Meet the Governors

Meet the Governors

I became a Co-opted Governor after retiring from Paediatric Physiotherapy. I spent over 21 years of my career based at Linwood School and am delighted to continue to be involved in the life of the school and to serve the school community in this rewarding role.

I am a mum to three boys. My son, Olly, has autism and attends Springwood Campus. The school has made such an incredible difference to him that I was keen to become more involved. I am a mental health nurse by profession and work as a team manager in the NHS.

I have been working in education since leaving education myself in 2000. I have been fortunate to work in a range of schools across the South of England. I have worked in various roles including teaching assistant, teacher and leadership roles. I have always had a passion for seeing other people be happy, achieve and thrive. I am thrilled to be the Executive Headteacher of Linwood School and to be a part of this diverse, amazing community.

My daughter formerly attended Linwood Campus and I have wanted to take a more active involvement in something that plays a large part of her life. I am a qualified accountant and over the years have worked for a number of businesses in a variety of industries including the not-for-profit and charities sectors.

I am a mother of three amazing children; two sons and a daughter. Both my sons attend Linwood School. I have been in the Child Care and Education industry for over 25 years and never have I met such a dedicated, caring and positive school as Linwood. Every individual is encouraged, cared for, nurtured and inspired to grow as an individual who reaches their full potential.

I started teaching at Linwood in April 1989, having previously taught in two special schools in the London area. As a class teacher at Linwood, I worked with many groups of children across the school. From 2007, I worked at developing communication as part of my role as Total Communication Leader. In April 2017, I became Assistant Headteacher and Learning Leader for the Alma Curriculum and retired in summer 2021.

As a local authority officer, I have worked closely with Linwood School up to my retirement in November 2014. As Principal Education Officer (SEND) with both Dorset County Council and Bournemouth Borough Council, I managed the SEND assessment process for individual children and young people aged 0 – 25 and determined their educational provision and placements in mainstream and specialist schools. Through my work alongside the Executive Headteachers at Linwood and the other local authority special schools, I had significant responsibility for ensuring that there was sufficient local SEND provision to meet the changing needs of children and young people with the most severe and complex needs. A teacher by profession and a member of the local community, I am committed to continuing my support for the outstanding work of Linwood School.

I am a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Computing and Informatics, Bournemouth University. I live locally to the school with my family. My current research interest is in understanding user behaviour towards digital interventions for managing healthcare delivery in underserved communities. I consult for the United Nations and am a member of the Editorial Board for several academic journals.

Following my Business Management degree, I worked in Marketing and Projects before re-training as a teacher in 2007. I worked in mainstream primary, including three years in a preschool before moving into Special Needs Education. I joined Springwood Campus in 2019 as a class teacher. I have recently joined the school support teams and have taken on the role of Project Manager.