NORTHBOURNE PARK SCHOOL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Junior Subjects Head of History and Girls' Games )
Emily Hendy has been an NPS parent since 2008. She owns and runs a large-scale theatrical production company, working regularly with a dozen of the country's leading regional theatres. Emily is a linguist who read French literature at university and is passionate about NPS's free-range education.
Job Titles:
- Nursery Nurse / Teaching Assistant
Fiona has spent her career in Human Resources delivering solutions to achieve business objectives in organisational change, strategy, talent management and employee relations.
Whilst the majority of her working life has been within large global and medium sized scientific organisations she has more recently worked in the Higher Education sector for the University of Kent. Here a key focus was HR lead for the establishment of the new Kent and Medway Medical School.
Fiona has been affiliated with NPS for many years as a governor and parent, recognising how special and unique NPS is. Her son spent 10 very happy years at the School from nursery through to Year 8. Fiona feels privileged to support the School in its continuing development for current and future generations.
Fiona is a member of the Finance and General Purposes committee.
Jennifer works with universities and employers to ensure that current students have the skills they need to succeed in the workplace. She has a wide understanding of the education sector and is a current parent, both of her children having attended Northbourne Park.
Job Titles:
- Corporate Partnerships Manager for Porchlight
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Jo-Anne Skelton is Corporate Partnerships Manager for Porchlight, Kent's largest homelessness charity. Much of her career has been focussed on graduate and school leaver recruitment, advising organisations on their employer brand and recruitment strategies. Whilst studying for a Masters in Career Guidance, she became involved with various local community projects. This included launching the Canterbury Farmers Market in the Westgate Hall, volunteering with the Pilgrim's Hospices for a number of years, and becoming a member of the steering committee for Lemn Sissay's Christmas Dinner project. In 2019 she joined Porchlight, and now manages their property acquisition strategy and Property Fund.
Jo-Anne attended Betteshanger School in 1976 (before the merger with Tormore) and left NPS in 1980. She looks back at these formative years with huge fondness, and indeed the school holds such a special place in her heart that she got married in St. Mary's chapel in 2012. She lives near Sandwich with her husband, dog, and cat, plus a growing flock of rescue chickens. She dreams of having a herd of Alpacas. In the meantime, she sits on the Education Committee.
Job Titles:
- Headmaster
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John Townsend grew up in South London and was a day scholar at Dulwich College. He started working with children in the sixth form: a Brixton vicar organised a ‘holiday by days' for local children who would not otherwise get a holiday and he was a leader there for three years. As a student he was a Voluntary Probation Officer, working with young offenders, and member of staff at Forest School Camps. As a teacher, he played a major role in developing computing as a school subject and was elected a Fellow of the College of Preceptors (which became the College of Teachers then reformed into the College of Teaching) for this. He had a personal invitation from the government to be a member of the National Standing Conference on Gifted and Talented Education; he was nominated for this by the National Association for Gifted Children, where he was Chair of the Hertfordshire Branch. He has headed two schools: an 11-18 mixed comprehensive and a part-boarding special school for boys with emotional or behavioural difficulties.
Job Titles:
- Director of Marketing and Communications at Canterbury Christ Church University
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Marco Keir is Director of Marketing and Communications at Canterbury Christ Church University. After studying at the University of Bristol, he began working life at Robert Maxwell's new Cable Television network, then decided to pursue a career in advertising, spending ten years with Saatchi & Saatchi. In 2000, Marco was promoted to Board Director at the London agency and given responsibility for Procter and Gamble's Ariel advertising across Europe and the notorious Sunny Delight soft drink!
In 2004, he joined Canterbury City Council as Head of Communications; in 2008, he moved to Christ Church as Director of Marketing and Communications and a member of the University's Senior Management Team. An enthusiastic amateur runner - as his many mediocre 5k and 10k running times on Google attest - he is also a keen kayaker. If ever you visit Whitstable on a sunny weekend and look out to sea, you may catch sight of him in a bright yellow kayak.
Marco sits on the Finance & General Purposes Committee.
Job Titles:
- Occupational Therapist
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Marian Nairac is an Occupational Therapist. Currently working as the Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy in Children's Services for Kent Community Health Foundation Trust, Marian works in a team as an independent therapist assessing and diagnosing children with neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism and ADHD.
Marian has lived in East Kent since 1996, having moved from Nottingham. Born and bred in London, she attended the Purcell school of music before moving to Oxford to complete her training as an Occupational Therapist.
Marian has 3 children, all of whom attended NPS and then went on to the King's School Canterbury. She joined the NPS governors in 2017 as the Tormore Trust governor and has since taken on the role as governor for early years and pre-prep. Marian sits on the Education Committee.
Job Titles:
- Maintenance and Transport
Millie has a master's degree in clarinet performance from the Royal Academy of Music and has worked both as a professional musician and within school settings to identify potential scholars.
Millie is currently re-training to become an operatic soprano under the tutelage of Gary Coward.
Having trained in Paris and London, Millie is an advocate for the cross-cultural connection that music can deliver. Alongside a strong interest in the benefit of musical education in children of primary age and beyond, Millie is greatly looking forward to her role as Governor of Northbourne Park.
Millie was a pupil at Northbourne Park and has fond memories of her time here.
Job Titles:
- Headmaster
- Two Column Copy
Julian is an experienced entrepreneur and is the founder and CEO of Lavenham Solutions, a data-analytics company building an AI-powered application for decision-makers in the business and financial world. Previously, he was a Mentor at the London Business School's "Entrepreneurial Edge" programme and worked for many years in China as the co-founder of a retail chain with successful stores across Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou etc. Before that, Julian worked many years in Finance in the City of London, but also in Geneva and Paris. He holds an MSc in Finance from the London Business School.
Julian grew up in France and the UK, and was a pupil at Northbourne. He has fond memories of his time at Northbourne, which was transformational for him. As a Governor, Julian looks forward to contributing to the school's success and to bringing all of his knowledge and experience into that role.
Rebecca Cartwright is mother to three boys who are all at Northbourne Park. She is one half of a military family that has lived all over the world and as a result gathered extensive insight into many different educational settings. Professionally Rebecca works in advertising and has spent over 20 years in marketing within the civil service, charity and private sector. She is keen to bring her knowledge and experience from each of these sectors into her role as Governor.
Samantha has over 15 years' experience working in the international boarding and camp sectors. She is currently Head of Boarding and Wellbeing Coordinator at the John F. Kennedy International School in Switzerland and working towards her second master's degree. Samantha helped pioneer both the Northbourne Park International Language Centre and her own School Summer Camp Program. Samantha was a pupil at Northbourne Park and is proud to now return as Governor bringing all of her knowledge and experience to the role.
Stefa Buras-Rees is a nurse and nursing trainer. Born in Leicester, she moved to East Kent in 1983 to complete her nurse training. Since qualifying, she has worked predominantly for East Kent Hospitals and lived around Northbourne, so she knows the local area well. She has three children who have attended local primary and grammar schools.
Her nursing career has predominately been in Critical Care Nursing and for the last eleven years in Clinical Quality, Quality Improvement, and Patient Safety. She has project-managed a number of healthcare-related initiatives to successful implementation; one of her recent key roles was to develop and deliver a Masters level training programme to senior health care staff. For the last six years she has also been one of the Trust's Human Factors trainers.
Stefa has previously held the position of School Governor for a local primary school. Her interests include crafting, voluntary work, and travelling. She sits on the Education Committee.