Governors

Contact: admin@pioneerhouse.net

I have joined the governing body with the aim of making a positive contribution through offering support and challenge to the school in their endeavours to enhance the life chances of all pupils, enabling pupils to experience success throughout school and within the local community.

I have been serving Education within Manchester Local Authority for a period of 54 years, in a range of roles. These include being a teacher in the classroom, a subject and phase co-ordinator, Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher, in more than one Manchester school.

I was encouraged and enabled to share good classroom practice with other newly qualified teachers across Manchester during my first two years of teaching. After a number of years as a headteacher, I was seconded and placed in a school deemed to require significant improvement and tasked to turn it around. As a positive result of this work, I was then appointed as a Senior Local Authority Officer, focused on School Improvement and the Inspection of Schools for over twenty years. In 1994, I became an Ofsted Inspector, both as a team member and a registered Inspector leading an Ofsted Inspection team. These Inspections were carried out alongside my work for Manchester Schools, which also included leading on the implementation and delivery of the National Literacy Strategy across Manchester. My work has involved delivering training programmes for Headteachers and other school leaders.

I further qualified nationally as a School Improvement Partner for both Secondary and Primary Phases. As a Senior Officer responsible for leading school Improvement in South and Wythenshawe schools, I have worked with a team of school effectiveness officers to improve educational provision and outcomes for pupils within those schools.

I also have previous experience of chairing a governing body and of being a member of the Board on more than one Schools Trust.

Since my retirement from Manchester Local Authority 13 years ago, I have been working as an Independent Quality Assurance Partner not only for Manchester schools, but also for schools in Tameside, Rochdale, Trafford and Cheshire East. It was during this time that I had the privilege of working with schools in the Prospere Trust and have come to know the strong moral compass and purpose of the Trust and its schools very well. Furthermore, I have facilitated Headteachers’ Performance Management meetings within a substantial number of schools and Trusts. Now that I’m fully retired from a working life, I look forward to continuing my relationship with Pioneer House and serving as a governor.

Contact: admin@pioneerhouse.net

I became a governor because I wished to apply my experiences in the public sector to the special schools environment voluntarily.

I come from a background of development programmes in war-torn and post-conflict nations where I worked with national and international governmental organisations building capacity in education, health, justice and social sectors, in South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa.

My core strength lies in organisational development and change in challenging environments and in delivering government priorities (UK and recipient). As school governor and chair, I hope I can lead the team and school to bigger and bolder things, helping them develop their vision and achieving their aims and objectives, above all remembering that the students are at the very heart of everything that we do.

I joined the governing body a few years ago in order to actively contribute to a local school and community within a Trust that I had worked with on several occasions. 

I had great admiration for the way Prospere Trust operated, their values, ethos and culture.  My background is varied but has always been in education. 

Since 1995, I have been a teacher, a senior leader, a SENDCO and I have led safeguarding and SEN for a Trust of primary schools and also monitored attendance across the Trust.  I hold the NASENCO Award and am passionate about special educational needs.  The opportunity to become governor at Pioneer House was something I grabbed with both hands!

In addition to being keen to be part of the governing body, I was also hopeful that I could put my experience and skills to good use, to complement the already vast skill set of the governing body. 

Having many years experience of supporting children with SEN/D and their families and knowing how the EHCP system works, I felt would be useful to the school.  I have also worked in safeguarding for over a decade and have a very thorough understanding of the training needed in schools, the statutory requirements, the policies and procedures involved and how keeping children and young people safe, underpins everything that occurs in schools. 

My experience in monitoring attendance across a Trust I felt would be useful, as I'm fully aware of local and national attendance figures; the barriers faced by schools to improve attendance and how hard staff work to encourage children into school, on a daily basis.  In a relatively new role, I am now focused on the business and finance side of school leadership.  Hopefully in the future, this experience and the knowledge I am developing can also be put to good use in my role at Pioneer House.  During my time with the governing body at Pioneer House, I have been overwhelmed by the outstanding commitment, passion, hard work and enthusiasm shown by staff at Pioneer House to ensure that all their pupils fulfill their potential, are ready for their next steps, and are prepared for adulthood.

I have worked in education for over 25 years in diverse roles as Head of Department, Head of Year, SENDCo and Assistant Head.

I have taught in a number of different schools in the Midlands and Manchester, each one with a different set of unique characteristics. In each setting I have and continue to be an advocate for young people with SEND.

I bring my experience in mainstream education to the Governing body and I am particularly interested in the delivery and assessment of the curriculum, and so my focus on the Governing body is Quality of Education. I am currently an Assistant Head at Chorlton High School, heading their Access and Achievement Team and this links my work with Pioneer House to the wider developments within Prospere Trust.

I have my own experience as a parent of a child with SEND which I also bring to the Governing body and can reflect on personal as well as professional experiences. It is always a fantastic experience visiting the school and speaking to the staff and pupils, I always leave feeling I can bring new ideas to my own practice.

I am a highly experienced IT specialist having worked across multiple sectors in IT finance and asset management for over 30 years. I specialise in the recycling of end of life / redundant IT and communication equipment with significant experience selling used and refurbished IT equipment nationally and internationally.

It is a pleasure to be part of a small, committed team of governors at Pioneer House. My role as part of the team is to look at health & safety, sustainability and how the school is helping students plan their transition from school to higher education or employment. On my recent visit the latest comprehensive external health and safety audit had just been completed and with just a few minor recommendations for improvements, the report was excellent and demonstrated the whole schools’ commitment to providing a safe and welcoming environment for both students and teachers.

On my next visit I will be able to sample a Barista style coffee in the recently completed café area which is just part of the “ready to work” development plans for students. Not only a teaching area, but this café will also be a welcoming space for the local community and allow students to interact with people across the generations, a vital part of learning and self-development.

I became a Governor in 2020 as I had a desire to connect and leverage my skills more broadly across my local community.

I juggle my role as a Governor with a career in Learning & Development, as well as looking after two young children. With over 11 years leading in the financial services sector and more than a decade in Learning and Development, specifically focused in Leadership Development, I bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table. With my ability to connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds, coupled with my coaching skills, I hope to facilitate open discussions and encourage alternative viewpoints.