Governors
GOVERNANCE INFORMATION
Our Local Academy Board (LAB) Members are:
Chair: Dianne Ryan
Headteacher: Laylee Pocock
Parent Member: Elly Gibson
Parent Member: John Lucas
Co-Opted Member: Tess Gale
Co-Opted Member: Liam Berriman
Staff Member: Tracy Ramsden
(All members of the Local Academy Board can be contacted through the school office via 01424 213611 or by email glpaoffice@auroraacademies.org)
Full details of Glenleigh Park Primary Academy's LAB, including Terms of Reference, can be found here.
Full details of Aurora Academies Trust Governance can be found here.
Governance responsibilities are held between Aurora Academies Trust and the Local Academy Board.
The Local Academy Board (LAB) works in a similar way to a governing body and performs many of the same functions. The real difference is that the financial and legal responsibility is held by Aurora Academies Trust Board. This allows the LAB members to be focused on the learning and progress of pupils and not be burdened by the additional responsibility. The LAB play an important role in supporting and challenging Glenleigh Park and we are very grateful for the time they give to the school on a voluntary basis. From March 2018 to July 2022, King Offa Primary Academy and Glenleigh Park Primary Academy operated a joint LAB. From September 2022, both schools now operate their own LABs, to enable members to focus solely on one school.
Dianne Ryan, Chair of LAB:
I joined Glenleigh Park LAB in 2023. I retired as a Headteacher of a Special School in Essex, where I taught for 29 years. I moved to Bexhill in 2019, when I retired. I continued to work part time, until 2022,as an external tutor for Primary Trainee Teachers with the Brighton University. I have 3 sons, one of whom has special needs and who lives in St Leonards.
I became a Governor at Chailey Heritage in 2020. I love being part of the Bexhill Community and am an active member of the Bexhill Lions Club; I am currently the fundraising chair. I am passionate about equality, accessibility and diversity. As a parent of a young man with special needs, I understand the vision for inclusion and the challenge of ensuring access to the appropriate provision.
My interests are live music and art. Luckily Bexhill, St Leonards and Hastings have a wealth of opportunities to listen to great music and observe beautiful landscapes.
To keep fit I enjoy walking my dog on the seafront walk and country walks, which are also in abundance. I ran the London Marathon, twice, once in 2005 and again in 2010, as well as the half marathon at Brighton twice.
I am looking forward to meeting parents and families at school events and observing each child make progress and enjoy their learning at Glenleigh Park.
Laylee Pocock:
I am extremely proud to be the Headteacher at Glenleigh Park. Having worked in schools for 24 years, I can safely say that I learn something new every day. For me this is the most exciting thing about education. Education has the power to change lives and this excites me! Teaching, learning and curriculum design are passions of mine and currently we are working hard at Glenleigh Park to design a curriculum that actively engages the learners to deepen and embed skills and transfer knowledge across the curriculum.
When I am not in school, I enjoy spending time with my husband and two children. Being active is important to us as a family; we enjoy rambling over the Firehills, exploring Battle Woods or strolling along the seafront on a sunny day. Cooking is one of my favourite pastimes; I adore experimenting with new flavours and trying new foods. An interesting fact about me is that I undertook the 3 Peaks challenge to raise money for the charity CRY, it was one of the most exhausting but exciting experiences of my life.
Elly Gibson:
I work in press and communications in the trade union movement. I'm passionate about equality and fairness, and I really care about education. It is so important all children get access to opportunities to enhance their learning and enrich their lives.
I have two daughters at Glenleigh park and have been actively involved with the school since they joined; going in to school to hear the children read, helping on school trips and most recently as the Secretary of the PTFA. I'm really excited to be joining the LAB team and contributing to the development of the school in a more strategic way.
I love living in Bexhill. In my spare time I volunteer as a town councillor and as a helped at the food bank. I enjoy running and recently ran the Tonbridge half marathon to raise money or a local homelessness charity. As a family we attend church at St Peter's in the Old Town and we enjoy going to the beach, restaurants and gigs together.
John Lucas:
I joined the LAB so I can play an active part in driving the schools' standards and values across its broad curriculum. This will have an impact on all young people attending GPPA and stand them in good stead for a full and productive life. I have two children attending the school, so I have a vested interest as a parent in being the critical friendly voice in challenging the leadership on performance and priorities. My professional career spans across management, operations, compliance, internal audit and investigation. I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors and I hope professional qualifications in investigation, which I believe will support in delivering against the role of Parent Governor for GPPA.
I have lived in Bexhill for over 30 years in total, I moved away for a decade but I came back, hard not to as we are very fortunate to live on such a beautiful section of the South coast with not only important English Heritage but also a brilliant community and wide range of services, spaces and events. Locally I play badminton and enjoy walking our coastline and paddle boarding along our rivers. Further afield I am an avid mountain enthusiast and outdoor pursuits fan.
Tess Gale:
I originally joined the LAB for both Glenleigh park and King Offa and now sit on the board for Glenleigh Park. I joined as I care about both our local area and education. I currently work in the sector in another county but wanted to give something back to my local community. I am passionate about inclusion in schools, ensuring that every child is supported to succeed and given opportunity to shine. I know first hand the importance of having a team who can be objective to provide support, accountability and assess the impact of school improvement.
I live with my husband, two young children and our dog. We enjoy walks in the countryside and pub lunches! I moved to the area about nine years ago and have really enjoyed joining in with the quirky traditions and exploring all of the places of interest on offer.
Liam Berriman:
I joined Glenleigh Park's LAB in 2022, and am the governor with responsibility for safeguarding. I have a long-standing professional interest in promoting children's welfare and children's rights and for the last ten years I have worked at the University of Sussex where I am currently Senior Lecturer in the Department for Social Work and Social Care. I decided to become a governor to help contribute to my local community. I regularly work with children and their carers, and I believe this experience will support my role as a governor in working with the community at Glenleigh Park.
I live locally in St Leonards-on-Sea and am a father to two young children. We moved to the coast six years ago and we enjoy going for walks in the local woods and rock pooling in the tide pools.