Our Governors

 Our Governors
at St. John’s Junior School

Gillian Dyche

I am currently Co-Chair of the Governing Body at St John’s Junior School in Bebington. My two children attended this school and are now both in secondary education. I joined the Governing body as a parent governor in 2016 and when my term of office ended became a Foundation Governor. I held the post of Vice Chair before becoming Co Chair.

I currently work in the Faculty of Business and Law at Liverpool John Moores University as a Senior Admissions Officer. I have worked in Higher Education since 1994 and have experience of a range of areas – careers guidance, project management, student recruitment and marketing and have also worked pastorally supporting students. I have experience of working with a range of stakeholders including employers, consultants, other Higher Education Institutions, schools, parents and young people.

I am interested in management and leadership and have just achieved a distinction in an MBA.

Originally from Northern Ireland, I attended University in Liverpool and then moved to the Bebington area in 2001. As well as being Co-Chair, I am also the Safeguarding governor and am committed to working in partnership with the Senior Leadership team to do the best we can for our children. I am married to Chris and have two children, Niamh and Conor and outside of work and governors, I enjoy spending quality time with my family.

Claire Stewart

My name is Claire Stewart, and I am a parent governor at St John’s.  Both my son and daughter attend the Juniors and Infants school and having attended St John’s myself many years ago, I feel like the school really is part of our family! I have worked as a teacher and subject leader at a high school in Chester for 16 years. This has given me a thorough understanding of education, the role of the governing body and most importantly, in developing enthusiastic young learners. I believe that the opinions and experiences of parents are essential in securing the highest quality of education for our children

Father Bernard

Fr Bernard was born in Bromborough and went to Christ the King Primary School. He was ordained as a priest at Christ the King Church 30 years ago and then served in two parishes in Wirral before serving elsewhere in the Diocese for 20 years. He took over the two parishes of St John’s, New Ferry and St Anne’s, Rock Ferry and is happy to be associated with our school. Fr Bernard can be contacted on either 645 3996 or 645 3114

Tony Rutherford

I am a member of the Governing Body and Co-Chair of Governors, was previously Chair of the Assets & Resource Committee and have been a Parent / Foundation Governor at the school since 2015. I currently work in Unilever as an IT Programme Manager and have been for the last 10 years. Prior to that, I worked for 23 years in the financial services industry in a variety of roles mainly providing Analytics & Reporting Solutions. I have lots of experience in strategy development, change management, project management, budgeting, managing teams, goal setting, managing performance, coaching and leading a number of large projects. My role often involves managing and delivering through third parties and vendors, extensive stakeholder management, ensuring robust governance practices and making efficient use of committees and steering groups to ensure consensus and effective decision making. I have significant experience in KPI setting, data analysis, interpretation and helping to determine metrics and targets that ensure measurement of the things that matter but also encourage the correct behaviours. I have lived in Bebington for 40 years, a former pupil of the school and I am married with a son, Dylan, who also attended the school. I help coach a local football team, Young Lions Youth and am a season ticket holder at Everton FC.

Lisa Iranzo

I have been a foundation governor at St John’s since 2017 and I feel I have a very special connection to the school as both my daughters attended and thoroughly enjoyed their time here. I have been a secondary school teacher for twenty years, teaching Spanish, French and Psychology. I am currently the Subject Leader for Psychology at my present school and I am involved in improving teaching and learning across the school. I have extensive experience in coaching and mentoring teachers and trainee teachers. I have lived in Port Sunlight for the last twelve years and in my free time I enjoy going on family walks with our border collie. My daughters are keen horse riders so much of our free time is spent at the stables. As my husband is Spanish we also enjoy spending holidays with the family in Spain.

Tony Evans

I spent my whole working life in primary education, including ten years as a headteacher inKnowsley. I have taught in several Wirral schools and enjoyed an amazing nine years as StJohn’s “Man Friday”, mainly teaching Year 5. I still involve myself actively in school life on a voluntary basis, assisting weekly in St Joseph’s Primary in Birkenhead and helping with St. John’s school trips, walks to church and transport to matches for football teams. Away from school, I am heavily involved in life at St Michael’s Church, Woodchurch as a reader, member of the Parish Liturgy Team, midweek altar server, collection counter/banker and steward. I am also President of our small but busy SVP Conference. I enjoy gardening, travel and most sports. I play crown green bowls and am a fanatical supporter of Tranmere Rovers, having had a season ticket for almost fifty years and also follow them to many away matches.

Karolina Taylor

I am proud and honoured to have recently been elected as a Parent Governor (November 2021) and look forward to working with the other Governors to ensure the children receive the best education possible during their time at St John's Juniors. I have a daughter who attends the school and a son at St John's Infants, so am passionate about ensuring the school upholds its core values. Having worked in sales for a number of years, I am well equipped to meet and exceed targets and KPIs, and I hope my methodical approach will benefit my role.

In my spare time, I volunteer for Shout, a free to use text service for people who need support in times of crisis. I also enjoy learning foreign languages, visiting National Trust Properties, supporting Everton and attending trance music events.

Mike Daly

I am a member of the Board of Governors and have been a Governor for five years. I am a retired Senior Civil Servant who spent a great deal of my working life involved in managing large teams in identifying, designing, delivering, and evaluating learning and development needs and solutions for managers and organisational leaders. My specialisms are Managing and Developing Staff; Delivering against Key Performance Indicators; Coaching and Mediation; Recruitment; Investigation of Complaints. I have been retired for nine years and currently work as a support worker in an environment that supports and develops individuals to greater independence. I have lived in Rock Ferry for thirty-plus years. I am married and have three grown up children who all attended this school. I am a Deacon attached to St John the Evangelist church in New Ferry and have served there for the past ten years, where I have worked to develop a team of altar-servers and also supported young people in their preparation for Confirmation. I like the theatre, especially musicals, and old films, especially John Wayne or old Westerns. I love to read and have stores of books, mainly Science Fantasy and Supernatural.

Danielle Chalmers

I have had the delight of teaching at St. Johns Catholic Junior School for over 9 years. I am passionate about providing our children with the best possible education in order for each individual to reach their full potential. Inspiring life-long learners is fundamental to my philosophy for education. I am new to the role of Staff Governor but relish this new opportunity to work alongside staff, families, parish and our community to ensure our pupils receive an enriching and inspiring curriculum.