Freshwater & Yarmouth Staff

My current role within the federation:
My name is Lizzie Grainger, I have the privilege of being the Headteacher at Shalfleet and Yarmouth C.E. Primary Schools.

My career so far:
I grew up in Uplyme, which is a small village near Lyme Regis in Dorset. It was a beautiful place to grow up and the coast line is very similar to the Isle of Wight. So I always feel that I live in a home from home!
I attended Mrs Ethelston’s Primary school and then went to the Woodroffe School. I took A Levels in English, Theatre Studies, History and General Studies. I knew I wanted to be a Primary School teacher because I wanted to contribute to society and help children have bright futures. I also loved English and sharing and writing stories with children is one of the loveliest things in the world. I trained at Rolle College and got my BEd Honours Degree with English, graduating in 2006.
I moved to the Isle of Wight and began my teaching career at Shalfleet C.E. Primary school, gradually taking on more responsibilities as my career progressed. After having my daughter (Annie, you know her!), I became the Deputy Headteacher of the Federation and then the Headteacher in 2015. It is the hardest, most rewarding, challenging and wonderful job to have and I love seeing the children every day.
It is an absolute joy to work with the wonderful staff and support our lovely families.

Quirky fact about me:
For those people who know me well, you will know that we love animals in our house – we currently have Hannah, a very old dog; three guinea pigs called Pumpkin, Doughnut and Oreo; and a lizard called Peanut! Guinea Pigs are by far the sweetest, funniest pets to have!
Interesting fact about me: I am very proud to be left handed and will always stand up for left handed rights!

My current role within the federation:
Hi, my name is Georg Westhorpe and I am the Deputy Headteacher and Inclusion Manager across the Federation, I am also the Designated Teacher for children in care and the EYFS Lead for the Federation.

My career so far:
I always knew I wanted to work with children and began by working at Carisbrooke Pre School (now Clever Cloggs) and helping to lead the afterschool provision at Carisbrooke Primary as soon as I finished my Btec Course after college. I went on to Loughborough University to study a BSC in Sociology and gained my QTS through the then Graduate Teacher Training Programme (with a short diversion into the watersports industry!). I actually spent some of my training time at Shalfleet Primary, before working across other schools on the island and then
coming back to the Federation almost ten years ago now!
I specialised in early years and this is my passion as I believe those early years are pivotal to a child’s success, I am lucky enough to still be able to spend half a day in each of our reception classes which is one of my favourite parts of the week!

Quirky fact about me:
I can recite the words to the Maui rap from Moana!

My current role within the federation:
Hello, my name is Mr Cook and I am the school lead for Yarmouth and the Year 6 teacher.

My career so far:
I joined the Federation back in 2014 after being a trainee teacher under Mrs Grainger (when she taught Year 5 at Shalfleet). I began my career in the classroom at Shalfleet teaching Year 4 for 2 years and then Year 5 for 3 years. It was then I had the opportunity to move to Yarmouth in 2019 and taught Year 5/6 for 2 years before moving to single groups this year and beginning my current class role in Year
6.
Over the course of my time in the Federation, I have been able to progress professionally taking on multiple other roles such as assessment lead, curriculum lead as well as the aforementioned school lead role.
The main reason I moved over to the Isle of Wight back in 2014 was to have the opportunity to be part of a thriving, positive Federation and it is a decision I can
safely say was one of the best I have made in my life. Especially as I have managed to set up a happy home on the Island with my partner and I am going to be expecting my first child in a few months time.

Quirky fact about me:
I am now required to reveal a quirky fact about myself… Therefore I am happy to confess I am a huge fan of professional wrestling, and in 2018, achieved a
childhood dream of going to Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans. It was incredible.

My current role within the federation:
Hello, my name is Sarah Woodburn and I am the School Business Manager across the Federation

My career so far:
I started working for Shalfleet CE Primary School in 2007 as the Office Administrator. Over the span of my career at the Federation I have been a Midday  Supervisor and also a Teaching Assistant in Year 1. Covering these roles within the school has enabled me to gain in depth knowledge of the school’s operations and needs. I can even remember Mrs Grainger
joining the Federation, as my son was in her first class here!
In 2013 I transferred to Yarmouth CE Primary School to become the Office Manager. The opportunity arose in 2018 for the School Business Manager role, and I have been working alongside our Finance Manager, Vikki Plumley since this date. I thoroughly enjoy working for the Federation, seeing the children happy and thriving and I strive to do the very best I can to maintain our wonderful schools.

Quirky fact about me:
I am left handed and when I started school I would write in my books from the right hand side to the left hand side. My mum needed to hold a mirror to the page to read what I had written!

My current role within the federation:
Hello, my name is Mr Westhorpe and my current role in the Federation is the Sports Coach.

My career so far:
I have been at the Federation as the Sports Coach since January 2022, previously I worked as the Isle of Wight Community Coach for cricket. I worked across almost all of the schools on the island in this role as well as helping to run the Isle of Wight Disability team, I also supported women’s cricket and the over 50s cricket for the island. I absolutely loved this role, my
background is playing cricket and it was fantastic to see others inspired to get involved in the sport. However, the most satisfying part of my role by far was working with the children in our schools and helping them to make progress and find a love for sport and this is what led me to want to be part of a school team.
I am familiar with the federation because of Mrs Westhorpe but also I worked here delivering the chance to shine programme and I knew immediately it was in line with my ethos and somewhere I would love to work, so I was delighted to get the job.

Quirky fact about me:
I love a good joke as the children and staff are aware, here’s my son’s current favourite…
What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot!

My current role within the federation:
Hello my name is Heather Eggleton.
I am Inclusion Assistant and Family Liaison Officer for the federation

My career so far:
I joined the federation 9 years ago as support in the class for SEND. I have been able to progress professionally and I became inclusion assistant for the federation working closely supporting the inclusion manager. I am also the Family Liaison Officer for the federation taking the lead on the Early Help provision.
As Family Liaison Officer I am here to work in partnership with parents, carers and pupils in our school community. I liaise and make referrals to the relevant external agencies, I am here to provide direct support for families. I work in school and out in the community to provide families support. I work closely with the West Wight time bank, the food bank, Barnardo’s and mental health services. My role is ever adapting and changing as the needs of families do.
After moving from Yorkshire 11 years ago the island has become my family’s home and I am so happy to be part of the thriving federation and live so close to the beach.

Quirky fact about me:
My random fact is as it is very topical with the queen’s jubilee coming up. I was once the Queen of Ecclesfield (my home village in the north) through the guides. I did get a crown but I was only queen for a year.

My current role within the federation:
Hello, my name is Miss Sampson, I have worked at Yarmouth Primary school for twenty three years, all of my own children attended the school, so I was also a parent before I began to work in the school.
I currently work in Reception class as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant and I also support children with their emotional well being in my role as an Emotional Literacy support assistant.

My career so far:
I have two degrees one in Early Years education and the other in Education and Training studies, both of which I achieved after reaching the age of forty, it’s never too late to learn!
Over the years I have undertaken a diverse range of training to support my role, this includes, a
certificate in understanding Autism and British sign language.

Quirky fact about me:
Some interesting facts about me are, I worked in America on super yachts and I am left handed and colour blind.

My current role within the federation:
Hello my name is Miss Isaac.
I am Year 5 teacher at Shalfleet and Literacy Lead for the federation

My career so far:
My career is long and extensive. I started my first (real teaching) year in New Zealand, Auckland as a Year 6 teacher. I ended up teaching there for 3 years. It was a huge school with limited money/resources and very challenging at times but what an experience it was!
On my return to England, I taught at Carisbrooke Primary and then in London.
In 2011 I returned to the Island to teach at Barton Primary but I always wanted a job at Shalfleet and Yarmouth. I used to walk past our lovely school and hope that a job would come up-finally it did!

Quirky fact about me:
My first ever teaching job was in Auckland New Zealand- this was complete case of being in a random place at the right time- where I bribed my class with English sweets (pick and mix from Woolworths) that my poor mum had to post via air mail once a month! I did get very good behaviour after that!

My current role within the federation:
Hello, my name is Mrs Sylvia Smith and my current role in the Federation is leading PSHE and the Junior Leadership Team across the Federation. I am also the staff representative on the Governing body.

My career so far:
My teaching career started a long time ago when I trained as a teacher at Sheffield Hallam University. My first teaching job was in a small Church of England primary school in Derbyshire where I taught for 12 years. During this time, I taught in different age groups from nursery up to Y6. As our own children grew older, I then moved to teach in a very large primary school in Sheffield. Whilst there I again taught in all the different age groups. At the school, I worked on the middle management team and eventually led the KS1 team.
When our first grandchild was born here on the Isle of Wight, we made the big decision to move down here to be nearer to the family. Making the Island our home is a decision we have never regretted. I was very lucky to get a job with our wonderful Federation where I started teaching in Year 3 at Shalfleet. Since then, I have worked across both schools as both a class teacher and working with the Junior Leadership and Learning Leaders teams. Also, last year I was teaching and Duty Lead for the Freshwater site.
I love working for this Federation and I am proud to work with the wonderful staff we have here.

Quirky fact about me:
As this is the Queen’s Platinum jubilee year, I thought I would tell you a fact about me during the Queens Silver Jublilee year (1977).
This was the year I received the Queen’s Guide Award and I was also crowned Girl Guide May Queen, Queen Azalea. This was in the village where we lived.

My current role within the federation:

Hello, my name is Lisa Burton. I’m a Teaching Assistant in Yr 1 and also employed as part of the team that oversees the Federation’s Church Pastoral Care.

My Career so far:
I have worked in a few different schools on the Island as both a general TA and working as a 1:1. We moved to the West Wight 4 years ago and I was very blessed to get offered a job within our amazing federation. I started out at Shalfleet but have mainly been based here at Yarmouth.

Quirky fact about me:
I have played the Cornet in a band concert with the late Queens Coldstream Guards in London.