Name

Position

Special Areas

Core Team for

A little bit about us...

Dr Rachael Sharpe

Co - Chair

Local Authority Governor

Educational Matters

EHT Performance Management

WPNS

KNS

Rachael is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Lincoln, working on teacher training and education programmes both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. In addition to her extensive experience on funded educational research projects at national and international level, Rachael is committed to developing quality education to ensure every child reaches their full potential.

Jason Leeks

Co - Chair

Co-opted

Finance and Strategy

Health and Safety

Premises

Reserve for WPNS, GNS and BNS

Jason brings over 30 years’ experience in leadership, strategy, and finance from his career with the Ministry of Defence. This helps support the schools with important responsibilities such as setting our shared vision, checking how well children are learning, making sure safeguarding and health and safety are strong and helping the nurseries stay financially secure for the future.

He is passionate about the role our maintained nursery schools play in their communities and is proud to help champion this important work.  He believes that when governors, staff and parents work together, we create the strongest foundation for our children’s wellbeing and success.

Julie Mellor

Vice Chair

Co-Opted

SEND

Pay Committee

Safer Recruitment

Training and Development

KNS

Julie Mellor is the Vice Chair of the LMNSF Board of Governors. She works for Lincolnshire County Council and has a strong passion for early years education and for supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

She firmly believes in the importance of early intervention and learning through play, ensuring that every child has the best possible start and the opportunity to reach their full potential. Julie considers it a privilege to support the federation’s nursery schools and to be part of such a dedicated team.

Laura Cook

Executive Headteacher

Ex-Officio

Laura Cook is the Executive Headteacher of the Lincolnshire Maintained Nursery School Federation and serves as a governor across the federation. She has over 24 years’ experience in education.

Laura is deeply committed to maintained nursery schools and to ensuring that every child, regardless of starting point, receives the highest quality early education. She has a strong focus on inclusion, early intervention and supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), particularly in the context of increasing complexity and need across early years provision.

As Executive Headteacher, Laura works closely with governors and senior leaders to provide strategic leadership, financial sustainability and educational excellence across the federation’s nursery schools. She is passionate about play-based learning, high-quality teaching and ensuring that children are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Laura Crawford

Staff Governor

Andrew Everard

Co-Opted

EHT Performance Management

Safer Recruitment

Health and Safety

BNS

Reserve for KNS

Andrew has long-term experience in management roles in local government and over 25 years' experience in school governance in primary, secondary and now nursery sectors.  He is a member of Lincolnshire Schools Forum. 

Andrew brings to this governing body knowledge and experience in matters of law, HR, finance, project management, audit and training. 

Andrew passionately supports the role education in all settings can make to life chances, aspiration and opportunity.  

Heather Vestbirk

Co-Opted

Pay Committee

Safeguarding

BNS

Reserve for KNS

Heather is a retired teacher with over 25 years’ experience in primary education, with a particular passion for Early Years and Science. She strongly believes that every child matters and that all children should be supported to reach their full potential.

As a governor, Heather is keen to use her knowledge and experience to support and champion nursery education. She is very proud to be part of a federation that places children at the heart of everything it does, promoting equality, an enriched and innovative curriculum, and positive outcomes for every child.

Cathy Latimer

Co-Opted

Health and Safety

Safeguarding

KNS

Reserve for WPNS, GNS and BNS

Cathy is a mum of three children, all of whom attended Kingsdown Nursery School. When her youngest child was nearing the end of her time at the nursery, she was invited to become a parent governor. After completing her term as a parent governor, she continued her involvement as a co-opted governor.

Over the years, she has undertaken a number of roles on the governing board, including SEN, safeguarding, health and safety, chair and vice-chair. She has felt very privileged to work alongside dedicated colleagues and to see first-hand the excellent work staff do with the children. Encouraging children to enjoy books, music and outdoor life is particularly important to her.

By training, she is a librarian and has worked in a range of roles, including in engineering libraries, business information and health information. She has also previously served as a governor at St Peter & St Paul Catholic Academy in Lincoln. Her hobbies include reading, gardening and singing.

Aaron Smith

Co-Opted

Cyber Security

WPNS

Aaron is an avionics instructor within the MOD, delivering practical and theoretical training. He has also had 2 children attend WPNS. Aaron is a parent governor. He has served a number of roles, including overseeing Governor training and development,  and being a member of Finance, Premise and Personnel commitee.

Jackie Ward

Co-Opted

Safeguarding

GNS

Jackie Ward is a governor for the Lincolnshire Maintained Nursery School Federation, with Gainsborough Nursery School as her core nursery. She feels privileged to support the federation and is looking forward to spending time in the nursery, learning more about the exciting experiences and opportunities offered to the children.

Jackie is a qualified teacher with 14 years’ experience teaching in nursery, reception and Year 1. She greatly enjoyed her teaching career, particularly building positive relationships with children and families, and has a strong passion for working in the Foundation Stage and supporting children as they grow and develop.

She has worked for Lincolnshire County Council since 2014, initially as an Early Years Consultant supporting settings with their practice, and later as the Early Years Locality Lead for children’s centres in East Lindsey, where she oversaw children’s centres and the activities within them. Jackie is now the Lead Advisor for Sector Support and Improvement within the Early Years and Childcare Support Team.

Outside of work, Jackie has a busy family life. She is a mum to four children and a proud grandma to a young granddaughter. She also has three cats and a dachshund called Bertie, who enjoys long walks and playtime.

Tracey Burnett

Co-Opted

Pay Committee

Health and Safety

GNS

Tracey Burnett is a mother of four grown-up sons and a grandmother to three granddaughters. She began her role as a governor at Gainsborough Nursery School over ten years ago while working as a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) with Lincolnshire Police. During this time, she supported the nursery through community visits, including engaging sessions using real police uniforms for dressing up.

After taking redundancy from the police service, Tracey continued her role as a governor and has been actively involved in the federation process to form LMNSF. She is passionate about supporting the high-quality education provided by staff to all pupils across the four nursery schools. Tracey is a member of the Pay Committee.

Vacancy

Co-Opted

Sophie Potter

Parent

GNS

Jess Melinn

Parent

WPNS