Local Governing Body

Stuart has worked in Cambridge for 25 years, more recently as the Minister at Barnwell Baptist Church (since 2004).  He has been a Governor at Fen Ditton Community Primary School since 2008 and has been the Chair of Governors since September 2019.

Stuart was a founding Trustee of Cambridge and District Youth for Christ, Cambridge Street Pastors and more recently, Abbey People.  He is also a Trustee of SeeSaw PreSchool.

He served as Chaplain to Cambridge United Football Club for 12 seasons from 2005 through to 2017, and is currently the Chaplain to the Cambridge base of the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Stuart is married with four boys and in his spare time enjoys kicking a (round) ball around and watching films, when not out driving and walking our two dogs.

Alex is a social historian and community engagement officer working in the city.  She has worked in museums in the UK and Canada; running events, managing teams and bringing people closer to the history around them.  She has been a governor with Fen Ditton Community Primary School for just over a year, and has really enjoyed being closer to her community.

Alex is very passionate about learning valuable skills and enjoys all kinds of sewing and crafting as well as looking after her allotment.

Stuart is the clerk to the Governing Body having joined the school at the start of 2020. He has been a clerk for 15 years working in a number of primary schools around Cambridge and Ely.

Stuart is married with two teenage children and in his spare time enjoy days out with my family, reading and the cinema.

Clare is the KS2 teacher at Marleigh Primary Academy.

Having enjoyed working in a few different roles with children aged 3 months to 11 years old, in schools, nurseries and children’s clubs abroad, she trained to be a primary school teacher. She loves teaching and, through setting high academic standards, aims to engage children in their learning and inspire them to achieve.

Her passion is STEM education and she is delighted to be the school subject co-ordinator for science.

She feels very fortunate to be a part of the school community from its beginning and looks forward to helping it grow to future success.

Though originally from just outside of Manchester, Lauren moved to Cambridge in 2006 to continue her postgraduate education at Queens’ College. She has lived in Fen Ditton with her husband for over a decade, together with whom she has a son who is part of the first reception cohort at Marleigh.

Lauren’s professional background is in teaching, learning and assessment. She holds a BA in Modern Languages, an MA in Translation Studies, a PGCE in Secondary MFL and has more recently completed further postgraduate study in educational assessment principles and psychometric testing.

Lauren currently works at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, where her role centres on developing the accessibility of Cambridge International qualifications, and on raising awareness of the spectrum of special educational needs and disabilities, and the potential barriers to learning and assessment that such conditions may present.

As a former a member of a school leadership team with fourteen years’ school-based experience, she has coordinated provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities, and has overseen support for students with mental health, medical, behavioural, and pastoral care needs. She has been a safeguarding lead, SENDCo and exams access arrangements assessor.

Lauren is passionate about the holistic approach to education and about the importance of creating positive, inclusive environments where all learners feel supported emotionally as well as academically. As such, she is excited to take on the responsibility area of Inclusion as part of her role as Parent Governor at Marleigh.

In her spare time, Lauren enjoys creating in the kitchen, trying out new restaurants, group singing, crime dramas, exploring different places, BodyPump and spin classes.

This is Gemma’s first year of being a Governor. Her daughter and son both attend Marleigh Academy Primary school, where she says their experience has been utterly excellent to date. Gemma wants to contribute to the Academy’s ongoing development to ensure that all children’s school experience is as inclusive, empowering, inspiring, diverse and developmentally challenging as is possible. She is passionately committed to this and to improving the outcomes for children at this stage in their lives and beyond.  Gemma believes that education extends far outside of the school classroom. Therefore, children should be taught from a young age the skills and values that will help them thrive beyond their school years and be kind and compassionate individuals.  She has twenty years of experience working within The Probation Service and has specialised in various safeguarding roles, particularly with regard to domestic and sexual abuse.  Gemma has also worked in the Police as a Police Officer, and has delivered into the Restorative Justice process within the Youth Offending Service as well as being involved in Youth Outreach Work.  She believes everyone has a duty to keep children safe and this is why she is passionate about being a Governor and assisting with the safeguarding of children.

Having always dreamt of building a school community from scratch, being appointed as the first Headteacher of Marleigh Primary Academy is a real privilege for Mike.  He was previously Headteacher of Over Primary School for nearly ten years and taught in several other Cambridgeshire primaries before that.  He studied at Homerton College, University of Cambridge; fell in love with the city (and a local girl!) and has lived in the area ever since.  He believes in the importance of lifelong learning and has just completed a Master’s degree in school leadership.

Mike has always seen the value in implementing the innovative and creative use of technology to engage and motivate children, combining this with making the most of outdoor and real-life learning opportunities.  He is passionate about ensuring all children, regardless of background, ability or educational needs, have the best possible learning experiences; preparing them with the character, knowledge and skills they will need to thrive both now and as adults within Cambridge’s STEM-based economy.

Chris joined Marshall in 2007 as Group Internal Audit Manager, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the Business Assurance and Advisory team. Having performed a number of roles across the Group he moved into the Property team in 2013 . He is now the Projects Director and member of the Property Board focussing his time predominately on the Marleigh development.

Outside of work Chris is on the Civilian Committee of 104 (City of Cambridge) Squadron Air Cadets as Treasurer and coaches a local junior football team.

Shelley Monk has worked in education for 25 years; this has included academic and pastoral leadership roles in the UK and internationally. She has a Geography degree from Royal Holloway, University of London, is a qualified teacher, and holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management from Bath University. Most recently Shelley completed a coaching qualification and she works with colleagues as an internal business / career coach. Her current role is based in Cambridge and focuses on supporting the development and delivery of qualifications working closely with teachers, schools, the Department for Education, regulatory bodies and a wide range of stakeholders.

She became a governor at The Netherhall School, Cambridge in 2016, where she had been a former pupil until she became the Chair of Governors in 2017, until today. Shelley joined the Marleigh governing board in February of this year (2022). She is passionate about education and the holistic experiences a school can provide, so that pupils can achieve the very best outcomes. She is excited to be involved in Marleigh’s journey as a new school and as it embeds in the local community.

Dom is a passionate science and art communicator, music composer, and a qualified high school physics teacher. He has a PhD in Physics, working on the design of one of the detectors at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, where he also contributed to science communication and outreach. He is a Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dom has also a specialist certificate in Orchestration for Cinema and Television from the Berklee School of Music and he is a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians. As a music composer and researcher in auditory display, Dom works with organisations like CERN and NASA, creating music from scientific data and supporting schools using music to explore and make sense of the world around us.

Finally Dom works as a part-time Relationship Manager for Arts Council England for Music and Music Education. In that role, he gained experience in public funding for music and arts, music education hubs, developing safe and inclusive teaching and learning environments.

Megha trained in biophysics and life sciences and worked as a researcher in academia for nearly six years. Since 2014, she has worked in healthcare communications, helping deliver impactful disease awareness, medical education and digital campaigns. She is passionate about scientific storytelling and empowering girls to engage in STEM. She currently works in science communications with AstraZeneca in Cambridge, and is training to be a designated STEM ambassador. As a parent governor, she is excited about playing a role in curriculum development and exploring opportunities to support the school in the STEM space. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, museums and libraries.