Darren Coniff
Darren Coniff is Northampton born and bred; a trained Chemist, Darren has spent all of his career in adhesives, bonding everything from canoes to Boeings. Darren is now the Commercial Director for a chemical supply company based in Huntingdon.
Darren has been a governor at East Hunsbury since 2013 and Chair of Governors since 2015, serving on all sub committees and taking a special interest in the Special Unit at East Hunsbury. Darren was instrumental in the school joining the Trust in 2017. Darren has two children, is new to running and is an armchair sports enthusiast.
Penny Dent
Penny Dent has been in school governance for most of the past 26 years, recently completing a term as Chair of Trustees for a Multi-Academy Trust Board in Milton Keynes. She has been Chair of governors and school governor for a range of schools and has always been the SEND governor. She cares passionately about providing the best education for all children.
Penny has a background in HR and set up and ran a business producing SEND documents for a large number of LAs in England. She sold this business to her management team after 20 years. After a few years working as a Business Advisor to women in business she is now retired. This gives her the time to spend on voluntary work and enjoying life with her dogs and husband. She is a proud, responsible breeder of Border Collies, with five currently at home.
Scott Richards
Scott is a member of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service as a Fire Protection Officer, and in total has worked for the Service for seventeen years. Scott was formerly the Chair of Governors at Simon de Senlis Primary School and undertook a number of different roles over his years as a governor including being a member of the finance and personnel committee and the safeguarding and health and safety committee.
Julie Stapleton
After spending over twenty years in Human Resource roles mainly in the Logistics and Supply Chain industry, Julie has recently taken the leap to become a self-employed HR Consultant. She has previously operated at Board level across many geographies and is able to bring that experience to businesses requiring qualified HR support on an ad hoc or project basis. She particularly enjoys working on transformational change, employee engagement and organisational planning. Her aim is to support organisations through those processes as well as offering HR guidance and support as needed. Outside of work, Julie enjoys travelling and spending time with family and friends.
Adrian White - Chair of Members
Adrian White was formerly the Chair of the Board of Directors for eight years, having previously been the Chair of Governors at Abington Vale Primary School. Adrian works as Director of Operations at Carlisle Support Services, managing the Retail and Events business units. Adrian's background has predominantly been in support services and he works with large retailers and some of the UK's major sporting venues, providing staff to deliver key projects and events.
Adrian became a Governor in 2008, keen to support his children's primary school. He is experienced in developing the effectiveness of governing bodies, putting in place the right systems and processes and encouraging Governors to support and challenge. He oversaw the transition of Abington Vale Primary School from a 'requires improvement' to 'outstanding' category in a two year period, working closely with the local authority.
