Ruth Akehurst

Chair of Curriculum & Standards Committee

I first became involved with the school as a volunteer to hear readers and when the opportunity presented itself to run for the role of parent governor, I was keen to further strengthen my links with the school.

I have been a teacher for over a decade and passionately agree that the school's values of persevering, demonstrating independence and kindness will help all learners to achieve their potential.

Tommy Clarke

I have two children at Creswick and was keen to support the school by volunteering to be a Governor and was elected a Parent Governor in 2018. I have spent my career working as a Project Controls Manager on major projects within the Oil & Gas and Infrastructure sectors. I have been fortunate to have been able to travel with my career and have worked with many different cultures in the Middle East, Australia and now back in the UK. I have most recently been working on the Thames Tideway Project which is a new super sewer for London and now the Lower Thames Crossing a proposed new crossing for the Thames Estuary.

As a parent I will strive to support the school in achieving our vision of producing ‘Confident Learners for Life’ and believe whole heartedly in this vision as my own experience of education was not always smooth, however the confidence I was given by my teachers encouraged me to keep persevering and this ultimately led to me graduating with a 1st class engineering degree, despite the challenges I faced on my journey there.

Barbara Scheck

I am a criminal defence solicitor, representing people from all walks of life and deal with all manner of offences, ranging from minor ones to very serious ones. I have seen first-hand the impact education has on the opportunities one has and choices one makes. This starts right from the very beginning. This is why Creswick’s belief that every child matters resonates with me. We might not have a choice in where we start from, but we ought to have the tools to determine where we end up. I started as a parent governor, and I am now co-opted.

Jacob Kallergis

Acting Chair of Governors

I moved in Welwyn Garden City with my wife more than 9 years ago and have two children.

My first interaction with the school was when it was time for my son to start school. I got to learn about the school’s values, ethos and strong inclusive culture. I considered those as really important criteria for the school’s selection.

As a parent I believe that ensuring high quality education in early stages provides the best possible life chances for our children. Therefore I have decided to take an active role in the life of the school and I am highly committed to ensuring that our pupils receive the best possible education.

My day job is product marketing manager for a global company. I want to use the experience I gained in working with different teams, in managing projects and budgets with my role as a school governor.”

Jan Bracey

Safeguarding, Attendance and Behaviour link Governor

I retired from full time work in 2003, having been employed as a primary school teacher for 37 years, 23 of them as a headteacher. Following my career in teaching, I spent 16 years working as a clerk for the School Admission Appeals Team. I took up my position as the Local Authority Governor at Creswick School in November 2020 and I now serve as the school’s Safeguarding Link Governor.

The more I learn about the school (from my visits, from the numerous documents I have read and from my discussions with other governors) the more pleased and proud I am to be member of its Governing Board.

Kiddist Forsythe

I was born in Welwyn Garden City and have called it home ever since, meaning that I am very familiar with the local area. I work as a solicitor in London.

I joined the governing board as a co-opted governor in September 2019 with the desire to ensure that the next generation have access to excellent education to allow them to open as many doors as possible.

Chisanga Mwelwa

I joined Creswick governing board in September 2022 as a co-opted governor and serve as the Link governor for Maths.  

I am a Management Consultant by profession and have spent 17 years of my career supporting organisations deliver their business transformation programmes through technology enablement.

My academic background is in software engineering and for as long as I can remember I have had a passion for STEM learning and experiences.  I intend to bring my professional, and academic knowledge and experiences to Creswick to help improve STEM learning whilst making it relevant for the future as well as fun and therefore appealing to more pupils.

Tristan Dollie

I joined the board of governors at Creswick in Spring 2022 as I was keen to utilise my skills to help the school and its students reach their full potential. Day-to-day I am counsel in the Special Situations, Distressed Debt & Trading Practice Group at international law firm Brown Rudnick LLP specialising in real estate finance, structured finance and art finance.

Prinal Nathwani

Chair of Resources Committee

I am a tax lawyer in the City, and a parent of one, who lives locally in Welwyn Garden City. I joined the Governing Board in Spring 2021, with the desire to utilise my legal and financial skills in the role and to share my experience of staying motivated while dealing with challenges your career to support the next generation of confident learners.

Lucy Stylianou

I have two children who attend the school and have wanted to become more involved for some time, hence my decision to run as a parent governor.

My career has been predominantly in education.  I currently work for the Welwyn Garden City & Hatfield Schools Partnership which supports families and schools in the area.

I am excited to be on board to take part in the next chapter of the school's exciting journey.

Lesley Brennan

I am married with 3 children and 8 grandchildren. I have lived in Hertfordshire for the last 10 years, after moving from London.

I retired in August 2022 after being an Executive Headteacher for 5 years. Prior to this role I was a headteacher and Acting Executive for the last 15 years, taking schools from inadequate and RI to good and outstanding. I was a facilitator for the National College and delivered their middle and senior leader programs and have successfully enabled over 30 middle leaders across 15 schools and 3 Local Authorities to develop their leadership styles, skills and start the process of carrying out narrowing the gap tasks in their schools. I have sound understanding of school’s financial management and have been the DSL in a number of schools.