Neil Pattison

Born and raised in Watford, where the North of England begins, I enjoyed a top-class education in Watford Grammar School for Boys. After a gap year with the international organisation Youth With a Mission based in the East Midlands, I completed a thick sandwich electronic engineering degree course specialising in telecommunications. Marriage to a Maidstone lass brought me to the County Town of Kent in 1991 from where I commuted to my new employment as a Signalling Systems Engineer in British Rail. Some years later I changed career leading me to a fulfilling mixture of youth work, secondary schools work, leadership training and community work.

Both of my parents are retired teachers, so I grew up in an educational environment. Watching our four grown-up children experience a variety of primary and secondary schools over a period of twenty years has fueled a passion in me to support Jubilee Primary School in becoming a centre of excellence for pupils, staff and family members.

I am thrilled to be a part of Jubilee Primary School and the huge benefit it brings to the local community. We truly want to ‘Equip students for Life’.

Marcel Jung

I am originally from South Africa, arrived in the UK with my wife, Carol at the end 1999 and settled in Maidstone during 2001. I am one of the founding members of the school and part of the steering team responsible for the finance section of the application to the Department for Education to open Jubilee Primary Free School. I have remained involved from pre-opening to date and I am part of the Finance & Audit Committee. I am principal director of IT & Accounting Solutions Limited which was established in 2004 as a small firm of IFA and AIA Certified Accountants and Business Consultants for small and medium-sized enterprises, charities and social enterprises offering management and financial accounting, payroll services, VAT services and Independent Examinations.  My specialism is in the Charity and Not-for-Profit sector which cover community, education, property, business incubators and charity centres.

Tony Faulkner

I practised as a Chartered Surveyor for nearly 50 years. For most of my surveying career I worked for a central London practice serving as an equity partner, chairman, and later as a consultant. I am a keen supporter of education, and worked with Liverpool, Salford and Southbank Universities – serving as an external examiner at the latter and facilitating “year out” placements for students.

I conducted research into “achieving excellence of quality in the construction professions” at Salford University during the 1990s. During that period, I worked with several organisations advising on their quality systems and auditing in-house and external suppliers’ performance.

In 1995 I established an Organisational Effectiveness Consultancy company in partnership with a colleague, working with private and public companies, academic institutions, central and local government organisations and charities.  I provided support and coaching to individuals and teams, whilst acting as executive chairman of the company which operated from offices in Birmingham and London.

I have lived in Maidstone, and been involved in church leadership, for over 50 years. I have a passion for people, believing that each one is unique; and I am committed to helping individuals understand their strengths, and how best to use them. As part of my leadership responsibilities, I currently line-manage the Children and Youth Champion in a large church and am part of a mentoring team working with young adults referred by a local secondary school

Kim Lee (Chair of Governors)

I have always wanted to be involved in my own children’s education and am passionate about the ethos and vision of this school.  I worked as a consultant for a Big 4 Accountancy firm before taking some time out to raise my three young children, all of whom are now part of the JPS community.  I joined the governing body in 2017 and more recently, in 2022, I was elected Chair. I now work as a finance & HR manager for a local business, as well as supporting other schools across the county as a school resource management adviser (SRMA). I believe all children should be afforded the opportunity to excel and am delighted to be part of a school community that strives to enable just that.

Bryan Fitzgerald

I retired from employment with Kent County Council in May 2018 where I was the Education Department’s Planning Manager in the Pupil Place Provision Team. I advised members and senior officers on school provision planning matters across Kent to suit forecast pupil demand, unpredictable population trends and government-imposed housing numbers as prescribed in each district’s Local Plan. Part of my role was to liaise with housebuilders to secure Section 106 developer contributions to help meet the cost of new schools and school expansions. I qualified as a civil and structural engineer and previously worked for consultants, local authorities and on Docklands Light Railway for twelve years where I developed skills in project management, environmental noise controls and management of the railway’s mandatory bridges and structures inspection process.

I have lived in Maidstone for over forty years and am married with two sons and three grandchildren. I have a passion for raising standards in education and for increasing the provision of world class academic and personal development opportunities for children and their families in the local community.

Gideon Sappor 

Dr Gideon Sappor is a teacher and psychologist, specialising in child development and psychology of education. He is a Lecturer (Teaching) in Early Years and Primary Education at the Institute of Education, University College London. He leads the Science, and Learning and Teaching modules on the Primary PGCE programme, working to train the next generation of teachers. In addition, he is the leader of the Guiding Effective Learning and Teaching module, which is part of the Education MA at UCL.  

Prior to working in Higher Education, Gideon spent over 11 years as a primary school teacher, working in schools in London and Medway.   Gideon’s research interests are in the broad areas around the factors that predict high academic performance and achievement in children. He is presently involved in research looking at factors, including parental influences, impacting young people’s decisions to pursue science careers.

Barbara Faulkner

I am passionate about people and helping them to develop their skills and character.  I am interested in emotional intelligence and firmly believe in an all-round education as well as academic excellence.   I have been a teacher since 1989, working in a variety of settings such as primary schools, pupil referral units and currently at a prison.  I was part of the original team involved in the development of Jubilee Primary School and now serve as a governor.  My other interests include a love of family and in my spare time I thoroughly enjoy reading a well-written murder mystery.

In the future, I would love to see the development of Jubilee Primary School into a leading school of excellence and training.  Having been a resident of Maidstone for most of my life, I would like to see all local children offered the chance to excel, becoming ambassadors for the town wherever they go.

Hayley Fullerd-Jones (Parent Governor)

I was born and raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester before moving to Maidstone in 2012.  While in Oldham, I completed studies in accounting and went on to work as an assistant accountant in the motor trade. Since being in Maidstone, my husband and I have set up a well-established business within the roofing sector.  We have three beautiful daughters in Jubilee Primary School and have just recently had a new addition to our family - our little Frankie Doo (Dog) 

I want to be able to support children in getting the best academic and emotional experience the school is able to offer them.  My own schooling motivated me to believe in myself and this enabled me to seek opportunities not only to develop my career but also the desire to enable others to meet their goals.

Being voted in as a parent governor was a huge honour and very rewarding. It will help me to be a link between parents and the school therefore supporting open communication and facilitating a successful partnership.

Rheanne Wotherspoon

Rheanne Wotherspoon is a Lead Early Years Adviser, freelance Ofsted inspector (Early Years), and a Local Government Association (LGA) peer reviewer with a Master’s in Education (MEd). In addition to the above she is also an associate trainer for National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA).

Rheanne’s work centres around improving the quality of care and outcomes for children in early years and upskilling staff to feel confident and enough to fulfil their roles competently.

Rheanne’s background is in Early years, and she has held various roles from a nursery room practitioner to a deputy manager. Rheanne has also held consultant roles in the early years field where she worked for the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) and the Local Government Association (LGA).

Stephen Thompson

I have lived in the Maidstone area since a child and was fortunate to take up teaching positions in the local area, delivering science (mostly) and religious education (some!) to secondary age children as part of various teams. These have included those who follow a variety of Christian faith traditions, as well as those who do not, while I have also been part of Kent's SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) as a union representative. These all proved to be happy and fruitful collaborations, teaching me much about the breadth and variety of folk that make up our community. I am particularly engaged with developing and enriching Jubilee Primary School’s ‘faith ethos’ and am always open to relationships and resources that will sustain this process. My wife works in the FE College and our three children are now moving through university education and into public service, having benefitted from local primary and secondary education in Maidstone that shows the importance of schooling which is actively networked into our local community. My family is much the richer thanks to our local schools and teachers, and I hope to continue to give back to yours in my role as a trustee.

Kenneth Amakye (Vice Chair of Governors)

Kenneth is a Kent based Solicitor who specialises in Civil/Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution.

I started my legal practice in London until 2016, when my wife and I moved to Aylesford. My family life is Kent based and we are pleased to be raising our children here. I have a 5 year old daughter who is a Reception pupil at JPS. 

I enjoy voluntary work which includes youth mentoring. I am passionate about mentoring and giving education to the youth so that they can be responsible adults in the future.

I believe that my career experience and previous Trustee role as a Director at the North Warwickshire Citizens Advice Bureau provide me with the appropriate skills and platform needed to support my current function and the overall promotion of education at JPS. This coupled with an insight into the various structures and resources available at the local government/ministerial level and understanding their governance protocols for the purposes of supporting and promoting youth development.

I also have a wealth of experience from executive positions held in Alumni organisations which would be relevant for my role on the Board of Governors and JPS as a whole.  

As a Dad, I am committed to the continued development of my daughter's school and the community within which it operates.

Smita Chengappa (Parent Governor)

I grew up in Kent and went to school in Medway.  Having lived in London for a number of years my family and I moved back to Kent in 2017 and to Maidstone in 2019. I previously worked as an anaesthetist at Medway hospital and now work as a public health doctor. I have 2 children and my older one is currently at Jubilee.

I am excited to start my term as parent governor and believe that the experience I have had sitting on governance boards within Local Authority as part of my public health role, will help me support the school in its endeavours.  I am passionate about reducing inequalities within society and providing an excellent education for all children is a key part of this.

As a mother I want my children to have every possible opportunity to find their path in life and I would like to support Jubilee in providing this opportunity both to them, and all of its pupils.