I have been a Governor at Village Primary for 10 years. I have 3 children- all boys- who have all attended this school. I started as a Parent Governor when my eldest son was moving into Yr 2. He has recently left school and I have seen many changes over the years but one thing that remains, my immense pride to be part of our school to help shape the lives of our future community, to give our children aspirations and high expectations in life, so they truly believe they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up.
I am a Parent Governor and Vice Chair at Village Primary School.
I have two Children who attend the school (although one for not much longer) and have seen my children grow, develop and learn every single day at school. I am passionate about supporting the school and all of the children and staff here at Village.
I work in Human Resources and have done for 15 years; I bring my skills and experience in this field to the Governing Body.
In my spare time I love to spend time with my family and friends.
Hi, I’m Lisa Davies. I’m new to being a the Chair of Governor and so have been spending my time listening, observing and talking to staff to help me make a difference to the school community.
My little lady, Isabelle is in year three at Village Primary and that was my motivation to volunteer to become a Governor. I want to support the school in the welfare of the children, staff and for the school to excel in the local area.
Outside of being a Parent Governor and a Mummy, I work full time as an Independent Education Welfare Officer in schools in across Teesside. This gives me some experience and understanding of the challenges schools have. I know the importance of Safeguarding and attendance in schools, and I will bring this into my role of Parent Governor.
In my spare time I like to bake and decorate cakes, this comes in handy with my role with the school PTA. I make yummy cakes for the school fayre and occasions – it is rewarding to help boost funds for the school PTA so the children can enjoy special events.
My name is Robert Birtwhistle and I have the pleasure to work with the governors as Head teacher. I have been involved with the governing body since 2012 when I was first appointed at Village Primary School. I enjoy working with governors to help facilitate effective, long-term school improvement, with children at the heart of everything that we do. Indeed, I am passionate about children being given the best quality education on offer to help them with their future happiness, career ambitions and to help towards social mobility. In terms of my educational philosophy, I believe that children are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum of the highest standard where all children maximise the talents and skills that they need for the next stage of their lives. I believe that learning is best when it is hands on, closely modelled and built on outstanding relationships. At Village, we strive to provide children with a safe, stimulating and supportive environment where they can thrive. I have worked in schools in various capacities since 1999 and have worked as a teacher since 2004. Throughout my teaching career, I have worked predominantly in Stockton, but enjoyed spells in North Yorkshire and Redcar and Cleveland. This has given me a broad range of skills and useful experiences of working within different catchment areas.
Having completed my National Professional Qualification for Headship in 2022, I am passionate about staff having access to high-quality professional development and training so that our children receive the very best pedagogy.
I am a proud dad of two boys and a massive football fan. I like to spend my spare time watching Middlesbrough and getting out and about in our local area as a proud Teessider.
Hello everyone, my name is Stephen Felgate, I have been a governor on the Village governing body for over eleven years. Both of my children, (now adults) attended the school from Nursery to Year six. I enjoyed my time as a parent governor so much, that I continued on as a community governor until the present day.
In my current employment I work for Stockton Borough Council as a Community Day-Options support worker, and am currently working in a community base within Billingham Forum. The main part of my role (along with my colleagues) is to provide meaningful activities for people with specific difficulties.
In my spare time I enjoy running and walking, and have recently, successfully completed the Middlesbrough 10km run.
I am also a season ticket holder (since 1996) for Middlesbrough Football Club and have experienced the ups and downs throughout the years.
I have worked at the Village for 5 years and I am staff governor. I am passionate about supporting the school and strive to continually improve and provide a great environment for the children.
I have a daughter and I enjoy spending time with her and doing arts and crafts. We also enjoy for going days out together.
My name is Camilla Banthorpe and I was elected as a co-opted school governor at the Village Primary School in December 2021. I am a mother of two boys and live in the local area of Stockton on Tees. I have been working within financial services since 2009 and have experience on working closely with our social purpose projects and links with financial education programmes with an aim to help raise standards and aspirations. My current role is a ‘Strategic excellence partner’ within our IT & Transformation department working on our people strategy projects and our apprenticeship programmes.
I am a huge believer in that ‘its never too late’ and even now as an adult I am learning new things every day – education and learning is life long. As a member of the governing body it has been a pleasure working alongside a school that provides the best possible start to their children with education through their school ethos and values which are lived and breathed in daily school life. The Village Primary has worked extremely hard on their community presence and this is evident by the increase in support from families, community members and staff at the school. I am very proud to be on the board of governors at the Village primary working with a team of committed, supportive and passionate individuals that want to move forward in positively raising the standards for their children in learning.
My name is Alexandra Smith and I have a 5 year old son, Pip (Philip). He has been attending Village Primary School since Nursery and absolutely loves to go to school every day. I chose the Village Primary School, as both my husband and I agreed with the schools values and ethos. Once we had visited the Village Primary School and saw how attentive the teachers were and how happy the students were in this wonderful environment, we were sure it would be the perfect fit for our values as a family.
I am passionate about education for people of all ages and feel everyone deserves access to a stimulating and enjoyable way of learning, in a way that is suited to their individual needs so they can reach their full potential.
I currently work part time and for the past year I have been lucky enough to be part of FOVP. I enjoy crafting, baking, reading and singing. I have found all of these hobbies are very handy with my interactions with the school and being part of FOVP.