governing body

Our Governing Body provides strategic direction to the school and both supports and challenges our senior leaders so that Tarleton Community is an effective school. Our governors have a wealth of experience and are passionate about their work.

Donna Roberts (Chair Of Governors)

Donna has 2 daughters both of which have attended TCP. Her involvement with the school has been on-going for the last 12 years as she has been Vice Chair/Secretary of the Friends of TCP. Donna has gained vast experience working for many years in the NHS, where she has developed a number of skills including performance management, data analysis and service development, enabling her to confidently challenge, make informed decisions but also think broadly when developing solutions to problems as a governor. Donna firmly believes a school which works with parents and the community enables children to experience an enjoyable education wider than the classroom and challenge them to achieve their full potential.

Dawn Forster (Vice Chair of Governors)

Dawn is a mother to 3 girls, all having attended TCP and has a professional background in recruitment, training and retail management. Dawn has a huge presence volunteering in the school helping out in school with various activities, sporting events and school trips. This helps her to see the daily life in school. Dawn is passionate about raising the school’s profile in the community and wants parents to feel that they are included in school life. She is also involved in all things Eco, particularly when they involve hedgehogs and other creatures.

Andrea Burton

Andrea was appointed SEND Governor in September 2021 and has a background professionally in SEND provision having worked in a variety of roles in education and was previously a specialist teacher for the local authority. Andrea is also a parent and is passionate about seeing the school thrive in an inclusive and friendly manner so that it provides lots of opportunities for each and every child. In her free time, Andrea likes to go on dog walks and camping trips with her family and is a dedicated football and rugby spectating mum!

Paul Cook

Paul is a Director of UKGlobal Risk Solutions Ltd, an insurance brokerage specialising in commercial insurance. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a Chartered Insurance Broker. Originally from Newcastle, Paul has lived in the village since 2013 and currently has 1 child attending TCP. Paul is focused on continuing to develop the school in the best interests of the pupils and build upon the excellent foundations the school has built in recent years. In his spare time Paul enjoys playing golf and spending time with his family.

Francesca Donaghy-Sims

I come from a legal background, having qualified as a solicitor in 2019, and currently have one child attending TCP. I am keen to support the continuous development of the school and in turn the children fulfilling their potential. As a parent I have been very impressed with TCP and am pleased to be on board as a governor. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family, and going to the gym.

Zoe Marshall

Zoe is a Staff Governor and our Year 1 teacher. She has given many years of dedication to our school and she works tirelessly as our PE Subject Leader to ensure our children experience new, high quality opportunities in sport so that they are active and healthy. Zoe recently obtained her Forest School qualification and she is now developing this across our school. She is determined to see the children thrive.

Michael Aspinall

Michael is the deputy headteacher at a large primary school in Preston. He has 26 years of experience in primary education as a class teacher, Assistant Head, Deputy Head. Michael has particular curricular interests in Science and Physical Education and is very keen for children, and adults, to be physically active. Outside of school work, Michael is a regular participant in adult gymnastics at which he competes at a national level. He has collected 9 British titles in recent years. Michael likes to watch football and supports his home-town team of Preston North End.

Ben Thomas

Ben is a Lecturer in Primary Education at Edge Hill University and a fully qualified Primary Teacher with several years' teaching experience. Before working in Higher Education, Ben taught for ten years at International and German schools in Cologne and Munich (Germany), as well as two years at a large Infant school in Southport. Originally from Liverpool, Ben has three children of his own; a daughter and identical twin boys who keep him on his toes! Ben is passionate about making a difference to the life chances of our future generations and he will strive to support staff at TCP to ensure that all pupils can achieve their full potential. His particular areas of interest include Primary Languages, EAL, Curriculum Development, Environment Education, Liverpool FC and houseplants - in no particular order!

Nicola Greig

Nikki is a mum to 2 boys, one of which is at TCP. She is a peripatetic music teacher, musical director and professional musician. Her teaching career has seen her travel the world as a musician and teach in many educational settings from early years right through to university aged students. She believes the variety of these experiences will bring some invaluable insight to the governing team and is honoured to be part of the bigger picture.

Nikki has a huge passion for all the arts and loves to see children have as many experiences as possible to be creative, just be themselves and love to learn.

Nikki excited to support and encourage this already thriving school and committed to what this role entails within the school and the wonderful community it is involved in.

When she isn’t music making she is passionate about nature, getting outdoors as much as possible with the family and rescuing as many bunnies as she can!

Victoria Farish

Victoria is a parent to children attending TCP.

Victoria is a Senior Leader in a special school and has 18 years teaching experience with children and young people with complex needs. Victoria is committed to supporting TCP to further improve outcomes for the whole school community.

James Settle

James Settle is a qualified landscape architect with a wealth of experience in designing and implementing projects across the UK and abroad, he brings a unique perspective to his role as a school governor. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for creating attractive and functional spaces, James has developed his skills in transforming landscapes and is now applying them to large scale public realm projects and the latest school building programme by Lancashire County Council. As a father of a child attending TCP, James is familiar with the challenges and successes of the school system. His commitment to his child's education and well-being is matched only by his dedication to the broader community, as he seeks to use his expertise to enhance the learning environment and opportunities for all students to learn and grow.

Clare Morgan

Justine Anderson

Chris Upton O.B.E. (Headteacher)

An experienced headteacher, Chris is passionate about education and in ensuring the very best for the children and community of TCP. He is a father of three boys as well as Amelie his daughter who attends Tiny Treasures. Chris values the transformational way sport and music impacts on young people's lives to develop confidence and a love of the arts. He has worked with colleagues to create the Axia Learning Alliance, Lancashire's first Co-operative Foundation Trust to drive educational standards and bring the benefit of collaborative learning. Chris was made an O.B.E. for services to education in the King's first New Year's Honours List.

Janette Higson (Deputy Headteacher)

Janette has been a dedicated member of team TCP for 20 years and, in her current role as Deputy Headteacher, she enjoys and thrives off the challenge that comes with every aspect of school life. She is our SENDCo and Curriculum Leader and is passionate about supporting children with additional needs to reach their full potential. In her role she shares ideas with the governors, providing a valuable link between the Governing Body and the school staff. She is passionate about all things Health and Safety as well as teaching the Hakka in PE!

Janette is a Mum of two girls, one at university and the other studying her A levels. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, music and spending quality time with family and friends.

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Governing Body Diversity Indicators 2023.pdf	Download

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What do we do?

As a Governing Body, we are expected to have a strong focus on three core responsibilities:

Ensuring clarity of vision
Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

We are responsible for the conduct of the school and have to ensure that the education provided, and the way in which the children, staff and parents are treated, are in accordance with the law and with the various regulations laid down by the authorities.

We meet each half term as a whole governing body having recently changed our structure to focus on matters involving the curriculum, standards, behaviour and safeguarding in the first half term of each term and resources, financial matters, buildings and health and safety in the second half term of each term. Should we need to, we set up working groups to carry out specific work and report back to the Governing Body.

Click on the links below to find out more about our Governing Body.