St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School

Having retired from headship of a local Catholic secondary school in December 2023,I have recently taken up Governor posts in a DCAT primary school and St Mary Star of the Sea.

I have over forty years' experience in education, I feel I have the skills and attributes to support the Governing Body in its work and endeavour to ensure all pupils can access an inclusive ,high-quality education, where they can develop their God given talents.

As well as being a Governor, I am a School Improvement partner for an Academy Trust working with ECTs this academic year; I carry out appraisals for Headteachers; I am an Independent Listener in an Independent Girls’ School  and I have trained to be a Diocesan Schools' Inspector, a role I enjoy very much.

Term of Office 9.10.24 - 8.10.28

I am a retired teacher with experiences spanning secondary and primary education which I later took to my final posts when working for East Sussex County Council.

My experience in primary and early years focused on special educational needs, in both school and local authority environments. 

Whilst in primary education, I worked as a SENCO (now known as SEND), at a school that was fortunate to have a specialist unit focusing on hearing impairment. In addition to my responsibilities as a SENCO, I also developed and steered a pilot project, in conjunction with a specialist school. The pilot was focused on how children with moderate learning difficulties could remain in mainstream education.

The latter part of my career utilised my SENCO experience further when I joined a newly formed team at East Sussex County Council (ESCC). The team’s mandate was to develop and deliver training to ensure special educational needs (SEN) and inclusion knowledge was consistent in early years and all out of hours, e.g. breakfast clubs, practitioners, in the private, voluntary and independent sectors (PVI) in the county.

I then jointly lead a one-year, cross county project. The focus being the identification and support of children who had entered Reception class’s across ESCC without the expected level of speech and language development. In conjunction with a Speech and Language therapist, we developed the strategy to identify these children and together with the respective schools, and the children’s parents, we were able to provide direct support to the children we had identified.

In my final role before retiring, I rejoined my previous team as part of the senior management team, with responsibility for the PVI early years SEN training and Children Centre teachers.

I am married with two children and two grandchildren and enjoy swimming and travel.

Term of Office 19.11.24 - 18.11.28

I was appointed on 15/09/2023 by the Bishop of the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton as per recommendation by the Parish Priest of Good Shepherd. I am a Parishioner of St. Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church in St. Leonards-On-Sea and one of the Children’s Liturgy coordinators in the Parish. I am happy to collaborate with other Governors to provide strategic leadership for the school and ensure that the Catholic character of our schools is preserved and fostered by working in partnership with the Diocesan Education Service, the governing Board members, and the School Management.

I am an Application Support Engineer at iQ HealthTech Ltd, an electronic prescribing system provider for Oncology practice management across the UK and Australia. I have previously worked as a Support Engineer (Regional Director - Eastern Nigeria) at Sabre Travel Network, one of the world's leading software providers for airlines and travel agencies. I am pursuing a master’s degree programme in Computer Science with Software Engineering at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. I am also an Ambassador for World Peace (AmbP) for the UN Peace and Positive Living Awareness Centre (UN-PEPOLAC).

I am deeply passionate about Catholic education and have three children in the school.

My Areas of Responsibility- Website, ICT & GDPR

Subject Areas Responsibility- Computing and Technology

Term of Office 15.09.23 - 14.09.27

Committee Member for: Safeguarding Link Lead

I have recently been appointed as a  governor since March 2020. Being a mother of two young boys and a practising Catholic, I am proud to be part of a school that thrives to develop children on all three important levels (i.e. spiritual, academic and emotional) and I am looking forward to effectively overseeing the management side of the school with the governing team.

As an ACCA qualified accountant and Finance & Accounting graduate, I bring to the table my solid and relevant financial & commercial skills developed over the past 10 years in various private companies in London and East Sussex. I am currently part of the Parish of the Good Shepherd's Finance department and Finance Committee.

Although my family and I moved from London to St Leonards-on-Sea in 2016, we've quickly fallen in love with its beautiful surroundings and it's friendly and welcoming inhabitants. I am passionate about Faith, education and giving children a good start in life, ensuring they become strong valued citizens.

Term of Office 1.10.2025 - 30.9.2029

I am delighted to join as a Parent Governor and look forward to learning more and contributing to the life of the school.  

Living, working (and sea swimming) in St Leonards on Sea since 2020, I have a son who attends SMSS. I run the copy team in the commercial department of a national newspaper where I take responsibility for setting standards, legal compliance and mentoring colleagues.  

I am interested in the huge benefits of music education for children as they learn and develop, as well as languages. 

Term of Office 27.02.25 - 26.02.29

Committee Member for: Admissions, Finance, Property and Health & Safety

Clerk for LGC

clerk@st-mary-star.e-sussex.sch.uk

Contact emails for the Chair and Vice Chair can be found under the school's contact tab.