Meet Our Governors

I have been a governor at BIPS for twenty years (although it doesn’t seem that long to me!) I am currently chair of governors and have previously served as chair, vice-chair, finance lead, and SEND lead. 

For my day job, I am a Professor of British History at the University of Warwick where I have worked for 30 years. I am passionate about the importance of history in understanding both the past and the present. I am fortunate that I have been able to have the opportunity to participate in TV and radio programmes including the popular series Who Do You Think You Are? and I commentated on the funeral of Margaret Thatcher and the reinterment of the medieval king, Richard III, for the BBC.

I live in the nearby village of Avon Dassett. My daughter, who attended BIPS is now working as a vet nurse in Australia, so I now have more spare time to walk my dog, Kendra (an Australian kelpie) and ride my two horses, Dassett’s Mr. Darcy and Safari.
 

I have worked at Bishops School for many years as a teacher, SENDCo and now Head Teacher. I have been involved on the Governing Board for many years, firstly as Staff Governor and now at Head Teacher. I greatly value the support that the members of the board provide to the school, the children and to the staff.  We work very well as a team and their contribution by every individual is greatly appreciated and valued. Before joining the teaching/education sector, I worked in business in London as a marketing manager for an energy company – quite a different type of job, but I did learn some great skills that I use in my job as Head Teacher.

I have lived in the village for over 30 years and my all my children went through the Primary School, they are now all in their twenties making their way in the world! I am proud to be part of the schools Governing Body and doing my little bit to the village community.

I am a parent governor, with two children at the school in Year 3 and Reception. As with all governors I try to contribute where I can, but in particular overlook the finance and science. 

For my day job I am the public engagement manager for a large science facility called Diamond Light Source (do look us up – we have a huge particle accelerator and do research on all sorts of things, from jet engines and Dinosaurs, to helping with the COVID vaccine). But in the past, I have done a variety of things including science research, selling lasers and working at Thinktank Science Museum in Birmingham. 

I became a governor as I see the education of our children as not only very important, but also a team effort. It is important that the school have the support of parents, and vice-versa. I hope that by being a governor I am able to help, if only in a small way, the running of the school and ultimately the education of our children.

I live in the village with my family and cat, I like to follow most sports, particularly cricket, and often partake in running events such as parkrun. I also play the guitar (but not very well).

I am a parent governor, and have a daughter in Year 4. I have lived in the village for 17 years. I am currently vice- chair as well as the Safeguarding, SEN and Early Years governor. 

I have been a teacher for over 20 years. I started in primary education, but special needs has always been an interest of mine. I moved to teach in a special school in 2006 and loved it so much, I'm still there! I’m passionate about this, and I hope I put my knowledge and experience to good use as a governor. 

I was keen to be a governor at BIPS because I feel it's important to be part of the community. When my daughter was younger, I helped to run the village baby and toddler group, which I loved, and still miss! With my education background, I felt being a governor was a natural step. And I have learnt such a lot being on ‘the other side of the fence' as a parent, and a governor, after many years just wearing a teacher hat. 

I am often seen walking my 2 rescue dogs around the village (in bright pink wellies) 

I am a parent governor, with sons in reception and year 2.  During my week I teach Maths at Southam College, run a tutoring company, and attend our local church St Michael’s where I am involved in both the music group and running children’s services and activities.

I always knew I wanted to go into teaching, but Maths wasn’t the subject I expected to go into when I was growing up!  I absolutely loved Music, Art and DT, and threw myself into Art and DT at secondary school.  It wasn’t until I was in my gap year that I realised how much I missed Maths, and ended up studying it at university.  Quite a change in direction!  Art and Music have remained keen hobbies of mine on the side.

A good Maths education is so important to unlocking so much of our problem solving potential.  This is a real passion of mine and why I was particularly keen to become a governor at BIPS.  I wanted to be able to have a really positive impact on the teaching and learning of Maths at BIPS, supporting and encouraging the fabulous team of staff that we have here to deliver an exemplary Maths curriculum.
 

I am a Parent Governor with two children at the school one in Year 3 and one in Reception. In my day job I am an Operations Manager with West Midlands Ambulance Service based in Coventry and I have worked for the NHS for 22 years. I am registered both as a Paramedic and a Qualified Nurse. I also volunteer with St John Ambulance where I am responsible for the management of all Health Care Professionals in Coventry and Warwickshire

I live in the village and both of my children started their school journey through the Ladybirds Preschool. I also have two older children who attend Southam College and a toddler to keep me busy. My role on the Governing body was newly created this year and is a particular interest of mine as a qualified mental health first aider. I see the role of the wellbeing governor to show an interest in the health and wellbeing of both pupils and staff, which has become particularly important with the current Pandemic. I am able to draw on my clinical and management skills within the NHS to support the school on such areas as giving advice on managing the pandemic, first aid, policies and experience of working for a large government organisation following a merger which I have found is very similar to our school joining the Stowe Valley Multi Academy Trust.
 

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