Meet the Governors

Mrs Joanne Feltham

Chair of Governors

Local Authority Governor

I am incredibly proud to serve as Chair of Governors at St Michael & All Angels and to play an active role in supporting the continued development and success of our wonderful school.

My connection with St Michael’s goes back many years and is very personal to me. All four of my children have attended the school, with one still part of the St Michael’s community today. Experiencing the school as both a parent and Chair of Governors has given me a valuable understanding of the importance of creating a school where children feel happy, safe, nurtured and inspired to achieve their very best.

Professionally, I am a class teacher, bringing first-hand experience and knowledge of education to my role as a governor. My understanding of teaching and learning, pedagogy, curriculum and the day-to-day realities of school life enables me to contribute an informed educational perspective to the governing body and to support and challenge school leaders effectively.

As Chair, I am passionate about ensuring that the governing body works collaboratively with school leaders, staff and our wider community, while always keeping our children and their education at the heart of every decision we make.

Outside of education, my favourite thing is simply spending time with my family and my dogs. Family is hugely important to me, and I feel very fortunate to be able to give something back to a school community that has played such an important part in my own family’s journey.

Key Skills I Bring to the Governing Body

🎓 Teaching & Learning – first-hand classroom experience and a strong understanding of effective teaching, learning and how children make progress.

📚 Curriculum & Pedagogy – professional knowledge of curriculum development, teaching approaches and the importance of providing a rich, ambitious and inclusive education for every child.

💛 SEND & Inclusion – a deep understanding of SEND and inclusive practice, with a strong commitment to ensuring that children with additional needs receive the right support and opportunities to thrive.

📈 School Improvement – a strong understanding of school improvement, strategic priorities and evaluating impact, helping the governing body to support and challenge school leaders while maintaining a clear focus on improving outcomes for pupils.

💷 Finance & Resources – a sound understanding of school finance, budgeting and effective use of resources, helping to ensure that funding decisions are carefully considered and support the school’s strategic priorities.

🏫 Understanding of School Life – an appreciation of the opportunities and challenges faced by schools, staff, pupils and families, informed by both professional and personal experience.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parent Perspective – many years of experience as a St Michael’s parent, providing a valuable understanding of the school from both a family and community perspective.

🤝 Leadership & Governance – working collaboratively with fellow governors and school leaders, providing effective support and constructive challenge while maintaining a strategic focus on the continued success of the school.

💬 Communication & Collaboration – valuing positive, open relationships between governors, school leaders, staff, parents and the wider community.

❤️ Commitment to Our Children – above all, a genuine passion for ensuring that every decision we make has the best interests of our children at its heart, supporting their education, wellbeing and future success.

Mrs Juliette Craven

Vice Chair of Governors

Co-opted Governor

My name is Juliette Craven and I am incredibly proud to serve as Vice Chair of Governors at St Michael’s, a school and community that I genuinely care about.

With over 18 years of experience in education, I bring a strong understanding of teaching, learning, school improvement and the opportunities and challenges that schools face. Throughout my career, I have been passionate about supporting schools to improve, working alongside pupils, staff and leaders to help create environments where children can thrive and staff feel supported to be the very best they can be.

This experience is invaluable in my role as a governor. It enables me to look at school improvement strategically, ask the right questions and provide both support and constructive challenge, while always keeping the needs and best interests of our children at the heart of decision-making.

Alongside my background in education, I run my own procurement business, working with a range of well-known companies across the UK. This has given me a different set of skills and experience spanning business leadership, financial awareness, strategic planning, resource management, communication and decision-making. I believe the combination of my education and business experience brings a valuable perspective to the Governing Body.

Away from work and governance, I am happily married and the very proud mum of Emilie and Oliver, with our family completed by our two gorgeous dogs. I love to travel, spend time with my family and friends and, most importantly, laugh!

I am incredibly passionate about my role as Vice Chair and feel privileged to help shape the future of St Michael’s, a school I truly love, ensuring it continues to be a place where our children are happy, feel valued and are given every opportunity to flourish.

Key Skills I Bring to the Governing Body

🎓 Education & School Improvement
Over 18 years’ experience as a senior leader in education, with a strong understanding of teaching, learning, curriculum and school improvement.

💡 Strategic Leadership
Experienced in looking at the bigger picture, identifying priorities and supporting long-term improvement and development.

📊 Business & Financial Awareness
Running my own business gives me valuable experience in financial decision-making, procurement, budgeting and achieving value for money.

❓ Support & Constructive Challenge
Confident in asking the right questions, evaluating information and providing appropriate challenge while maintaining a positive and supportive relationship with school leaders.

📈 Performance & Improvement
Experienced in using information and evidence to identify areas for development and support continuous improvement.

🤝 Communication & Collaboration
Strong communication skills with experience of working alongside a wide range of people, building relationships and bringing different perspectives together.

🎯 Decision-Making & Accountability
Comfortable making informed decisions, considering risks and priorities, and understanding the importance of accountability.

❤️ Passion for St Michael’s
Above all, I bring a genuine commitment to the school and a determination to help ensure that every child at St Michael’s has the opportunity to thrive, achieve and flourish.

Mrs Glenda Raistrick

Co-opted Governor

I volunteered to become a Co-opted Governor at St Michael’s because the school holds a very special place in my family’s heart. My youngest daughter and two of my grandchildren have been pupils here, and I truly believe that St Michael’s has played an important part in helping them grow and develop into the amazing people they are today.

Although my professional career was not in education, I retired in 2024 after more than 42 years in the workplace, including a number of leadership roles. During that time, I developed a wide range of skills and experience that I now bring to my role as a governor. I understand the importance of strong leadership, teamwork, accountability, asking the right questions and making well-informed decisions, all of which help me to both support and challenge the school as a member of the Governing Body.

For me, being a governor is an opportunity to give something back to a school that has given so much to my own family and to play a small part in ensuring that St Michael’s continues to be a place where every child is supported, encouraged and given the opportunity to flourish.

Although I’m retired, I’m not quite sure how I ever found the time to work! I’m certainly keeping busy and making the most of having a little more freedom, whether that’s enjoying holidays, spending time with my family or looking after my gorgeous grandchildren.

Key Skills I Bring to the Governing Body

👥 Leadership & Teamwork
Experience of working in leadership roles and bringing people together to achieve shared goals.

💬 Communication
Confident communicating, listening to different viewpoints and contributing constructively to discussions.

💡 Strategic Thinking
Able to look at the bigger picture, consider priorities and contribute to longer-term planning and decision-making.

❓ Support & Challenge
Willing to ask thoughtful questions, listen carefully and provide constructive challenge while remaining supportive of school leaders.

⚖️ Decision-Making & Accountability
Experience of considering information carefully, making balanced decisions and understanding the importance of accountability.

🤝 Commitment to the Community
A strong personal connection to St Michael’s and a genuine desire to give something back to a school that has played an important role in my family’s life.

Miss Sophie Lawless

Staff Governor

My name is Miss Lawless and I am proud to be the Deputy Headteacher, SENCO and Staff Governor at St Michael & All Angels. I joined the school as a newly qualified teacher and have now been part of the St Michael’s family for 10 years, giving me a strong understanding of our children, families, staff and wider school community.

Throughout my time at St Michael’s, I have developed extensive experience in teaching and learning, SEND and inclusion, curriculum development, safeguarding, pupil wellbeing and school leadership. As SENCO, I am particularly passionate about ensuring that every child feels supported, valued and included, and that all pupils are given the opportunities they need to thrive and achieve their potential.

Following my return from maternity leave, I am delighted to be resuming my role as Staff Governor. Through my leadership role, I work closely with staff, families and the wider school community, and I am able to bring this first-hand knowledge and educational experience to the governing body.

Key Skills I Bring to the Governing Body

🎓 Teaching & Learning – a strong understanding of effective classroom practice and how children learn and progress.

💛 SEND & Inclusion – extensive experience supporting children with additional needs and championing an inclusive approach where every child matters.

📚 Curriculum & Pedagogy – knowledge of curriculum development, assessment and effective teaching approaches.

🌱 Pupil Wellbeing – a commitment to ensuring children feel safe, happy, valued and ready to learn.

🏫 School Leadership – experience of whole-school development and an understanding of the opportunities and challenges schools face.

🤝 Working with Families & Staff – strong relationships with colleagues, parents and carers, helping to bring an important staff and school perspective to governance.

💬 Collaboration – working constructively with fellow governors and school leaders to support, challenge and help shape the future direction of our school.

Mrs Linzi Waggett

Parent Governor

My name is Linzi Waggett, and I am delighted and proud to have recently joined the Governing Body at St Michael’s as a Parent Governor. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to represent our parents and families and to invest my time, energy and enthusiasm in supporting the school’s vision, values and continued development.

My daughter started in Reception at St Michael’s in September, and from the very beginning, the care, support and understanding she has received have been wonderful. Seeing first-hand the nurturing environment the school creates for its children has strengthened my desire to become involved and to play an active part in helping St Michael’s continue to flourish.

Professionally, I am a Group Compliance Officer for a dental group and have worked within dentistry for almost 16 years. My role has given me valuable experience in compliance, policies and procedures, risk management, maintaining high standards, accountability and attention to detail. I believe these skills transfer extremely well into school governance, where asking thoughtful questions, considering evidence carefully and ensuring robust systems are in place are all important aspects of the role.

I am also passionate about oral health and wellbeing and hope that my professional knowledge can provide another valuable dimension to my involvement with the school, including opportunities to help children understand the importance of developing positive, healthy habits from an early age.

Outside of work, I am a very proud mum to Grace, Poppy, Iris and Finley, who certainly keep life busy and full of fun! I’m married to my wonderful husband, James, and together we love spending time as a family, enjoying adventures and making plenty of memories.

I am incredibly excited to be part of the St Michael’s community and look forward to supporting the school, its staff, children and families for many years to come.

Key Skills I Bring to the Governing Body

🛡️ Compliance & Risk Management
Professional experience of working within a highly regulated environment, with a strong understanding of compliance, risk and the importance of robust processes.

📋 Policies, Procedures & Standards
Experienced in working with policies and procedures and helping to ensure consistently high standards are maintained.

🔍 Attention to Detail
Confident in reviewing information carefully, identifying potential issues and asking thoughtful questions.

⚖️ Accountability & Governance
An understanding of the importance of accountability, responsibility and making considered, evidence-informed decisions.

💬 Communication & Collaboration
Experienced in working with different people and perspectives to achieve positive outcomes.

🦷 Health & Wellbeing
Almost 16 years of experience within dentistry, bringing additional knowledge and a passion for promoting positive oral health and wellbeing.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Parent & Community Perspective
As a current parent at St Michael’s, I bring an important family perspective and a genuine commitment to ensuring that the voices and needs of children and families remain at the heart of the school.

Mrs Foluso Enwerem

Foundation Governor

We are just awaiting some information and will update imminently.

Mrs Kate Lambert

Co-opted Governor

I joined the St Michael’s Governing Body when my son started in Reception, and I am delighted to be part of the school as a Co-opted Governor. As both a parent and an experienced education professional, I feel privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to a school community that is now such an important part of our family’s life.

I have over 20 years’ experience in education, working across Leeds, North Yorkshire and Calderdale, including 11 years as a primary headteacher. This has given me extensive experience of teaching and learning, curriculum development, school leadership, strategic improvement and supporting staff and pupils. It has also given me first-hand insight into both the opportunities and challenges schools face and the importance of strong, effective leadership in securing the very best outcomes for children.

I bring this experience to my role as a governor, using my knowledge of education to help support and constructively challenge school leaders, contribute to strategic discussions and ensure that decisions remain firmly focused on the needs of our children. I am passionate about creating schools where children not only achieve academically, but where they also feel happy, safe, included and excited to learn.

More recently, I have established my own tutoring business in Northowram, supporting children to develop their skills, grow in confidence and, most importantly, enjoy learning. I also have particular experience and recent training in SEND, sensory processing and trauma-informed approaches, which strengthens my commitment to ensuring that every child is understood, valued and given the support they need to flourish.

As both a parent and governor, I am committed to supporting the vision and values of St Michael’s and helping the school continue to develop while ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive and become the very best version of themselves.

Away from education and governance, I love spending time and having adventures with my family. I am also a keen reader and particularly enjoy helping my son, and other children, discover books and stories that capture their imaginations and help develop a genuine love of reading.

Key Skills I Bring to the Governing Body

🎓 Education & Pedagogy
Over 20 years’ experience in education, bringing a strong understanding of teaching, learning and how children learn and develop.

⭐ Primary School Leadership
Eleven years’ experience as a primary headteacher, providing first-hand understanding of school leadership and the responsibilities and challenges facing school leaders.

📈 Strategic School Improvement
Experienced in identifying priorities, planning for improvement and maintaining a clear focus on improving outcomes and experiences for children.

🧩 SEND & Inclusive Practice
Particular experience and recent training in SEND, sensory processing and trauma-informed approaches, supporting a strong commitment to inclusive education.

❓ Support & Constructive Challenge
Able to use professional knowledge and experience to ask thoughtful questions, consider evidence and provide appropriate support and challenge.

🤝 Leadership & Collaboration
Extensive experience of working with children, families, staff and educational professionals, with an understanding of the importance of positive relationships and working together.

📚 Curriculum, Teaching & Learning
A strong understanding of curriculum and classroom practice, alongside a genuine passion for developing children’s confidence, curiosity and love of learning.

❤️ Parent & Community Perspective
As a current parent at St Michael’s, I bring both a professional and personal perspective to governance, with a genuine commitment to helping every child feel valued, included and able to flourish.