Admiral Long CE Primary School

I was born and brought up near Leeds in a Christian home, was educated in Christian schools, and have very fond memories of all my schools, but particularly my first, in the village hall attached to the Church for which my father was a Church warden and a Patron. 

I have lived in or near Bishop Thornton since 1988. I joined the Board of Governors of the School as a co-opted Governor in February 2017.

The skills I bring to the team were gained through my career as an in-house lawyer for companies operating in competitive conditions. Providing a wide range of legal support and working with multi-skilled teams and services, gave me experience of building relationships, customer focus, commercial awareness, finding practical solutions, and being able to focus on detail without losing the bigger picture.

It has been very special to be part of the team which moved the school to its new premises in Burnt Yates in 2019. These offer spacious and inspiring facilities for our children, present and future.

I am honoured to be part of a team of Governors and Staff who are dedicated to providing great education to the children in our locality.

John is a retired chartered accountant who spent most of his career in higher education, as well as running a small training business. He has strong links to Goldsborough through St Mary's Church.

Originally from Cheshire, I grew up in a small village environment not dissimilar to Burnt Yates, where the school and church were central to the community. Part of my role as  Governor will be to help maintain and promote the important connection between the Admiral Long School and St Andrews Church.

The majority of my professional life has been spent working in the private sector, employed by companies supplying into the health care and hospitality markets. During my career, I   have covered many disciplines including warehousing, business unit management, ISO9000 auditing and sales. I became Director of a Harrogate based business in 2014, which   prompted my move to the area from Northamptonshire.

I live with my partner Ira in Burnt Yates, where we regularly attend St Andrews Church. We also visit the churches at Bishop Thornton, Ripley and South Stainley. Leisure interests include cycling, swimming, gardening and motorsport.

I am proud to have the opportunity to work alongside such a committed and experienced team of governors and hope to use the experience I have gained to help Admiral Long School to continue providing quality, community focussed education.

Lisa is the Team Vicar for Knaresborough Team Ministry which includes the village of Goldsborough. She has recently moved to the area and is enjoying getting to know people. She leads the Family First Service at the church each month.

Before training for ordination Lisa was a Registered General Nurse, working mostly in rehabilitation. She is married to Nigel and has three children Matthew, Amy and Ellie who are now in their 20s. Nigel and their youngest daughter Ellie have a neurological disability called CMT and are wheelchair users. Ellie also had an EHCP while at school so Lisa is particularly interested in meeting the needs of pupils with physical disabilities and educational needs.

In her spare time she likes to knit, crochet and trying to train her dog, Freya.

I have worked as a teacher in  at Admiral Long (Bishop Thornton) for 14 years. I love the family feel of the school and the close relationships that develop between the staff and children here. It is a school like no other!

I am a teacher governor in school and have held this role for several years. I enjoy providing a link between the governors and the children and having the opportunity to talk about and show what is happening in our classrooms every day.

My time outside of school involves being a busy Mum to two sporty boys, a member of a choir and a thriving book group. I try to pass on my passion for singing and books to the children as I feel they are both wonderfully creative and life enhancing hobbies.

I hope in my role as teacher governor that I can help put faces and stories to data and continue to support links between governors, children, parents and staff within the school.

Alastair has experience of Sicklinghall School and is looking forward to making a positive contribution to the running of the school as a Governor. Alastair is a solicitor working for an insurance company. He still has some ambitions in international sport, but these days, beekeeping is more his pace.

Jules is the designated Governor for Safeguarding and the Local Authority.  She has two daughters who previously attended Sicklinghall CP School.  Jules has strong links to the community through her work with the Churches and the Parish Council. 

I am delighted to have become a parent Governor and believe it would be a great opportunity to do something to help support the school and to do what I can to help maintain the best interests of all the children by giving the perspective of a parent. I’ve got two sons - my oldest son is in Cherry Blossom at Sicklinghall. We are so pleased with how well he has settled in following our house move and how welcoming everyone has been. Our youngest son is due to start in 2026. My background is in law and I worked as an employment solicitor for several years. I have taken a break from that while my children are young and currently work remotely for a University on their Online LLM Master of Laws programme. I have been a Volunteer Board Member for the Tees Valley (NE) branch of the charity Young Enterprise UK.I enjoy reading, exploring the countryside with my family and board games.

Admiral Long School is a maintained school and this means that it is funded and controlled by the Local Education Authority (LEA). The LEA funds the school, employs the staff and provides support services and controls the admissions process.  The school is also designated as a Voluntary Controlled (VC) school by being a Church of England Primary School, and the Diocese of Leeds appoints two members as Foundation Governors who have links to the benefice and the vicar.

Admiral Long generally has 8 members of the Governing Body and they represent different parts of our school and wider community.

These are:

• Two Parent Governors
• One Local Authority Governor
• Two  Foundation Governors, appointed by the Leeds Diocese
• One Co-opted Governor, appointed for their specific skills
• Two Staff Governors, one of whom is the Headteacher.

Governance reflects the following three key areas:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school
• Holding the Executive Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

There are no interests declared by the current Governing Body.