I was delighted to have been invited to become a co-opted governor of Sandridge School in 2016. My wife, Sue, and I have been enthusiastic contributors to the life of the school since one of our six grandchildren started as a pupil here and was subsequently joined by his younger brother. Coming from a career in primary education, I take a keen interest in the school’s ongoing development.

My first teaching post was in a large village school outside High Wycombe, and, with my young family, we moved to St Albans, where I took up a deputy headship in 1977. I subsequently became the Headteacher of primary schools in Harpenden and Hatfield.

Now retired (and well-schooled in grandchild-care!), I take great pleasure in storytelling each week to the children in Reception, especially as I have a particular interest in enabling and encouraging children to develop what will hopefully become a lifelong love of reading. In addition, I help to support children’s learning in Year 6, run a gardening club – together with my wife – for the children in Years 1 and 2, and help our thriving PTA in its many activities throughout the year.

My other interests include hill-walking, reading, gardening and cooking.

I feel extremely privileged to have become a Parent Governor at Sandridge School this year, where both of my children started in Nursery and Reception September 2018.

Since my children started their education at Sandridge School, I have been overwhelmed by the encouragement and enthusiasm the teachers show towards the children, and parents, creating not only a lovely environment for them to learn in, but also a real sense of community spirit.

I believe that an effective Governing Body is vital to a school’s success, and as a parent I want to help and support the school as much as I can, to promote the interests of all the children within Sandridge School.

I have lived locally in Sandridge for the most of my life, and I am in touch with many parents at the school. My career when I left school was in the Marketing, Creative Design and Fashion, and Sales industry, but now I have chosen to be a full-time Mum. I hope that some of my skills will be useful to the Governing Body, providing the support they require to achieve outstanding results for the school.

I strive to be honest, hard working and sincere, aiming for excellence in all that I do, and I want to inspire the children, staff and parents at Sandridge to continue to excel in their education and work within the community. As a Parent Governor, I believe that our School staff and parents and the local community all have the same interests in creating an outstanding Primary School for the children.

The future success of Sandridge School is within our hands… let’s all ensure we provide and build a foundation of success for our children, and future generations and give the school as much support as possible.

I became a Governor of Sandridge Primary School in November 2018.

I have a genuine interest in the education sector through from primary to higher education.  I am a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire and volunteer as a business mentor for Young Enterprise, a charity supporting school aged children to develop personal and business skills.  I have young children of my own currently going through the primary system, thus I have a strong understanding of the critical importance of the education environment to the development of young people and I am delighted to be able to contribute my skills to the role of Governor.

I also bring commercial and business skills to the board, I am qualified accountant with a professional background in business advisory work.

Originally from South Africa, I have made London my home for the last 19 years. Here, I have become a highly experienced, CIMA qualified senior finance professional with a proven track record of success in delivering team restructures, process improvement and system implementations. I now use these operational and strategic skills to provide coaching and mentoring to create and maintain effective and efficient teams as well as individual coaching to professionals and executives. When I’m not in my office I can be found outdoors on the hockey pitch or training for my next challenge…I’ve completed the London marathon, climbed Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and Everest Base Camp.

I have been on the governing body since October 2018. This is a very exciting opportunity for me. I have two children who both enjoy their time spent at Sandridge School. I feel very privileged to be part of such a wonderful school with such a community feel. Part of a school where the children and teachers are happy and this in turn creates such a warm, enriching and nurturing environment for the children to learn in.

I feel that it is so important for every child to take away from schools memories that will last forever. Memories of their teachers, play time and friends.

I am part of the governing body to provide as much support as possible to the school as well as ensuring that the pupils, parents and teachers alike all get their voices heard.

I grew up in a village in Norfolk and in my mid 20s I studied Early Childhood Studies.

I moved to Hertfordshire in 2007 and became a private nanny as well as then using my qualification anywhere that I could working with children.

I am a full time mum now, as well as supporting our family farming business and working closely with the school, PTA and the governing body.

My aim is to provide as much support as possible and to help the school to achieve success in all areas.

I was thrilled to be accepted as a governor of Sandridge Primary School. I believe strongly that the provision of a solid, stable education is vital to a child’s development and, ultimately, their future success. I also consider a school to be one of the cornerstones of a thriving, local community.

The staff, parents and senior leaders of Sandridge Primary work extremely hard to ensure that our school is a one with a strong learning and community ethos, and where children are nurtured and encouraged to be best versions of themselves. I am delighted to be able to support this work.

I am a qualified accountant, working for a FTSE100 company, so bring with me strong business and financial acumen, and the ability to question the status-quo. I do not have children who currently attend Sandridge Primary, so I am able to provide an objective view on governance decisions.

I hope that my skills add value to the strong and very dedicated governing body currently in place as we strive, together with the staff, parents and pupils, to take Sandridge Primary from strength to strength.

I was delighted to be invited to join the school governors as a co-opted member as a great way for me to contribute to the school community.  I have two children at the school, both of whom are really enjoying their time here and are thriving thanks to the dedication of the teachers and the friendly, nurturing environment created by everyone involved with the school.

In my professional life I am Chief Financial Officer of Royal London Asset Management.  This gives me experience of working in a heavily regulated environment, that together with my accountancy skills, I hope to be able to apply in the role as a governor.  I also hope to be able to learn new skills from undertaking this role in a completely different sector.

Working full time, I’m not often around the school in the daytime but governorship will allow me to play a role in maintaining the high standards the school has set.