Head Teacher

I am the head teacher of our wonderful school. I am a proud Cumbrian and have lived here my entire life. I am blessed to have a lovely wife, Bryony, and 4 children; Olivia, Esmae, Adelyn and Emily-Cate. In my spare time, I love cycling and I have completed the Fred Whitton 4 times now and completed the Ride London, which was a great experience. I am also a lifelong Manchester United fan and have endured the great and, more recently, tougher times. I have been a teacher since 2005, across the county, working in Carlisle, Workington, and I enjoyed being head at St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School in Whitehaven.

Staff Governor

I have been teaching at our school since 2001 where I first worked for Trinity Junior School before we amalgamated. I live in Keswick and have two children, who both attended our school. I feel very proud to be part of St. Herbert’s and look forward to serving in my role as a staff governor.

LA Governor

I joined as a Local Authority appointed Governor in July 2022. I grew up in Keswick and am pleased to now be able to bring my skills and experience to support St Herbert's School in this role. I spent a number of years working in arts education, which involved co-ordinating arts projects in schools, hospitals and youth organisations. While living in London, I retrained as a Dietitian at King's College London and following my graduation, I returned to Keswick with my husband Markus and two children, who are now at Keswick School. Since returning to Keswick in 2018, I have worked as a Dietitian in the NHS with North Cumbria Integrated Care. My current role in the Public Health 5-19 service involves working to improve the health and wellbeing of school-aged children and their families across Cumbria.

Ex-Officio Foundation Governor (Keswick St John's) and Chair

I am an ex-officio Foundation Governor as the Vicar of Keswick St John’s. I started this role in May 2016. I have had extensive experience of being a Governor of primary and secondary, church and community schools and gained over twenty years in North Tyneside and Northumberland.

I am also an ex-officio Governor at Borrowdale CE Primary School and a Governor at Keswick School (and Director of Keswick School MAT). I have been in post since 2016, and I greatly value the opportunity to serve the community in which I live in this way of being a Governor of our primary school.

Ex-Officio Foundation Governor (Crosthwaite Church)

I am a Foundation Governor in my role as Vicar of Crosthwaite Church, currently serving as Chair of Governors and Link Governor for Literacy and PHSE. As Chair I attend both the Resources and Curriculum & Standards Committee meetings and visit the school regularly to lead Collective Worship and participate in various aspects of school life.

I have lived in Keswick since 2018, prior to this I was a Vicar in South Derbyshire and a Governor at the county's largest primary school, serving on a number of committees and supported the school through Ofsted inspections. I am married to Judith and have two sons, Joel and Josh. Originally from Burnley, in Lancashire, I love football and running!

It is great to see children fulfil their potential and being part of the St Herbert's school family is one of the things I enjoy most!

Co-opted Governor

I was appointed co-opted Governor in July 2023 having previously been a Parent Governor since 2019. I am the father of two daughters who attend the school and thrive on the great teaching, inclusive community, supportive staff and extra-curricular activities in which they participate.

I have been a teacher, working predominantly with secondary school children, in the UK and Africa. I have a range of qualifications all within the field of education. I have also worked in outdoor education and with forest schools. I hope that by being a Governor, my skills, experience and professional knowledge can be of some benefit to the Governing Body of the school, helping to improve outcomes for children.

Parent Governor

I am a Parent Governor, starting in July 2021. I have one daughter, Sophie, in KS1 and her younger brother, Joseph. My wife, Liz, is a local secondary Languages teacher. I moved to Keswick in 2004 and retired from teaching in 2019 having taught secondary Technology, ICT and Computing in 6 schools over 35 years, with over a dozen head teachers and have run my own ICT department. Some schools had challenging social situations and some were more academic.

Upon retirement, I felt that I wanted to continue to contribute to my local community, hence volunteering to be a governor. I strongly believe that education needs to be enjoyable for pupils to succeed and that we have a duty to develop the whole child, not just their academic prowess. To this end, I have organised events, residentials, National Schools Fell Racing Championships, junior running clubs and even the whole Year 7 Activity Week (at Cockermouth School).

I am a keen fell runner, mountain biker, cross-country skier and I have climbed in many parts of the world. I hold Mountain Leader, rock climbing and athletics coaching qualifications with the intention of expanding the experiences of young people so that they can fully appreciate the area we live in.

Foundation Governor

I became a Foundation Governor in 2020 representing Crosthwaite Church. I believe to be part of a community you have to be active within that community.

Born and brought up in the North East of England, I moved to Keswick in 1974 to be Head of Girls PE and also to teach Biology at, the then, Keswick Grammar School. I am married and my two children attended Braithwaite School and then Keswick School. I have also held teaching posts in Sunderland and Penrith.

I have been an active member of Crosthwaite Church for 40 years and a member of the PCC.  I have helped at, and latterly run, Crosthwaite Toddler Group where I enjoy meeting the mums, dads, grandparents as well as the babies and toddlers. I play badminton, enjoy walking and visiting my family and grandchildren. 

I am the PE representative for the Governing body and enjoy being involved in the various sporting activities and working alongside the PE lead at St Herbert's. 

Foundation Governor

I became a Foundation Governor in Summer 2024, representing St John’s Church. My husband and I have lived in Braithwaite since 2021. Before that I lived in Durham for over 15 years. I have been involved in Primary or Secondary education most of my life. I work as a Data Manager for a Secondary Academy in County Durham. I have previous experience of being a Governor: I was a Foundation Governor of my children’s Primary School in Oxfordshire. In my spare time I love to be outdoors. I enjoy fell running, road biking and when circumstances permit, ‘long hill days’ – the latter all the better for being unhurried. I have had the opportunity to spend extended times in China, Australia and India and have enjoyed getting to know different cultures and ways of life. Two of my three children live abroad. Between them, they are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic and Greek. I find even the basics of these languages very hard - but it brings home how difficult it can be to learn something we aren’t naturally good at! I am excited to be involved with St Herbert’s and look forward to serving as a Governor.

Foundation Governor

I became a Governor in November 2017. I’m married to Andrea and we have two children, Emily and Micah, who both attended St Herbert's and are now at Keswick School. We moved to Millfield Gardens in June 2004, having lived in and around the Keswick area before that. We love being a part of and involved in our local community.

I have worked as a youth and community worker and in outdoor education (mainly in the south-west of England and North Wales). I have also worked as a secondary school teacher teaching P.E. in a school in the centre of Nottingham. I currently lead King’s Church, which has its Sunday morning services in St Herbert’s.

In my spare time, I enjoy getting out and about with family and friends and having adventures - running, biking, climbing and hill walking are particular favourites.

I have the privilege of coming into school on a regular basis, mainly to lead assemblies and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to support and work alongside Michael, the other governors, staff and pupils at St Herbert’s. I’ve lots to learn, but I love to learn!

Foundation Governor

I have been a foundation governor since 2008 representing Crosthwaite Church where I also serve on the PCC and assist with the All Age worship services. Within St Herbert's, I am a member of the Resources Committee and Link Governor for Maths and MFL.

I live in the town and have 5 children all of whom attended St Herbert’s before moving on to Keswick School. In my spare time I enjoy baking, running and spending time with my family and Border collie, Snoop Dogg.

I enjoy being a member of the governing body and fully support the school who aim to nurture the whole child and strengthen the links within the community in which we all live.

Parent Governor

I joined the governing body in October, as a parent governor. My family and I moved to Cumbria from Leeds in February 2023 after previously spending 11 years living in Malawi where both my wife and I taught at an International Primary School, myself as the Principal and my wife as Head of Early Years. 

During my time in Malawi I was fortunate enough to have sat on the Governing Body for 10 years as an ex-officio member, and learned a lot about the importance of school governance and its interaction with the leadership of the school in general. As an educator I am a huge proponent of putting enjoyment and fun at the centre of learning, and am particularly pleased that my daughter is now at a school where this is so evidently the case.

As I take up the role of parent governor, I hope I can bring some of my experience and enthusiasm for outstanding education and governance, to the table to support the continued growth of St. Herbert's. 

Foundation Governor

I have known St Herbert’s School since moving to Keswick in 1995 – at that time it was St Kentigern’s and Trinity, which my three children attended.

Now they are grown with families of their own, and at this time I have 2 grandsons who attend school. I am a Foundation Governor, and a member of St John’s Church. A member of the PCC there, as well as a member of the Deanery and Diocesan Synods. I am a Reader Emeritus, so I am occasionally involved in leading services there and preaching. I have also helped with the children’s Messy Church. In the past, I have been on the Town Council and was privileged to hold the position of Mayor for a year.

At St Herbert’s I hope to be an active member of the Governing Body, and seek to promote the ethos of the school.