Governance

Johanne is an experienced communications and marketing professional of over 15 years, working predominantly within housing and regeneration industry, across both the public and private sector.

With a degree in Public Relations with Law, Johanne has overseen communications on some of the Midlands' largest housing and regeneration projects when working for the government's Homes England agency, and prior to that led the communications and engagement team for the government's New Deal for Communities programme in North East Coventry, where she also set up the regions first communications social enterprise.

Now with strategic land developer Urban&Civic, Joh leads the engagement of local business partners and communities in the development of Rugby's urban extension Houlton, as well as overseeing the communications, communities and partnerships function across several of the business's portfolio of largescale sites.

Johanne is also a Director on the Houlton Multi Academy Trust, which runs the new St Gabriel's Academy in Rugby.

Liz retired from teaching in August 2021 having worked at Ashlawn School (formerly Dunsmore Boys’ School) for forty two years. During her time at Ashlawn, Liz held various positions as Teacher of Mathematics, Head of Year, Assistant Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher. Liz is our Designated Partner for Safeguarding.

Having been a member of senior leadership teams for over thirty years, Liz has had responsibility for many areas in school. These include Safeguarding, Behaviour and Attendance, Pupil Premium, Admissions and Appeals, Examinations, and Parental Consultation. Liz also has experience of coaching other Senior Leaders, Pastoral Staff and Heads of Department as well as Newly Qualified Teachers.

Liz is passionate in her belief that all pupils should achieve success and is keen to continue to be involved in the educational future of young people. Having lived and worked in the area since 1979, Liz has extensive local knowledge. She is very involved in local netball being the co-founder of the Rugby Area Netball Association in 1983 and is still participating as an umpire and President of the Association and also with the Rugby Junior netball section. Liz enjoys spending time with family and friends, walking, watching Rugby, reading and solving Sudoku problems.

Michael is an experienced school leader and educational professional. He is a graduate of Expressive Arts and English from the University of Stirling and trained in Acting (Musical Theatre) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. When his career turned towards teaching it began at the prestigious all-through Jordanhill School in Glasgow. He has worked in a variety of high-performing urban and rural contexts, including a life-changing opportunity to work with children in Somerset West and its neighbouring township schools with the Imibala Trust near Cape Town, South Africa. To this day, he credits this humbling experience with being transformational and informing his educational philosophy of ‘equality of opportunity for all’: ‘Education was an emancipation for me; teachers unlocked possibilities and a future I never knew was possible, nor that I deserved. This underpins my aspirations for every child who joins our family at Houlton’.

Michael also spent some years at the Local Authority as a School Improvement Consultant, at QCA as a Senior National Curriculum Adviser and as a Senior Qualification Development Researcher for the UK Department for Education. An authoritative voice in arts education, he is a founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. Additionally, he has held a variety of voluntary positions of responsibility as Chair of Community and Arts organisations.

Michael is a strong advocate for the promotion of diversity in education and global citizenship; he has taken groups of students all over the world as part of their co-curricular education, including visits to the Great Wall of China, language immersion visits to Paris and French châteaux and cultural trips to a number of global destinations.

More recently, Michael has been supporting schools in a variety of challenging circumstances and has delivered the NPQSL qualification to aspiring educational leaders. His current focus is on the launch and development of the Transforming Lives Educational Trust’s brand new flagship academy – Houlton School.

Sue was a Primary teacher for 20 years teaching across Key Stage 1 and 2. The latter part of her professional career was as an Associate Tutor, Teaching Fellow and Senior Teaching Fellow at WIE/CPE University of Warwick. She has extensive experience of Initial Teacher Education, including undergraduate, Teach First, School Direct and PGCE Core programmes.

Sue has detailed knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the current primary and early years teaching and learning landscape, including current research in teaching and learning and the Ofsted framework.

In addition to her professional role, Sue has been Chair of Board of Trustees of charity based in Rugby for the last two years, following five years participation in governance of the charity via the Board.

Sue is the Safeguarding Trustee and link Trustee for Houlton School's Local Governing Board.

Lisa is a teacher of Mathematics. Although she retired from full-time teaching in August 2022 she found it hard to leave the classroom behind and now teaches 'A' level part-time at two local schools in Coventry. She previously taught in Rugby at a local secondary school before moving to an independent school in Coventry where she worked for 15 years. She has held roles as Second in Mathematics, Head of Year for Key Stage 4 and Assistant Headteacher. In these roles she line managed departments, tracked pupil progress and monitored pupil behaviour. She was also an Assistant Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Lisa is very much looking forward to being a part of the Houlton family as we move into Key Stage 4 and 5 and is keen to use her experience and energy to support our growth and development.

Lisa has three children, two of whom are also mathematics teachers. She is also a lifelong West Ham fan!

Dr Lewis Gooch is a project manager within the pharmaceutical industry and holds a PhD in Chemistry. Dr Gooch is a first-generation student with a passion for science and social mobility looking to support the next generation of scientists and leaders. Dr Gooch is from Rugby and attended a secondary school within the TLET family himself and is happy to now be supporting the governance of Houlton School.

Dr Gooch has a wealth of experience in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, having worked as a synthetic chemist for a childhood cancer research charity, a development consultant for the personal hygiene industry, and a project manager for various drug discovery and development projects. Dr Gooch has worked on several clinical trials within oncology, Alzheimer’s and supported clinical trial efforts towards COVID-19. He has also published some of this work in peer-reviewed journals and presented this work at international conferences. 

Dr Gooch is proud to be a part of the school community and he is committed to supporting and developing the school’s vision and values. He believes that education is the key to unlocking the potential of every child, and he hopes to contribute to the school’s excellence and innovation.  

Tricia has enjoyed a career in blue chip and private business, leading change and aspiring for continuous improvement; she has a passion for coaching team culture, creating strategies for facilitating success.

More recently, Tricia has brought her transferable skills to the education sector.  Previously Tricia worked in the independent education sector, helping schools provide exemplary customer service in their admissions processes. Currently Tricia works as part of a world class status multi academy trust providing pivotal guidance and support to facilitate streamlining processes within a school office function. 

As part of her passion for continuous improvement, Tricia is undertaking her School Business Professional Qualification.

Tricia enjoys being an active part of her community; she has previously served as secretary for Friends of Bilton Grange and is currently a founding member of Friends of Houlton School.

Within the role of Parent Governor, Tricia aspires to support Houlton with becoming a successful, leading school within Rugby.

Jo is a staff governor.

Jo studied at the University of East Anglia during which gained valuable work experience abroad. Subsequently, she went on to work in a variety of sectors, including retail and accountancy before she found her real passion within education.

Having worked in a specialist educational setting for nine years prior to Houlton, she is highly experienced having supported pupils with various challenges. She has personal experience with complex needs and a sound understanding of the barriers to learning this presents. She brings with her a proven track record of positive outcomes with students who have struggled to integrate into an educational setting.

Jo is passionate about inclusivity and overcoming perceived barriers to learning and supporting pupils in a pastoral, holistic approach. She is a great believer that by modelling positive behaviours, leading by example and once trust and a positive relationship is built pupils are then able to believe in themselves and build on their confidence emotionally and academically.

She is extremely happy to be joining the Houlton family and looks forward to having a positive, successful impact on pupils' experience in education.