ROSELANDS - Key Persons
Alisdair retired as a Hertfordshire primary school teacher in 2017. Born and brought up in the county he has worked in education for over 40 years, including 25 years as a Head teacher. During his service, he led two successful primary schools, was active in the Hertfordshire Primary Head's forum and in supporting school improvement across the county. He was involved in the establishment of Herts for Learning and in representing Hertfordshire Schools on the statutory funding body, Schools forum. He continued with some part-time work as a consultant and is interested in how Academy structures will enable and support effective primary education.
Alisdair lives locally, is married with two step-daughters, one of whom is a former Roselands teacher. He is enjoying watching his eight grandchildren develop. He is a long serving committee member and current president of The Hertfordshire Schools' Sailing and Canoeing Association. He enjoys singing with Welwyn Garden City Male Voice Choir.
Darren has lived in Hoddesdon for much of his life, attending Broxbourne School and continuing his education by studying for a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Loughborough University. He spent several years working as a professional engineer, but always wanted to fly since he was young. He worked for 13 years at Aer Lingus in Dublin, starting off as a First Officer through to being a Training Captain, teaching new recruits on the Airbus A320. He is now a Captain with EasyJet based at Luton airport, flying passengers all over Europe.
He became interested in serving on the governing body as he has always shown an interest in the success of the school and has two sons at various stages of their education at Roselands. He brings valuable leadership and team working skills to the governing body. He enjoys spending time with his two sons, walking, cycling and photography.
Hannah has been a teacher for over ten years, teaching at two independent schools previous to joining the team at Roselands Primary School. She has been Head of Literacy in both independent schools, teaching in Early Years, Key Stage One and Lower Key Stage Two.
Hannah is married with two young children and has recently studied for a Masters in Primary Education at the Institute of Education at University of College London. She feels strongly about children's mental wellbeing and building children's self-belief to achieve. Hannah joined the staff governors of Roselands as she would like to be apart of helping the school to reach its full potential with the pupils at the heart of everything they do.
In her spare time, Hannah enjoys singing, theatre and running around after her two little ones
Jane joined Roselands as a teacher when the school was very new and had just two classes and a total of 44 children. Previously she had worked in solicitors' accounting, but was determined to re-train and follow her interest in education. Jane taught all subjects across the whole primary age range and is fully committed to providing the richest learning experiences for children. She believes in preserving traditions and yet being open to innovation and change. She aims to provide a stable, secure and exciting environment for children to maximise their potential and ensures all staff are valued within the team.
(See above photograph of Primary Head of the Year Awards - Norwich) She feels privileged to have been part of the growth and development of Roselands, having learned many new skills herself as the need arose and her role changed from teacher to deputy head and then headteacher. She was fortunate to have been at the forefront of the development of computers in education as Roselands was one of the first four schools in the county to be connected to the internet and many projects followed. Jane trained as a cycling instructor and a swimming coach, teaching regularly in the school's then new pool. She became a netball and rounders umpire, whilst organising sports, and is still secretary to the local schools sports group. Training to teach music and learn piano she resumed her own playing of cello and now belongs to a local orchestra, string group and quartet. She represents the primary heads on the Hertfordshire Music Service Hub.
Jane chaired the local consortium of Headteachers for many years, where the 19 settings span the pre-school, primary and secondary and special school range. She represents the area on the County Primary Heads Forum and sits on the executive. She received a distinction in the Primary Head of the Year awards in 2008, representing Hertfordshire in the East of England finals.
Jane enjoys family time with her two daughters, who were both pupils at Roselands. Spending time with her grandchildren, she also likes to sail, cycle, garden and sew or knit during the holidays.
Jane works for three days each week, sharing the headship of Roselands with Sara Hill for the other two days.
Job Titles:
- Office Staff Member
- Secretary
Job Titles:
- Administrator
- Office Staff Member
Rob retired in 2017 after nearly 40 years of service with the UK Government's Environment Agency as a civil engineering major projects programme manager. Projects included Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, Crossrail, 2012 Olympics, Thames Tideway Tunnel, along with many flood risk projects in Herts, Essex and North London, advising nationally on the management of major infrastructure projects (HS2, Nuclear Power, Northern Powerhouse). He was Area Duty Manager responsible for incident management in the region, dealing with flooding, waste fires, and radioactive incidents.
Rob was the London Regional lead for diversity and inclusion, formulating the strategy and policies, now implemented nationally. A qualified health and safety auditor, incident investigator, and investigating officer relating to disciplinary matters. A member of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management and the Chartered Management Institute.
Job Titles:
- Headteacher / Deputy Head
Having successfully completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship Sara has extended her three days as deputy head, becoming Co-headteacher for two days per week.
Sara has been a staff governor of Roselands School for seven years. She has served on the Curriculum Committee.
Sara has been a teacher for over twenty years and taught at a local primary school before coming to Roselands originally as an Assistant Head Teacher.
Sara is married with two children. One is in his first year at university and the other is following in her footsteps and is studying Primary Education.
She has a love for learning and believes that the journey of learning never ends. She recognises that all children have the right to feel safe and learn within school and works tirelessly alongside the teachers and teaching assistants to ensure that the children have great learning opportunities.
She is very proud of Roselands and the journey the school is on and appreciates the hard work that the children and staff continue to demonstrate and the position that the school has in the local community.