant, working in Exeter. I moved to Tiverton in 2004 and have 2 children at Wilcombe Primary School. I became a Federation Governor to support the development of the schools and improve the life chances for the children.
	Scott Farr – Inclusion and Safeguarding Portfolio Deputy I have a daughter at Sampford Peverell school and run my own event catering business based within the local area. I spent three years as a councillor on Sampford Peverell Parish Council and was also on the Standards Committee for Mid Devon Council for about 2 years. I am a parent reader at Sampford Peverell School and have organised food demonstrations at both Sampford & Wilcombe schools. My personal motivation is to see the secured success and future of all schools involved therefore offering the best education for all of our children in a safe, fun, professional & informative environment.
	Richard Evans – Premises Portfolio Lead I have been a Hemyock resident since 2004 and have two children at Hemyock Primary School.My personal motivation for being a Federation Governor is to help improve the standard of education offered to the children of all three schools.
	Hugh Whittaker – Personnel Portfolio Lead I am passionate about ensuring our children have the best opportunities to develop, learn and grow, so that they become confident and competent young people, with all of the knowledge and skills needed for life.I have over 25 years experience in various leadership/advisory roles in both large corporate and SME environments. Becoming a Governor has been a great opportunity for me to get involved strategically and use my skills to help improve outcomes for the children in the schools across the Federation. Education is constantly evolving to meet the needs of an ever more complex society and schools can no longer work in isolation. Collaborative working across schools and associated organisations enables greater opportunities for all and delivers better outcomes for our children. We are already seeing the benefits in the Children First Federation and I am confident we will continue to do so as we develop and evolve during this exciting and challenging period in education.
	Mark Thompson – Vice Chair & Personnel Portfolio Deputy I have been a school governor at Wilcombe Primary since July 2007, and of the Children First Federation since its creation in May 2010. I firmly believe that we should be doing everything in our power to ensure that all children have access to a first class learning environment, and I am very happy that all those involved in the Children First Federation have the same goal. A large number of people, be they teachers, governors, or non teaching staff give a great deal of time and effort to these ends, and it is a privilege to count myself among them. I have three boys, two of which currently attend Wilcombe Primary.
	Mrs Vivienne Heeley – Ethos Committee Lead I am responsible for ensuring the Christian distinctiveness of Sampford Peverell CofE Primary School and fostering links with Sampford Peverell church and community. I have spent thirty years teaching English in both state and independent schools and have been a Governor at Blundells and Cullompton Community College. I have an interest in all levels of education. I now live in Sampford Peverell and am interested in the local school’s success.I am convinced Federation is the way forward, especially for small village schools, which form a focus in the village and which otherwise might no longer exist to the detriment of the local community. Federation makes economic sense with shared resources and skills base.
	Gary Chown – Executive Headteacher Leading the Children First Federation as Executive Headteacher is a great privilege. The opportunity to work across four very diverse schools in such different contexts is really interesting. Schools are “people places” and working as a family of schools gives us the capacity to focus sharply on supporting and developing the staff and children within our schools. Working within a federation has deepened my personal commitment to the importance of Partnership Working beyond the boundaries of individual schools or indeed federations. We are currently in active partnership with a further 15 schools regionally and nationally. Partnership Working has limitless potential to improve outcomes for children and I am always keen to explore further partnership opportunities with any organisation or school.
	Miss Louise Jones – Staff Governor (Sampford Peverell CofE Primary) I started my teaching career at Sampford Peverell Primary School. I have taught at the school for 6 years, starting in reception/year 1 and then I moved to year 3/4 this September. Physical Education has always been important to me and I am able to aid the progression of PE in two of the schools as the primary link teacher for Sampford Peverell and Hemyock. In 2008 I became a staff governor for Sampford Peverell. Fortunately, I was part of the group that looked into Federation and how it can positively benefit children and staff. I find it very interesting to be involved in the decisions outside of the school environment and to see the improvements this has made to the educational experience the children have.
	Mrs Penny Lamb – Foundation Governor (Sidbury)I am responsible for encouraging the Christian distinctiveness of Sidbury Primary School and fostering the links between the school, Sidbury Church and the wider local community.My background is in primary and nursery teaching, and college lecturing in London for many years as well as teaching at Exeter College. I became a Governor as I felt it would be a good way to give something to the community while at the same time keeping me in contact with school life and children after retiring. During my period of Governorship at Sidbury I acted as Vice Chair and was instrumental in helping the school to become a member of the CFF and the Primary Academies Trust which, I believe, will ensure the long term future for our school in a time of uncertainty for education in this country.
	Mrs Jane Todd – Staff Governor (Sidbury)