Hollygirt School Trustees serve in a threefold capacity as:
These are our current members of the board:
Mrs Alison Bingham (Chair)
Mrs Rachael Archer
Mrs Sally Dyson
Mrs Elenor Hamshire
Mr Paul Livingstone
Mrs Alison Turton
Dr Julia West
Mr Gavin White
Mrs Alison Bingham
Skills: education; education management; strategic planning; development; careers advice & guidance. Alison has extensive experience in education and skills development having worked in senior leadership positions in both mainstream secondary and SEND schools over the past 13 years. Until August 2023, Alison was Director of Development for a Multi Academy Trust in Derbyshire and before then for the Bulwell Academy. Before moving into the education sector, Alison worked in management roles for the Regional Development Agency, Learning and Skills Council and Training & Enterprise Council specialising in workforce and skills development. As a leader with responsibility for driving forward school improvement, Alison has experience of multi-faculty leadership, teaching, communications & marketing, and skills development and is also a CDI registered Careers Counsellor. Alison is also a Director & Company Secretary of a family farm in North Nottinghamshire and Member of the Southwell Agricultural Society.
Mrs Rachael Archer
Rachael is a Director of a local company which has been successfully providing tailored electrical installation solutions for a diverse range of commercial and industrial clients throughout the UK for over 35 years. Originally trained as a Mental Health Nurse, and having qualifications in both mental health and parent carer peer support, she now enjoys a role as a parent2parent support volunteer with the CAMHS Eating Disorder Team. Rachael has a 20 year association with Hollygirt, with both daughters having been pupils from Nursery onwards and is very keen to help to continue to maintain the Hollygirt ethos.
Mrs Elenor Hamshire
Skills: Financial review and analysis. Business performance management and development. Project Management and implementation.A qualified accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, Elenor spent her career working in commercial finance, business partnering and transformation programmes for a FTSE 100 company. She is also a Trustee of The Printing Charity, one of the oldest benevolent charities in the UK.
Elenor brings her background in business finance and project management to our Board and to the Operations and Finance committee.
Mr Paul Livingstone
Paul Livingstone is an experienced IT and service management professional with over 20 years of leadership across education, government, and the private sector. Currently Swarm Manager at Microlise, he drives the maturity of service management practices with a focus on change, incident, and problem management.Previously, Paul was Service Delivery Director for a managed service provider and IT Manager within a Multi-Academy Trust, following two decades in local government and colleges leading IT operations and training teams. He has delivered major IT transformation projects across schools in Derbyshire and Wales, aligning technology with organisational goals and enabling long-term digital growth.Paul’s expertise includes IT Service Management, change enablement, cyber security, ITIL v4, and workforce development. Guided by a family-first outlook, commitment to equality and diversity, and a growth mindset, he is also passionate about lifelong learning. Outside of work, Paul enjoys running, cycling, and gardening.
Mrs Alison Turton
Skills: leadership, performance , strategic implementation, customer service , risk and cost management. Alison spent her career working for one of the major UK Banks. She started as an A level entrant, completed her ACIB banking qualifications and moved to Nottingham for her first Management position. Her last role before early retirement was Regional Director in Business Banking for two Banking brands. Alison has a focus on performance and delivering outstanding service to customers, both internal and external. She enjoys supporting the Head and Bursar as a member of the Operations and Finance committee where her skills and attributes are best served.
Dr Julia (Julie) West MBE
Skills: Biology, Environmental Science, Education, Team Building, Mentoring, Project Management, Communication. Originally a school science teacher, Julie has 35 years’ experience as an environmental scientist, building an international reputation in carbon capture and storage, radioactive waste disposal and groundwater quality. She has led major international scientific projects providing expertise to national and international organisations and was awarded an MBE for her work. Julie’s interest in science communication led to a British Association for the Advancement of Science Media Fellowship with BBC Radio Science. Julie is keen to bring her scientific and management expertise and her communication skills to support Hollygirt.
Mr Gavin White
Skills: corporate and commercial advice, business strategy, business management and development, leadership and communication. Gavin has been a practicing solicitor for over 30 years , providing legal advice to a wide range of businesses, predominantly those based in the East Midlands. As such, he has gained a detailed understanding of the many operational challenges that face businesses as well as successful strategies for addressing these issues and improving business performance. He also was part of a team that led the sale of a legal business of which he was a part owner to a nationally based PLC. He is committed to using the skills he has developed during the course of his legal career to help Hollygirt continue to provide exceptional and bespoke education to its pupils.
Mrs Sally Dyson
Skills: Education policy, SEND and school finance
Sally has worked for the Department for Education for 7 years, writing government policy for areas such as Children’s Social Care, Special Educational Needs and Academy Trust financial oversight. She was responsible for rolling out a national Ofsted/Care Quality Commission SEND inspection framework and is currently working on a project to ensure the Department has a good quality data on the financial challenges Academy Trusts face. She worked in education outreach at the beginning of her career, running projects to give access to classical music to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. She later took on responsibility for funding those projects via a funding role at Arts Council England. Sally is a Hollygirt parent with two children at the school – one in Prep and one in Seniors. She is heavily invested in helping to ensure the future success of the school, with a particular focus on children with SEND. Outside of work, Sally enjoys making music with her family and going to gigs and festivals.
Our prospectus aims to give you a glimpse into our wonderful small school.
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