Robin Hood Primary School

I have enjoyed the privilege and responsibility of being a school governor at Robin Hood Primary since 2005 and I have been Chair of Governors for over a decade.  I am a local Councillor, a parent of two secondary school age children and the Chief Executive of The Market Place Leeds, a children and young people’s mental health charity.

Robin Hood Primary sits at the heart of the local community and pupils represent the community well.  The confidence of children at Robin Hood Primary has been commented on by Ofsted inspectors for years.  The pride that pupils take in their learning and the fact that they are so comfortable in giving their views speaks volumes about the way in which pupils are encouraged and supported to have their voices heard.

Life has been much more challenging for everyone throughout the pandemic, but the whole school community stepped up to meet that challenge together with blends of online learning and support for the children of key workers during national lockdowns and an additional focus on the wellbeing of pupils and staff.  I am proud of the school leadership who kept their focus throughout the most difficult times and school is now re-establishing the normal rhythms of primary school life.

I became a governor at Robin Hood in 2008 after my daughter transferred to Robin Hood in Year 5; the transformation in her short time at the school was inspirational which set her up for the next level of her education. I have continued to work with the Robin Hood team and have been Vice Chair of Governors since 2018. I believe that all children deserve the best educational journey.

My role is to ensure we spend money wisely, ensuring that our children all have the same opportunity to learn, regardless of their starting point.

I enjoy being a governor at Robin Hood as the staff go above and beyond where developing our children is the main priority. We have a fantastic team which evolves each year when we recruit new members of the team who we take along on our educational journey.

I have lived in the local area for 30 years; both of my children, (now grown-up) attended and thoroughly enjoyed their time at Robin Hood Primary School. My wife, Sarah assisted as a volunteer whilst the children were in school, subsequently joining the governing body, latterly acting as Joint Chair prior to re-training as a teacher and now occupying the pivotal SEND Coordinator position within school.

My career background is in Business Financial Services where I have performed a number of risk and operational management roles for both Bank and Independent financiers.  

I passionately believe that every child matters and that diversity within school and wider society is to be celebrated; accordingly, I am interested in hearing the views of pupils, parents and other stakeholders as to how we can drive the inclusivity agenda within school. My background qualifies me to sit on the Finance and Resources Committee and I also have Governor responsibility for Sports Provision.

My interests include cricket, rugby league, golf, music, local history, reading and walking and I am delighted to be a part of the Robin Hood community.

I first became involved with Robin Hood Primary School when my son started attending the nursery in 2013, then my daughter in 2017. I have always had a great interest in education, having worked as a primary school teacher for several years, then for a local authority, overseeing the education of Looked After Children. Over the past few years I have specialised in dyslexia and now run a dyslexia assessment and consultancy business. 

I am passionate about removing barriers to education and feel privileged to be on the board of governors for Robin Hood Primary. I sit on the Pupil Support and the Teaching and Learning committees. Both are areas of education I feel able to offer the school my support and expertise.

I am an art worker in a corporate communications agency and currently work part time, so I am able to share my time with my two daughters who attend Robin Hood Primary School – in particular, to support my eldest daughter who has additional needs.

Having had a continuous input in my daughter’s learning and development, this has strengthened my interest in teaching and education. The time we have given her to enable her to reach her full potential, has allowed me to gain a much deeper understanding of children needing additional support academically, socially and emotionally. Naturally, I have become more passionate about helping children reach their full potential and feel I have the right tools, creativity and a positive mind set to help achieve this.

I join the board with passion and enthusiasm with skills to contribute to an already excelling team.

I became a governor at Robin Hood when a vacancy for a parent governor became available, whilst my eldest was at nursery, 10 years ago. Three children later and I am still enjoying a very rewarding role.  

Professionally, I am a financial adviser and worked full time up until taking a break to have my family. I returned to financial advising a few years ago on a part-time basis and am also excited to be starting a new role running alongside, holding music classes for pre-schoolers, in the near future. 

As well as being involved in the governance side of school, I have also been a part of the PTA for the last 10 years, taking on specific committee roles in the past, helping to raise important funds for our children. I became interested in being a governor as I feel it is important for all students, regardless of their ability and background, to be the best that they can possibly be.  

My name is Alice Johnston. I began my journey at Robin Hood as a student teacher and could immediately feel what a fantastic, friendly school it was. 

Over the past eight years at Robin Hood, I have taught in both Years 1 and 2 and gained other roles such as key stage leader and most recently Assistant Head teachers. Alongside this, I have been involved in other areas of the curriculum such as PSHE, wellbeing and leading on School Council. 

I feel proud to be part of the staff at Robin Hood and for the impact that I am able to make for the children and families in our school. 

I have been in logistics for over 30 years in various roles and countries. 

I started life as an order picker, my current role is Operations Manager for Arla Foods at the Stourton NDC which I enjoy immensely and work with a great team. 

I became involved with Robin Hood during lockdown as we  supplied three schools with tablets in order to support remote learning and Robin Hood was one of the schools who were selected..

We then asked if the school could take part in a poster campaign to celebrate our site being open for 20 years which gave me a great insight into how well the school was managed and run. 

This has now progressed to me having the privilege of joining the board of Governors as Community Governor. This role is entirely new to me but do hope I can do as much as I can  to support the team and the school in the coming year.