I am Mark Rhodes and I have been a governor at Ashfield for the past 12 years.  I have also been vice-chair of the governing body for the last 5 years and now I am chair of governors.  My original involvement was motivated by the desire to help and support the school where 3 of my children all started their learning journey and give something back, they have all since moved on to secondary school.  

I have worked for a major high street bank for 30 years, carrying out a number of roles, but currently an IT based one.  Being a governor gives me an opportunity to use my work experiences hopefully to the benefit of Ashfield, delivering the best possible outcomes for all our pupils.   

My name is Linda Morison. I have lived in the Wharfe Valley for over twenty years with my husband and two sons. I have had the privilege of working at Ashfield Primary for 17 years and I have been a governor for 15 of these years. During my time at our school, I have gained a vast knowledge and experience of our children and school community. My roles have included; art and design and technology leader, leading literacy teacher for Education Leeds, class teacher in Early Years, Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2. I currently teach in Year 2. I love spending time outdoors and consider myself very lucky to be able to work in a school with such an amazing outdoor space.

I am Tom Campbell, my daughter attends Ashfield and my son is at nursery. I haved worked at the University of Leeds since 2010. A core focus of my teaching and research is on disability. In my current role as director of student education I am responsible for leading the educational strategy for one of the university’s schools. My family and I moved to Otley in 2021 and have enjoyed the friendly people, fresh air and open fields. As elected parent governor, I want to support Ashfield to continue to be the nurturing environment for all of its pupils.

I am Sandra Perring. In July 2018 I finally retired from a career that I have so many wonderful memories of. I started my career as a Nursery Nurse in Cambridgeshire and it was during this time that I realised that teaching was my passion and career path. After teaching in a community school in Cambridgeshire for 11 years I moved to Leeds and secured a teaching post at Ashfield. I spent 31 fulfilling happy years at Ashfield and during this time was offered many opportunities in my professional development. I was a school based teacher training mentor for Leeds University for 4 years. This was The Article Teaching Scheme where graduates could experience 2 year school based training with pay. Following this I served on Leeds Metropolitan teacher training committee. At Ashfield I was primarily the SENDCO and Early Years Unit Manager. However, during my time I also took on the role of Designated Child Protection key worker, teacher governor and staff member of the F.O.A. Some people may remember the Under Fives Group in Otley which I developed and chaired for several years.

I am married and have two sons who both started their learning journey at Ashfield. Whilst I have enjoyed teaching in a range of age groups, my particular passion is Early Years and Special Educational Needs. I will use the experience and knowledge I have gained as a parent and educational professional to support the school in continuing to make the greatest impact on every child in their care. Now in my retirement, I can offer commitment, support, time and enthusiasm to my new role as governor in the school and community I know so well. 

I am a governor because I believe in education, and I care about the lives and futures of children. I was already involved in the life of the school, having two children at Ashfield, as well as being involved with school assemblies. I want to be able to give back to a school that has done so much, and is still doing so much, for my children. I believe I am a useful voice, having experience leading an organisation, as well as possibly a different perspective as a leader in the faith community. I believe that a community is at its strongest when there are strong links and connections between different groups within it. I am already seeking to foster those links in other areas of life. As well as bringing skills from my professional life, I am always looking to learn new skills which, I am sure, would help me in other areas of life.

I am a proud (adopted!) Yorkshire woman – having moved up here for University. I’m now married to a local man, so I know we’ll never leave! 
We’re a busy household, so I really feel how pressured life as a parent can be. My husband Tom and I are both doctors – we work in Bradford at the moment. We came to Otley 8 years ago and absolutely fell in love with it. We go to the parish church and really love the community here. Since coming to Otley we’ve had our two little girls – Phoebe who’s in Year 2 and Connie who is 23 months old.
We moved Phoebe to Ashfield after visiting and seeing what a welcoming place it is, and how each child is valued as an individual.  As a parent I’m really keen to see that the needs of the child, within the context of the family and wider community, are always a school’s first consideration.

I'm a dad of two boys at Ashfield, George in Y6 and Ralph in Y3. You will no doubt have seen me dropping off and picking up many times, or attending school events. My wife and I have always been very happy with Ashfield school, not only for the education and experience they provide for their pupils, but also in how well they listen and respond to the needs of the children and families who attend. Having engaged parent governors is an important part of keeping this link active. I'm glad to be a governor to help keep up the process that we've benefitted from over the years. I've got an interest in education and have an appreciation of some of the important issues for schools. I trained and worked as a science teacher at a local secondary school and now I help teach children as a private tutor. I try to be an advocate for the views and needs of Ashfield families.

I have lived in Otley for 5 years coming from Barnoldswick originally. I have two young girls at the school (Rosie and Eliza).

I have 15 years’ experience in Local Government in various Town Planning roles working to create and maintain sustainable places to live and work, whilst actively engaging with members of the public and elected officials on community led plans. I have developed good communications skills which enable me to achieve positive outcomes.

I am passionate about improving the environment for children to learn, grow and prosper. I hope to use my experience to support Ashfield Primary School such as: encouraging sustainable development, maintaining and improving school environment for healthy and safer wellbeing; travel plans getting to and from school; development plans; general governance, procedural and parent concerns.

I want to be a Governor so I can give back to the educational system which has served me so well. I want to support he school and community in any way that I can through my diligence and enthusiasm for people and place.  

Outside of work, I am a keen DIY’er, I love travelling, camping, painting and sport!

I live in Otley with my husband and two sons, Arthur who is 6 and currently in Willow Class, and Wilf who is 2. I have worked for the NHS since 2008, and I’m currently working as the Programme Manager for Maternity and Children and Young People for Health Education England. My role is not clinical or frontline, but I am really passionate about the health and wellbeing of our children, and the role that school plays in supporting and nurturing this. Despite starting in the strangest of times, Arthur loves everything about school. Watching him thrive over the past few months, has made me really want to have more of an involvement in school and help to make sure that all children get as much out of their time at Ashfield as possible; feeling healthy, happy, confident and empowered as they move on to the next phase of their lives.

 I joined Ashfield in January 2006 as Assistant Headteacher and I have been Headteacher here since April 2015.  I have two grown up children.  One is an IT consultant and the other has followed in my footsteps to become a primary school teacher. 

 As head at Ashfield, I attend all governor meetings. I enjoy meeting with governors as they represent a good cross-section of our local community - I too am a resident of Otley. Working with governors helps us on the leadership team step back from day-to-day issues and allows us to look carefully at all our decisions. The most important part of working with governors is that, together, we continually look for ways of making things better for the children at Ashfield. I am passionate that our decisions should be centred around the well being and learning needs of our pupils.