Mrs Hillman
Headteacher
Mrs Hillman is the Headteacher. Besides being responsible for leading our amazing school, she also has the distinct honour of being Holly the school dog’s proud owner. With a passion for fostering a love of reading amongst children and promoting an active lifestyle, Mrs Hillman is dedicated to creating a well-rounded educational experience for our children. She is also passionate about anything to do with hand writing and known by former colleagues as being obsessed with handwriting! When she is not busy living and breathing education, she has two teenagers at home who always need looking after whether that is to fill the fridge full of tasty food or give them lifts to see their friends. You can often find Mrs Hillman relaxing with a book, cooking for friends or taking her dog Holly for long walks in the countryside.
Mrs Rymer
School Admin
Mrs Rymer is the first person you’ll see when you come in through the main entrance of our school. She welcomes all our visitors with a friendly face. Mrs Rymer is in charge of the school admin and looks after our KS2 children at lunchtimes.
Mr Ford
Avocet Class
Mr Ford is our Year 3 Teacher and a member of our Senior Leadership Team.
He has responsibility for Maths. Mr Ford is brilliant at Geography and enjoys teaching children about the world. He is also our Teacher Governor.
Miss Beale
Heron Class
Miss Beale teaches our Year 4 and 5 children.
She was new to our school in November and joins us from a successful local school. In her spare time, Miss Beale loves building Lego models, spending time with and walking her Romanian rescue dog Angel and volunteering as a commissioned officer in Gloucestershire Army Cadet Force. Miss Beale particularly thrives when teaching maths, science and PE!
Miss Glover
Flamingo Class
Miss Glover teaches Class Five (Y5 and Y6). She leads maths and french across the school. Miss Glover enjoys running, travelling and spending time with her little dachshund, Lola.
Mrs Carter
Music Teacher
Mrs Carter is our incredibly talented music teacher.
She teaches across Key Stage 2 and is passionate about helping children learn through music.
Mrs Toms
Gosling Class
Mrs Toms teaches our Year 1 children. She runs our school council and leads science and computing across the school. Mrs Toms loves crossfit and walking her dogs with her family through the woods.
Miss Harker
Cygnet Class
Miss Harker teaches year two. She leads reading, writing and history across the school. Miss Harker speaks French and Italian and loves to play her violin with an orchestra; she is also really creative and enjoys being outdoors.
Mrs Clune
Reception and Year 1 Teacher
Mrs Clune teaches one day a week in our Reception class and one day a week in Year 1. She is a really fun teacher – gentle and kind.
Mrs Baird
Duckling Class
Mrs Baird teaches our reception children and is a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Our reception children are always extremely busy learning and Mrs Baird makes everything incredibly fun. Mrs Baird is the EYFS lead for the Reception and Little Otter’s setting.
Mrs Malkin
PPA Teacher
Mrs Malkin is our fabulous PPA teacher. She teaches in Year 2 and Class 4 throughout the week.
Mrs Jenkins
Little Otters Playgroup Leader
Mrs Jenkins leads our playgroup, ‘Little Otters’ on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. She also runs our Toddler group on a Tuesday morning.
The children all know her as Jo.
Miss Beale
SEN Coordinator
Mrs Beale looks after all our SEN and disadvantaged children, she works extremely hard to meet the needs of all our children by supporting class teachers to put in place the best practice possible for SEND pupils.
Mrs Davies
Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)
Mrs Davies works in Class 3 supporting Mr Ford and the Year 2 and 3 children.
She is incredibly artistic and creates brilliant classroom displays. Mrs D has been at Slimbridge for a long time and knows all the ins and outs of the school!
She teaches art to Class 3, makes all the Christmas nativity costumes and is very helpful to have around.
Mrs Pearce
Teaching Assistant
Mrs Pearce works in our Reception Class. She is extremely experienced and supports our youngest children to achieve their very best; she is keenly working on an Early Years Degree in her ‘spare time’ … very impressive!
Mrs Priday
Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)
Mrs Priday supports the learning of our Year 5/6 children. She also supports our SEND children and delivers many interventions. Mrs Priday keeps all the staff going with her delicious cakes and treats! Mrs Priday has worked at Slimbridge for a long time and is extremely experienced across all classes.
Mrs Smith
Teaching Assistant
Mrs Smith supports learning in Y3 ; she knows lots of cool things about environmental science and is very artistic.
Mrs Arkwell-Smyth
Teaching Assistant
Mrs Arkwell-Smyth supports children throughout Key Stage 1 with their learning. She is very creative and has a great sense of humour. She can often be spotted having fun outside at lunch-time and is a good person to chat to.
Mrs Howard
Teaching Assistant
Mrs Howard is caring and kind and enjoys listening to music and relaxing which is why her favourite animal is a sloth. She also likes to spend time with her cat Poppy. She can be found supporting the children in Year 5/6; she loves working with children and always brings out the best in them.
Mrs Charnley-Heaton
Play Assistant in Little Otters
Mrs Charnley-Heaton works in Little Otters. She is really friendly and caring.
The children know her as Caroline.
Mrs Smith
Play Assistant in Little Otters
Mrs Smith works in Little Otters with our youngest children. She is very friendly and makes play and learning really fun. The children know Mrs Smith as Heather.
Mrs Chappell
Breakfast Club, After School Club and Cleaner
Mrs Chappell helps run our Breakfast Club (Early Birds) and After School Club (Owls). She is always very busy caring for our children and is kind and very friendly. Mrs Chappell also serves all our lunches and also keeps our school clean and sparkly.
Mrs Waterfield
Mrs Waterfield works at our after school club and really enjoys thinking about fun activities for everyone to do. She rums our amazing new art and craft club and can most commonly be found in Hobbycraft or looking for sequins, glitter and ribbons to make the most amazing craft items.
Miss Messenger
Breakfast Club, 1:1 Teaching Assistant
Miss Messenger runs our Breakfast Club (Early Birds) and helps all of the children have a happy start to the day. As well as being in charge of all our First Aid, Miss Messenger is always very busy organising lots of games, art and fun activities. She works 1:1 with children and helps them achieve to their full potential.
Mrs White
Lunchtime Supervisor Mrs White is a Lunchtime Play Supervisor and makes sure the children stay safe on the playground. Mrs White has worked at our school since before some of our teachers were born!
Mrs Mutalindwa
Mrs Mutalindwa has recently joined the Slimbridge family and she is enjoying working in lots of different classes so that she can get to know all of the children’s names.
Holly
School Dog
Holly the Golden Labrador Fact file
Name: Holly
Breed: Labrador Retriever
Age: 21 months old
Gender: Female
Appearance:
Holly is a charming labrador retriever with soft ‘golden’ fur with dapples of red as her mum was a golden labrador and her dad a fox red labrador. Her adorable face is highlighted by expressive, round eyes that sparkle with warmth and friendliness. Holly has a set of angel wing markings on her back. She is caring and loving: she loves playing ball and chasing sticks.
Personality:
Holly is a playful and friendly dog. She loves to interact with people, especially children. She is known for her gentle, passive nature and eagerness to make new friends. Hollly loves to run around outside and is always ready for a fun game of fetch or a belly rub. She has a knack for bringing smiles to everyone’s faces with her boundless energy and happy disposition. Holly is known to give children a happy welcome when they come to school. She is known for her ability to cheer children up when they do not want to leave their mum and dad for the day.
Training:
As a one year old labrador, Holly is still in the early stages of her training. Mrs Hillman and Holy have enrolled in the Therapy Dog Training Certification Process and Holly is attending obedience classes through Crufts Good Citizenship Award. She has now learnt basic commands like paw, fist bump, sit, wait, come. Holly is a reasonably quick learner and always eager to please when food is around. With time and practice, she will continue to grow and develop into a well-behaved and obedient therapy dog.
Special Skills:
While Holly is not a fully trained therapy dog yet, she has already shown potential in providing comfort and support to those around her. Her friendly and affectionate nature make her well-suited for future therapy work. In the meantime, Holly enjoys spending time with children, offering cuddles and a listening ear.
Favorite Activities:
Holly loves going for walks in the park, where she can explore and sniff all the interesting scents. She loves playing fetch, chasing after balls, and playing with her favorite toys. The children have taught Holly how to ‘drop’ the ball – exciting news! Holly adores being around children, as their laughter and playfulness bring her great joy.
Fun Fact:
Labradors like Holly are popular family dogs due to the loving and kind nature; they are also ranked within the top ten most intelligent dog breeds in the world.
Note: Holly’s factfile reflects her current age and stage of training. As she continues to grow and develop, her abilities and skills may change.
