Governor Profiles

I am the Artistic Director and Co-founder of Next Generation Youth Theatre CIC (NGYT) in Luton, a dance and theatre company that has been running for 10 years. I have three children attending Dunstable Icknield Lower School, one in EYFS, one in KS1 and another in KS2.

I was excited to be elected as parent governor in July 2021 as I really believe in supporting my community; I feel the role of governor will allow me to do this in a forward focused and aspirational way that supports the school and the young people within it.

Through my work as a dance/drama specialist I have had the privilege to work with the young people at DILS which has given me a real insight into school life as well as the opportunity to meet lots of the amazing children and staff at the school.

Throughout my career (spanning nearly 20 years) I have worked in numerous educational settings, with children as young as 6 months up to young adults starting out on their careers in the arts, university or moving into the world of work. Furthermore, I work closely alongside my husband who is Head of Arts in a local SEN school; This also enables me to reflect and consider the needs of all learners and the many ways learning can and should be differentiated in order to facilitate a fully inclusive learning environment.

I am committed to enriching the lives of young people through all areas of my life and believe in creating safe spaces for young people to be themselves, be heard and valued.

The wellbeing and mental health of young people is hugely important to me and I have recently become a qualified yoga and mindfulness teacher for children.I am a champion of the Black Lives Matter movement and an advocate for creating equity to ensure ALL children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

I joined the Board of Governors in January 2019 as a co-opted governor, and am currently Vice Chair and Link Governor for Pupil premium and PE/Outdoor Learning and Resources. 

After graduating in Economics, I worked for thirty-four years in financial services, carrying out a range of roles in bond trading, and risk and valuation control. Through my company's Corporate Social Responsibility programme I supported the work of two charities in the education sector, providing mentoring to members of the management team of three London state secondary schools and mentoring for IntoUniversity, which aims to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration.

After retiring in 2016, I was a co-opted governor at the Stockwood Park academy for three and a half years, holding various positions including pupil premium governor, safeguarding governor and latterly Chair.

I see the governor role as an ideal opportunity to apply my skills and experience to the benefit of the school and the community it serves. 

Bio to follow

I spent 22 years of my working career running Data Centres teams across Europe for an American outsourcing company and then after completing my Management Diploma at the University of INSEAD in Paris, I decided it was a time for a change and then spent the next 9 years working in London, running the Data Centres for Transport for London.

In 2018 I took voluntary redundancy and early retirement and spent the next 18 months helping look after my grandchildren.

Previously I was a Governor at my daughter’s special needs school called the Collett, which is based in Hemel Hempstead and then became Deputy Chair of Governors and then took on the role of Chair. I continued to undertake this role for the next four years and then stepped down due to work commitments. During my time as Chair, we managed to obtain the funding and engaged a third-party company to instal and support a new IT environment.

In my sparetime I am a member of two green bowls clubs which allows me to play throughout the year.

I found being a school Governor very rewarding, especially seeing the children develop over the years and knowing that you made a difference. As I now have time on my side, I would love the chance to assist as a Governor. Dunstable Icknield Lower School would be the ideal school as I have two granddaughters who attend.

I began teaching in 2014 and since then I have held a number of positions within Primary Schools including Head of Maths and Assistant Headteacher in charge of Teaching and Learning. Most recently I work at the feeder school for Dunstable Icknield Lower School, Priory Academy where I am responsible for Key Stage 2. I am passionate about ensuring that young children’s education is of the highest quality and ensures their wellbeing is at the forefront of everything they do in Primary School.

Governors are in a unique position to be able to help schools with this.  I am excited to use my experience as a teacher and Assistant Headteacher to make a positive contribution to the Dunstable Icknield Lower School community as a Governor.  

Miss Scotchford