Colin Pearson
I was born in Morpeth and have lived here most of my life. I have 4 children and 6 grandchildren. I am retired. My professional background was within the Civil Service for 35 years where I managed large numbers of staff and IT equipment. My own three children and our long-term foster child completed their school years within the Morpeth Partnership of Schools.

I was a Governor at Abbeyfields First School from the mid 1980’s to 2017 including 15 years as Chair. I was also a Governor for several years at Newminster Middle School. In addition to being Chair of the Board, I am Chair of the Northumberland Schools’ Forum – a statutory body with a consultative role in relation to the local distribution of school funding.

Along with everyone who respects and values state education, I strive to ensure that in the Three Rivers Learning Trust and the wider Morpeth Partnership of schools we maintain high ambitions to promote the development of future citizens who possess intellectual capacity, social awareness and emotional intelligence in equal measure.
Paul Price
I moved to Morpeth in the summer of 2017 with my wife and two children who are both currently at Chantry in years 5 and 8. I have worked within professional advisory services (audit, tax, consulting) since my graduation with, a Masters degree, from Durham University in 1999 and have been based in London, Leeds and Newcastle in that time. I have always had a passion for the NHS and I currently work as the Head of Commercial for Northumbria Healthcare NHS FT having advised the Trust for many years on many different issues including the development of the emergency care hospital at Cramlington. We, as a family, enjoy getting involved in as many aspects of local life as we can and we are proud to support and enhance local life wherever we can.
Helen Clegg
My working life has been spent in education as a teacher, headteacher and Director of Primary Academies in a multi academy trust. For thirteen years I was NAHT national executive member for five local authorities in the north east including Northumberland, during which time I was involved in work relating to national education policy and practice. In the role of British Council facilitator I led international education visits for groups of school leaders to the USA and Canada. As headteacher and National Leader of Education, I led one of the first designated Teaching School’s in the country, which gained outstanding judgements at three consecutive Ofsted inspections. The school is featured in the Ofsted publication ‘20 Outstanding Primary Schools; excelling against the odds’.

In the late Queen’s New Year’s Honours 2010 I was awarded an OBE for services to education.

Having been brought up in Morpeth with family connections to KEVI since 1939 I hope my enthusiasm, experience and expertise will enable me to support Chantry Middle School and The Three Rivers Trust now and into the future.
Hayley Herbertson
I qualified as a teacher of Geography in 2004 and took up my first teaching role at Harton Academy where I taught for 14 years. During my time at Harton I took on the role of Advanced Skills Teacher, Lead Practitioner and was designated as an SLE (a Specialist Leader of Education) in January 2012. As part of these roles I carried out outreach work within the authority as well as providing training and support to many trainee teachers as part of both the PGCE and School Direct programme. I didn’t think that I could find another school that I would love working at as much until I applied for a job at Chantry Middle School. I was delighted to join Chantry in January 2018 and I am very proud to say that I am the Subject Leader for both Humanities and RE at Key Stage 3. As a teacher I am a strong believer in making every lesson a valuable learning experience and I believe that young people should be inspired, enthused and challenged to become lifelong learners and be encouraged to read their full potential. I consider it be a privilege to be part of the Three Rivers Learning Trust and I am delighted to take on the role as an Academy Councillor.
Mark Robson
I graduated in Modern History from Oxford University and initially trained as an accountant before qualifying as a teacher. I taught at King Edward’s for over 30 years, becoming Head of History and Politics, Literacy co-ordinator, and Teacher Governor. When King Edward’s converted into an Academy I was elected Staff director. Since retiring in August 2018 I have maintained my commitment to education, updating my A Level History textbook and volunteering at Abbeyfields school. My family have lived in Morpeth for many years and my daughter attended Goosehill, Newminster, and King Edward VI schools.
Nicola Simpson
My husband and I moved to Morpeth in August 2011 to fulfil a dream of completing a self-build project which is our forever home. We have 3 children who are loving life at school and are currently in years 4, 6 and 8. As a family we really enjoy supporting our local community, we have always been active in school supporting trips and events and organising events for charity

For over 20 years I have worked in various roles within the Financial/Customer Service sector for Barclays and I specialised in Leadership, Development and Wellbeing of others. My role, as a senior operations leader, allowed me to develop many skills including audit, event management, professional award writing and performance coaching all of which I know will assist me in fulfilling my duties as an Academy Councillor. One of the key projects that I was involved with that I am proud of, was the Life skills/Digital Eagle and Money skills Programme, which assists our children in the transition through education to finding their career path.

I am passionate about learning and I completed my first degree at the University of Sunderland, a BA Hons in Applied Social Sciences in 1996. Currently I am studying HR Management, Level 7 with CIPD. I am also a lead judge for the North East Contact Centre Awards which focuses on excellence in people development and customer service across the contact centre industry and I look forward to working as part of the Three Rivers Trust and supporting Chantry Middle School.
Rebecca Taylor
I am currently Teaching School Hub director after King Edward VI School was designated as a centre of excellence in 2021. Within this role I oversee the strategic development and direction of the The Three Rivers Teaching School Hub; coordinating teacher recruitment, development and retention across Nor 3; Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Prior to this role I have worked in senior leadership across King Edward Vi School and Chantry Middle School. My passion is teaching and I am committed to education excellence in order to do the very best for every child.