The Governing Body of the school makes important decisions with regard to the running of the school and meet every term in the school.
The governors can be contacted at governors@woodlandsfederation.staffs.sch.uk
I'm Amy Cox and I'm the Chair of Governors for the Woodlands Federation. I have been a secondary teacher of science in Tamworth since 2009 where I teach Physics, Chemistry and Biology from year 7 up to GCSE. I am also the school's designated radiation officer. Since 2010 I have been part of a small committee that runs the Derbyshire Ladies Hockey League and I have been captain of a local hockeyclub in Burton-On-Trent since 2009. Myself, my husband and two children have recently moved into Kingstone village and have a lovely view of Talbot First School. Both my children attend Talbot and they always bounce out of school smiling. I joined the Woodlands Federation governing body in September 2020 in the hope of helping support both schools to provide excellent standards of education both within the curriculum and through extra-curricular activities. I am particularly interested in ensuring the younger generation has a love of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) and gain high levels of resilience, independence and aspiration to help towards a successful future.
Hi, my name is Joanne Ormiston and I have been a Woodlands Federation Governor for the last 2 years. I live in Kingstone with my husband and three children, Josh (9), Oliver (7) and Benjamin (1). I grew up in the village when I was younger and moved back with my family about 5 years ago. I have been the Chair of the TSA at Talbot for the last two years and really enjoy working with a great group of parents to raise money to enhance resources and experiences for our children at school. I have recently handed the role of Chair to another mum due to time commitments but I will still be supporting the events and fundraising done by the TSA. I am a primary school teacher in Derbyshire and I am now in my 15th year of teaching. During this time I have taught from Reception all the way up to Year 6, alongside subject leadership throughout the school.
My name is Carolyn Blakemore and I have been a governor since October 2018. I am a retired teacher and have lived in Marchington for 28 years. Both my children went to St Peter's First School then to Oldfields Hall and finally Thomas Alleynes High School. I was deputy Headteacher at Talbot First School for 15 years and was Acting Headteacher for one year. After retirement I did supply teaching at St Peter's, Talbot, Richard Clarke and Victoria in Burton. I was on Marchington Village Hall committee for 20 years and now work as a volunteer in Marchington Community Shop.
Hi I am Steven Carter. I am a Chartered engineer working in Derby and live in Marchington with my wife Dawn and two children Rose (11) and Henry (7) who is in year 2 at St Peters First School. I have been involved with the Governing board for around 5 years. I am a keen supporter of promoting STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) subjects and events, including securing funding for LEGO coding resources and entrants into the Junior First league global competition which both schools Year 3-4 have had the inspiring experience in the past... more inspiring events planned to bring extra resources and opportunities to the children's education experience.
I’m Rev Jules Walker and became a Woodlands Federation Governor in Sept 2021. I was licensed as Church of England Team Vicar in the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes in August 2021 and although I can minister across the 10 parishes in the area, I have key responsibility at St Peter’s Marchington, St John’s Marchington Woodlands and St John the Baptist, Kingstone. This brings the delight of being vicar to both Woodlands Federation schools at St Peter’s and Talbot – I very much look forward to being involved in school life and developing the community links between school and church. I live in Marchington with my husband Drew, who is Anglican Chaplain at HMP Dovegate. We have four adult children, so have much parental experience of the education sector. Before ordination I worked in commercial finance in the industrial sector before escaping to university to read theology. Following this, I worked within adult education for the Diocese of Liverpool, training adults for mission and ministry, before training for ordained ministry in Nottingham.
I'm Stuart Orme and I'm a Co-opted Governor for the Woodlands Federation. I'm a professional mechanical engineer by trade and I've been an engineering lecturer for the past 14 years. As a family we moved to Marchington in 2017 and both my children attend St Peter's. Since 2017 I've been heavily involved in the Marchington 10K which is predominantly a fund rising event for St Peter's. I've been a Parent Governor since 2019 and you'll often see me dropping off or picking our children up at St Peter's - please feel free to approach me in my capacity as a Governor.
My name is Stephanie Thomas and I work in HR within the Civil Service and I am lucky enough to currently be working from home. This allows me to have a much better work life balance and I now get to enjoy the school run which I previously missed out on - my boys go to Talbot First School (Leo is in Year 1 and Noah is Nursery) and as myself and my husband (Andy) live in Kingstone the school run is often that...a run, a walk or just occasionally, a bike ride! I’ve wanted to do something to support the school given I benefited from starting my education there (many years ago!) and now my boys will get that benefit too - the Governors seems like the perfect fit, that I could commit to alongside work and family life.
Parent Governors
Parent governors are a vital part of the governing body and school development as they have a unique insight in the school life as they are directly involved with, and can see on a daily basis what the school offers for their children. They are also a conduit for other parent views / impressions / concerns about the school, which is essential to ensure any development takes into consideration as many viewpoints as possible. Concerns, reasons for changes, etc. can be quickly addressed and fed back to parents in non-school jargon.
Use your parent governor, catch them on the gate, drop them a note... they are an invaluable asset to schools.
My name is Rachel Skittery and I am the parent governor for Talbot. I currently have one child at the school who started in September in the Willow Class, and am looking forward to supporting the school.
Hello I’m Jason Ede and I have been a Parent Governor since December 2020. I live in Uttoxeter married to Rebecca and have 2 girls Eliza and Florence who both attend St Peters. For the past 20 Years my career has been within the Leisure Industry (Theme parks & Visitor Attractions) as a Commercial Director for Pomvom UK Ltd overseeing operations across the UK and the EU. I’m looking forward to the challenges of being a parent governor and supporting the team across the Federation to ensure our Children get the best start in life possible.
Staff Governor
A staff governor is elected from the staff of the school to represent staff on the governing body and bring with them professional experience and knowledge. They share the views and concerns of staff with the governing body and act as a conduit between staff and the governing body.
My name is Miss Beynon and I teach pre-school, reception and Year 1 over at St Peter's which I absolutely love. In addition to this, I am also the Maths and Computing lead across both schools. I joined the federation in September 2016 (it seems forever ago now!) and became a staff governor in September 2021 as I wanted to get more involved with the governance of the Federation. I am passionate about our Federation and know how special our two sister schools are from working for the Federation over the past years.