Meet the Local Governors

Jeremy Bearne served for 34 years in the Royal Navy after which he spent 9 years as the Offshore Director for the Marine Society & Sea Cadets.  He has been involved with the Ten Tors Challenge for two decades as a volunteer and is a member of the management team. Jeremy joined the governing body of Mount Street in March 2018 and is the Chair of Governors as well as the lead for safeguarding matters.

Leila Gocher

I am a Teaching  Assistant and have been for over 20 years. As well as teaching phonics, I currently work in year 3 at Mount  Street. 

I am a very proud mum to three boys; I feel this has helped me build a great rapport with the children I work with. 

I have a Btec national diploma in early years and recently completed  a foundation degree which I undertook to fulfil  my passion to teach. I have had the privilege to work across all age groups, also working lunch times and running breakfast and holiday clubs. I currently coach the school football teams along with Morgan Friend and JMillie Hughes and oversee the organisation of lunchtime rotas and activities.

                                             Currently I am the SEND Champion Governor.

Lisa-Marie  Shillingford

I was elected to join the schools Governing board in 2022 and l am currently the governor responsible for the Early Years provision in the school. As someone with an interest in supporting children’s development and wellbeing and with my experience of working in Early Years I feel I bring relevant knowledge and experience to this position.

I want to work with school staff, families, other governing board members and the wider school community to support Mount Street as a successful and caring school.

Zara Merrifield

I have been a primary school teacher for 20 years.  I used to live in East London but moved to Plymouth about 15 years ago.  Whilst teaching I used to be the lead for English as an additional language, so I feel I have some great experience to draw upon as a co-opted governor.  I have also had a lot of experience of working with parents to support them and their child/children when I ran my own tutoring business for a few years.

I currently work for Speech and Language UK, delivering training to support children with their understanding, listening, and speech.  I hope I can support Mount street Primary and the local community.

In school I volunteer, listening to readers in Key Stage 2 and am Maths Champion for the Local Board.

Pippa Clement-Stallard

I have been a teacher for 18 years across many schools in Plymouth and I have worked in a few of the LAT schools. I have been at Mount Street for 3 years, currently working in Year 5.  I run a Gardening Club for Year 4 – 6 (alongside Mrs Pooley) to allow children to experience growing their own foods whilst promoting positive mental well-being.

I have been involved in education for over 30 years, from working as a volunteer in a Special Needs School to a teaching assistant prior to training as a teacher.

Currently, I am Pupil Premium Champion Governor.