Meet Our Team
Julie Shepherd
English Hub Strategic Lead
Julie has been headteacher of Orgill Primary School since 2006 and is the strategic lead for our Hub. She oversees the management of all Hub activities and engages with schools and a range of other local partners to ensure that support reaches the schools that are most in need.
Holly Collins
Senior Hub Lead
Holly is deputy headteacher and reading leader in Orgill Primary School. She has been with us since 2006 and it is her passion for early reading and phonics that led to us achieving such high standards in this area. She manages the Hub on a day to day basis, liaising with schools, hosting a range of events and supporting our Literacy Specialists. She balances this with her role of maintaining high standards in our own school.
Rachel Young
English Hub Finance Manager
Rachel joined our team in March 2020 to strengthen our administration and financial management. She manages the Hub budget and monitors all income and expenditure, producing financial reports for our strategic board and the DfE on a monthly basis.
Lara Park
English Hub Administrator
Lara is your initial point of contact when seeking support. She manages all communications, dealing with general enquiries and providing information. She organises our events, taking and confirming bookings and welcoming delegates on the day.
Hannah Thornbery
Hub Lead and Literacy Specialist
Hannah is an assistant headteacher at Orgill Primary School and an experienced Literacy Specialist. She has been supporting our partner schools since we started operating as a Hub and, this year, has extended her role to Hub Lead. In this role Hannah leads school-based audits of reading provision to fully understand a schools' needs. She works closely with the Headteacher and other key school staff to explore current practice and plan for improvement. Hannah supports our team of Literacy Specialists.
Helen Hawley
Auditor
Helen is an assistant headteacher and Literacy lead at Orgill Primary School. She has a wealth of teaching experience and has taught the full primary range. She is passionate about reading; she views herself as not simply a teacher of reading, but as a teacher who reads. She joins the Orgill Hub team this year as TSRC trainer and auditor.
Katie Jamieson
Literacy Specialist
Katie has a BA Hons degree with QTS 2002 from the University of Cumbria. She is a Year 1 Class Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher at St Mary's Primary School, Kirkby Lonsdale. Katie has taught in Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 5. She is the English Lead, Reading Lead and EYFS Leader. Katie is also the EYFS SLE for South Lakes Rural Partnership. Her favourite story is Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
Taylor Rushforth
Literacy Specialist
Taylor is an Early Years teacher who works at Orgill Primary School. She has taught in Early Years for 3 years and Year 2 for 1 year. She currently teaches phonics in Reception, working with the lowest 20% of pupils. Taylor's degree is in Early Years Education and she is passionate about Early Years.
Ayasha Gardiner
Literacy Specialist
Ayasha has a PGCE with QTS from the University of Cumbria. She is a Year 2 Class Teacher at Sir John Barrow School in Ulverston. Ayasha has taught in Year 1 for 4 years. She is the Reading Lead at her school. English and reading are her favourite subjects to teach and her favourite book is Winnie the Pooh!
Laura McCormick
Literacy Specialist
Laura is a Year 2 Class Teacher and Reading Lead at Askam Village School. She qualified as a Teacher in 2009 with a BA Hons degree in Primary Education with QTS and an Advanced Study of Early Years. Laura has experience teaching in Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3. As part of her Reading Leader role, Laura works with the Furness Primary Collaborative to share good practice, support areas of development and plan for improvement in reading. Laura strives to promote a love for reading. Her favourite story is The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson.
Loren Crellin
Literacy Specialist
Loren graduated from Northumbria University with a BA hons Early Primary Education degree in July 2015. She currently teaches in Reception where she has taught for 4 years and has recently gained her senior leadership qualification. Loren has worked at Victoria Infant and Nursery school for 7 years and also has experience teaching year 1 and 2. She is the reading leader within the school and is passionate about driving the teaching of phonics and instilling a love of reading in children from an early age.