Staff biographies
Miss Poppy Evans has been with us since 2017, and after her training became a teacher in 2019. She currently teaches Year One and Two in Cherry Class. Mirs Evans is very passionate about learning through play. As well as being our kind, caring and diligent Cherry Class teacher, she is also an artist. Mrs Evans leads art at St Peter’s and enjoys travelling the coast in her campervan, painting as she goes. When Poppy was at school, she was influenced by one of her teachers who made every subject more arty. She also used to love singing worship.
Mr Pete Greenwood joined Ash Class in September 2022 from a school in Cape Town, South Africa. Previous to that, Mr Greenwood taught in Oxfordshire. He was inspired during his schooling by Mr Dag, who used to play guitar and Bob Dylan songs, which does sound pretty cool! Mr Greenwood loves reading and has a big pile of books next to his bed (he’s just got me back into Terry Pratchett). He is also a sportsman and enjoys watching rugby (especially Gloucester – boo – and Leeds United – double boo!). Mr Greenwood will be leading history at the school, but maths is his favourite subject. If he could have one wish for the school, he would fly all the kids into any country they are studying and help them learn more by experiencing it. Mr Greenwood is very ably assisted by Mrs Claire Hayman (who also loves her rugby) and Mrs Wiltshire (who also loves her rugby!). As a team they meet a wide variety of needs and care deeply for their class.
Mrs Caroline Walshaw is one of our class teachers as well as a Senior Leader and Curriculum Lead! Mrs Walshaw’s favourite teacher was Miss Johnson. She was really creative and taught things in interesting ways, plus she read to her everyday, using so much expression that she was sucked into the book with her! Mrs Walshaw is an avid reader. She is part of the Budleigh Literary Festival and has a passion for children’s literature. She has so many favourite books but particularly likes Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Matilda and Monstersaurus. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is her favourite adult book. It is amazing how much Mrs Walshaw does! As well as teaching, she leads Design and Technology. She also achieved a ‘Specialist Leader of Education’ designation which means she trains and advises other teachers and schools. She also oversees the entire St Peter’s curriculum and does a fantastic job of organising, supporting and checking what everyone is teaching. She also runs a brownie group and is Chair of Governors at The Beacon. Wow! Her favourite subject is History and outside of school, she loves to go to National Trust properties with her husband and two children. If she had one wish for schools, it would be a full time teaching assistant for every class – they are worth their weight in gold!
Miss Hannah Pantling teaches Oak class Monday to Wednesday and is taking the lead for Geography. She has become a hit with pupils and parents since joining us in September! At her own school, she had an amazing French teacher, Mrs Wardrop, who always made learning fun with lots of silly songs and acting out TV shows in French! Her favourite subject is Geography because of how absolutely fascinating the world is. Miss Pantling’s favourite book is Pride and Prejudice. She loves Jane Austen’s books but this one is her favourite. She has two favourite children’s books: Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book and The Firework-Maker’s Daughter. In her spare time, Miss Pantling enjoys swimming and going for days out with her family, especially to National Trust properties or the beach. If Hannah had one wish for school, she would ask for state-of-the-art buildings and technology! In Oak class, Miss Pantling is ably assisted by Mrs Richards, who loves art and also runs before and after school club. Mrs Richards is a gem – she does pretty much everything around the school, from covering classes, to doing displays!
Mrs Sarah Rose is one of our Sycamore class teachers and the leader of Collective Worship. She also helps to lead RE and is a trained Speech and Language therapist, so we are very lucky to have those skills in school! Her favourite teacher at school, Mrs Jurksaitis, loved reading to her everyday and used lots of funny voices to make stories fun and exciting. Mrs Rose loves teaching Music and Art as it’s great to see children expressing themselves, being imaginative and creative as well as gaining confidence in their abilities. Her favourite book that was read to her often as a very young child was ‘Winnie the Pooh’. Her grandparents lived near Ashdown Forest which was where the stories were set so she was able to visit the actual ‘Hundred Acre Wood’ and play Pooh sticks on the original ‘Pooh Sticks Bridge’ which made the stories come to life. As a child she enjoyed reading ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ and anything by Enid Blyton. The children’s books that she most enjoys reading to her class are ‘Room on the Broom’ and ‘Oi, Frog!’. Now she reads a lot of historical fiction and currently her favourite authors are Kate Morton, Rachel Hore and Lucinda Riley. She enjoys reading books that interweave between the present and the past, that have interesting characters and settings and that tend to have an element of mystery. She feels privileged to live here in Budleigh Salterton having grown up in London and enjoys walking in the beautiful countryside nearby. To relax, she reads, listens to music and cooks. She loves spending time with her three daughters, friends and wider family with whom she enjoys playing board games; her favourite at the moment is Catan. If Mrs Rose had one wish for schools, it would be more funding for children with special educational needs and emotional/behavioural difficulties so that more support could be provided in class in the form of extra teaching assistants and intervention times.
Mrs Laura Walmsley is new to the school this year and we are very lucky to have her. She teaches Beech class and is also our KS2 writing leader. She has lots of literacy experience and is also a lovely, kind teacher. Her favourite teacher at school was her art teacher. She was a real character with a big personality and she encouraged pupils to have their own minds and to be brave with artwork. She took Mrs Walmsley on great trips to lots of different galleries and inspired her to have confidence in her ideas – even when they were a bit mad and unusual! Outside of literacy, Mrs Walmsley loves teaching science because she always learns something that she didn’t know before. It’s a great subject for the children because they have the chance to let their curiosity take the lead and they enjoy the opportunity to investigate and test out their ideas. It’s also lovely to find out who the class experts are and to give them a chance to shine. In her spare time, Mrs Walmsley has two young girls who keep her very busy. They love dancing, cooking and gardening and spend lots of time with family and friends. Her husband is from Devon so he enjoys trips to Dartmoor and beautiful beaches. The family often resist going because they love to be cosy but they always enjoy it when they get there! One wish for education? Mrs Walmsley wishes that schools had more funding to develop and enhance their outdoor spaces. She thinks the play equipment at St Peter’s is incredible and can see how it supports the children’s health, relationships and happiness. She wishes every school had the same and more! There are lots of children across the country who don’t get the chance to visit parks and beautiful spaces regularly and it would make a massive impact on their wellbeing, both now and as adults, if they were able to access and take care of amazing spaces every day at school.
Mrs Deb Morrish is one of our amazing TA’s and one half of our BASC teachers! Mrs Morrish has been happily married to her husband, Nick, forever! She has two grown up children; a son, Keelan, and a daughter, Amber, that are her everything. She is a Nanma to an extremely precious granddaughter, Figgy, and a soon to be baby grandson. Her hobbies are mainly arts and craft based followed by drinking lots of earl grey tea and munching dried mango! Her favourite teacher when she was at St Peter’s school (many moons ago!) was a teacher called Mr Rogers. He was as mad as they come, always thinking outside the box, making learning fun and exciting. Mrs Morrish adores working in school and has done for many years. She jumped at the chance to support BASC as by doing so, she could provide a caring, loving, homely environment allowing carers the opportunity to work, rest or play while she plays and supervises their little people! She loves spending time with the children, listening to them read, helping them with activities and just generally having fun. She says it is such a joy to see each child coming through the school growing into their potential. If Mrs Morrish could have one wish for education…it would be that we would have enough money to provide a five star learning and developing curiosity for each and every child in a magical way!
Mrs Helen Richards is one of our HLTA’s and she also runs our BASC with Mrs Morrish. Her favourite teacher at primary school was Mr Mears. He was her year six teacher who was very funny and liked to crack jokes! He was also good at teaching maths. Mrs Richards’ favourite activities at BASC are anything to do with arts and crafts. She also likes to see the children enjoying themselves, playing together and generally having fun. In her spare time, she loves to make things either by knitting or crocheting. It gives her an excuse to sit down! If she had one wish for education, it would be to ensure better funding for schools to hae adequate resources to develop children’s learning. She would also love more art resources as well to develop children’s creativity!
Mrs Carrie-Anne Hume is one of our longest serving teachers in the school. She is one of our senior teachers, leading reading and phonics – and supporting lots in KS1! Her favourite teacher was Mr Owen, the Head Teacher from her primary school in Swindon. He was very jolly and would call her ‘Smiler’. He also had the patience of a saint, particularly when at the age of seven, Mrs Force decided to change her name to Melody and refused to answer to her correct name for at least a week! He would also give out smarties in assembly when it was someone’s birthday, so he was very popular! Her favourite subject to teach is literacy, but history comes a close second because she enjoys learning about historical events. Mrs Force is good in a pub quiz! In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the countryside with Mr Force and their dogs, and she is trying to improve her confidence with mountain biking. In September, she started to take piano lessons and she loves to relax with a Jodi Picoult book. Her favourite thing of all is beating Mr Force at cards. If she had one wish for education, it would be smaller class sizes and the abolishment of unnecessary testing.
Mrs Rose Barahona is our year 6 teacher and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo). At secondary school, Mr Jackson was her favourite teacher. He was the theatre technician and always encouraged her to think outside the box and supported her in solving problems on her own. He never let her give up because she was too scared to do something, but gave her the tools and courage to succeed. Mrs B loves to teach art! Her favourite adult book is the ‘The Court of the Air’ series and her favourite children’s book is the ‘Darren Shan’ series. Mrs B loves games! She enjoys games nights with her husband and friends and pursuing new hobbies like learning the piano or how to crochet. Her one wish for school? Smaller class sizes and to stop unnecessary testing.
Miss Emily Shepherd – Who was your favourite teacher at school and why? Miss Kelly! She was my secondary school History teacher and she originally terrified me. Over the years as the class got to know her we realised how kind and funny she was. She always wanted us to achieve the most we could achieve and it felt like she truly cared for us as individuals. Favourite subject to teach? Literacy. I love teaching the early stages of writing and seeing the children take ownership of their own ideas as we work through the units of work. It is really exciting seeing the children realise they can share their ideas with other people through writing. Favourite child book? Harry Potter! I love reading Harry Potter books even as an adult and have loved watching my own daughter enjoy the series. Favourite thing to do in spare time? I am always keen to spend time on the beach. Come rain or shine we try to get to the beach most days. I love watching the sea and how it changes. My favourite days in the winter are stormy days where the sea is rough. If you had one wish for school, what would you grant? Smaller class sizes so that I can spend more time with every child I work with.
Mr Robin Murray – Who was your favourite teacher at school and why? Mr Murray’s favourite teacher at school was his geography teacher, Mr Eynon. He was able to teach the subject content in an engaging and fun way. Favourite subject to teach? Mr Murray loves to teach History. He thinks we can learn so much from the past and it is great to see how much the children engage with the lessons. Favourite adult book?Any sports autobiography. Favourite child book? Harry Potter. Favourite thing to do in your spare time? Mr Murray loves to spend time with his family. He loves days out to places where there are animals such as the aquarium or Longleat. He also enjoys playing golf, but not so much in the winter as it is too cold! Mr Murray is a scratch golfer, so he is very good! If you had one wish for school, what would you grant? He would want smaller class sizes so that he can spend more time working with each individual child.
Miss Molly Pritchard – Miss Pritchard’s favourite teacher at school was Mr Parsons. He was a music teacher and was very passionate about his subject. He always brought fun and drama to lessons and even carried a tiny water pistol in his jacket pocket which he found very funny to use! Miss Pritchard’s favourite lesson to teach is Maths because of how it links in so many ways. When children realise this and everything clicks into place, she thinks it is amazing to see. She loves the book ‘Can You See Me?’ by Libby Scott. This book technically isn’t an adult book but Miss Pritchard read it as an adult and thinks all adults should read it. It is a book when an 11 year old writes diary entries about their experiences of autism. Definitely give it a read! As a child, Miss Pritchard loved reading the Heidi books by Johanna Spyri as living in the Swiss Alps sounded so blissful. Miss Pritchard loves being outdoors and going for walks. She is always up for eating out with friends and chatting all afternoon. Miss Pritchard returned from maternity leave in January and is Mum to an almost 1 year old. Her most favourite thing to do is have family time with her little boy who loves to play and climb. If Miss Pritchard had one wish for school, it would be for smaller class sizes so that she could spend more time with each child.
Mrs Louise Rogers – Mrs Rogers is our nursery teacher and music leader. Her favourite teacher was Mrs Walker, the choir leader, and she had a great sense of humour who sparked her love for music. Mrs Rogers is most passionate about literacy and storytelling, finding magic in how kids immerse themselves in narratives. Her bookshelf reveals her literacy tastes: Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” for herself, and “Duck in a Truck” for her young audience. She particularly enjoys reading the latter aloud to Mrs Jones’, reveling in their reactions. Off-duty, Mrs Rogers is all about simple joys: anything cheese-based, beach trips, and lots of laughter – not necessarily in that order. Her upbeat personality makes her popular among students and staff. If granted one wish for school, she’d choose a top-notch space for creating, playing and performing music.
Mrs Lisa Broad – Mrs Broad’s favourite teacher was Miss Nutall in Reception Class because she was patient, playful and magical, injecting fun into everything she did. Mrs Broad loves teaching in the Early Years because she can be completely silly and LOVES playing! Her favourite subjects to teach are reading, PE, writing, art, science and DT. Choosing a favourite adult book is challenging for Mrs Broad because she loves how books can educate, transport you to another world and introduce you to new experiences. If pressed, she would probably choose “Where the Crawdads Sing” or “Memoirs of a Geisha,” the latter of which she read in Japan. When it comes to children’s books, Mrs Broad finds it even harder to choose. Recently, she enjoyed books written from the perspective of neurodiverse individuals, such as “Keedie” and “The Boy with the Butterfly Mind”. She also loves “The Closest Thing to Flying” and “The Lost Bear”, and she thinks “Amari and the Night Brothers” is great too. In her spare time, Mrs Broad is happiest when she is in or on the water, often paddleboarding, kayaking, or sea swimming. She also loves running and was part of the group that founded “Junior Park Run” at Phear Park on Sunday mornings at 9am (shameless plug!). She enjoys spending time with her two daughters and her husband outdoors, often heading off in their campervan to the coast for bodyboarding or surfing. She also loves to travel and watch “Race Around The World” on TV. If Mrs Broad could grant one wish for her school, it would be for more play, more movement, a larger budget and smaller classes. She would also wish for high-quality support networks and training for both schools and families that have to advocate for their child’s SEND needs. Diversity and inclusivity are very important to her as well. And, of course, more play!
Mrs Roxanne Billingham – Mrs Roxanne Billingham’s favourite teacher at school was Mr Young. He was kind, patient and always made learning fun. Mrs Billingham loves to teach reading, art and science. She likes to read autobiography books and her favourite children’s books is The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S Lewis. Mrs Billingham spends most of her spare time with her family and friends. She enjoys spending time outdoors, taking her children to gymnastic classes and watching them play football. Her wish for schools would be better funding and smaller class sizes.
Mrs Sarah Beazer – Mrs Sarah Beazer has a number of roles at St Peter’s. She is currently a TA in Cedar Class, HLTA in Apple Class and Clerk to the Governors. Her love for History was ignited by her favourite teacher, Mr Patterson, who inspired her with his engaging World War II lessons during Year 6. Outside of St Peter’s, Sarah loves family walks with her dog, Otis, and curling up with a cup of tea and a good book – her favourites are ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ by Michelle Magorian and ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseini. If granted a wish for the school, Sarah would employ more staff to ensure every child has 1:1 time with an adult and the interventions they need to thrive.
Mr Steve Hitchcock – Steve’s passion for education started with two teachers who made a lasting impact on him. At secondary school, Mrs Kane, his geography teacher, was always enthusiastic and pushed him to do his best, with her praise and encouragement motivating him to work hard. In primary school, Mr Fenton-Harvey, who shared Steve’s love for football, quickly became a favourite teacher. Though his specialism is PE, Steve has always enjoyed a variety of subjects, especially maths and geography. His well-rounded interests help him connect with students across different areas of learning. Steve is a stroke survivor and registered as disabled, including only being able to see on his right hand side. Outside of school, football remains a big part of Steve’s life. He also enjoys running, mountain biking, and spending time with his lovely family. He is an avid reader, with The Lord of the Rings being his favourite adult book and The Chronicles of Narnia holding a special place as a favourite children’s book. He fondly recalls reading it to his daughters and their emotional reaction when Aslan died. Steve also enjoys hip hop music! Looking ahead, his hope for schools is simple: realistic expectations and proper funding, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive.
Mr Max Newing – Mr Newing joined our school last year and was responsible for the sudden boom in the sale of juggling equipment at Christmas, especially diablos, after starting a lunchtime club where he taught the children how to juggle, spin plates and use diablos and devil sticks. This year, he is teaching Chestnut class and the children have been especially enjoying having him teach them Science where they have been learning all about the human body. Fittingly, Mr Newing’s favourite subject and teacher at school was Science with Mr Clarke. Not only did Mr Newing love his explosive science lessons, but Mr Clarke was also responsible for teaching Mr Newing how to juggle and even ride a unicycle – watch out Chestnut class! Last year for World Book Day, he came dressed up as one of his favourite authors, explorer and television presenter of the Deadly 60, Steve Backshall. Mr Newing is actually seeing him presenting his new tour all about our Oceans next week during half-term, a subject he feels incredibly strong about and frustrated by the current on-going local situation. If he had one wish for school, it would be the building of an all-weather pitch on half of the field to give an all-year round facility for sports to be played including his favourite sport of hockey, which he would love to see more of in schools.
Mrs Bev Page – Mrs Bev Page loves working in the FSU. The children are a constant inspiration, funny, sincere, she never quite knows where they may lead her next. She played lots of sports at school and she is really keen to share her PE and Sherbourne activities with the children in Nursery. At home she enjoys lots of walking, especially along the beach,with her family and also pottering with wood and plants in the garden, that’s when she’s not driving up and down the motorway ferrying them around. Mrs Page’s favourite children’s book is still The Owl who was afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. It can be read at many different levels and to all ages. Audiobooks are her go to at the moment, the latest being Capitol Break by David Berens, mostly mystery and suspense titles. Her wish for school would be greater funding to expand covered outdoor areas so to take the inside out and enjoy our amazing environment.
Miss Emma Forbes – Miss Emma Forbes is a Teaching Assistant in Oak Class. She is happiest when surrounded by children because they are full of energy, fun, and affection. She strives to help them become their best selves, not just academically but also in their overall wellbeing. At secondary school, Miss Forbes was inspired by her English teacher, Mrs Wilding. She was cheerful and encouraging, fostering Miss Forbes’ passion for English Literature, which she later studied at university. Still an avid reader, one of her top picks for adult fiction is Jane Eyre, which sparked her love for classic literature. Among children’s books, Matilda, is a firm favourite – she can’t count the amount of times she watched the film as a child! In her spare time, Miss Forbes enjoys curling up with a good book, a warm cuppa, and her housemate’s fluffy Maine Coon cat. She also spends plenty of time outdoors, swimming, and catching up with family and friends. If Miss Forbes could wish for one thing in schools, it would be better funding. Each class would be smaller, with more staff and plenty of resources, ensuring that every child receives the support they need to flourish.
Mr Dave Broad – Mr Broad joined St Peter’s School at Christmas to cover Mrs Murray’s maternity leave and is loving his time teaching the wonderful Chestnut class. With a passion for making learning exciting and engaging, he particularly enjoys teaching English and PE, helping children to grow in confidence and skills. At school, his favourite teacher was Mr Gadd, who not only had a great sense of humour but also taught him to play the guitar and reminded him of the BFG! In his spare time, he loves going on bike rides and camping adventures in his campervan with his family, embracing the great outdoors. A keen reader, he enjoys About Time by Ben Elton for its fascinating take on time travel and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, dreaming of embarking on an adventure like Bilbo’s. If he could grant one wish for the school, it would be to build a theme park like Woodlands in the school grounds – because who wouldn’t want a rollercoaster next to the playground?
Mrs Beverley Cawthera – Mrs Cawthera has been at our school since her children were here aged 6 and 8, and has watched it grow, transform and become the amazing place it is today. A Psychology graduate, she has taught all the age groups but her passion has always been children’s emotional well-being, motivations, esteem and behaviour. She has become the school’s lead teacher for Social Emotional and Mental Health, and finds her job to be the most fulfilling of all her teaching roles. She has many varied qualifications and loves to support staff, families and the children themselves with a listening space, with ideas, strategies and guidance. Art, science and psychology are all combined when she works with our children, and their curiosity about themselves, their acceptance of mistakes as chances to learn, and to use creativity to express themselves underpins all she does.
In her free time, Beverley likes to play cricket with her pals, and go to the gym, but mostly she loves enjoying Devon’s gorgeous beaches and moors. She spends lots of time back-packing, camping, sailing, paddle-boarding and exploring it all in her little vintage caravan with friends and family. She grew up loving the Asterix and Obelix books, but her Dad kept sneaking off with each new one the family bought. The teachers that inspired her were her science, drama and art teachers. Their passion for their subjects was contagious… and Mrs Cawthera caught them all.
Mrs Julie Fardoe – Mrs Julie Fardoe is a one to one teaching assistant, working with SEN children. Mrs Fardoe has been working at St Peter’s for five years, but her son (now in secondary school) went through his primary years at St Peter’s. Mrs Fardoe’s favourite teacher while she was at school was Mr Sansom because he was such a great joke teller! Mrs Fardoe’s favourite lesson at school was cookery; her most disasterous thing she ever made was cauliflower cheese, made on a really hot day and by the time she had got it home, it had gone off!! Mrs Fardoe’s favourite author is John Grisham and she enjoys reading anything written by him. Mrs Fardoe’s favourite childrens book (though suitable for all ages) is The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackery as she has had many great memories reading this with her son, Jacob, as it was their favourite book to read together. Mrs Fardoe loves cooking for her family, is passionate about caring for people that may need her help and spends a lot her summer holiday in her favourite place, Spain. Mrs Fardoe’s one wish for schools would be smaller classes and more funding to enable more one to one support.
Mrs Joe Cooke – Mrs Joanne (Joe) Cooke has been at St Peter’s since May 2011 after previously being one the founders of Carousel Childcare, formerly Little Buds Pre School which was based in what is now the school library. She began her time at school in the Nursery which she loved but is now supporting Lenny 1-1 and is often seen whizzing up and down the playground on a scooter board having way to much fun. Mrs Cooke went to St Peter’s herself, her Nan was one of the school cooks and her Mum (Mrs England) is still a dinner lady. Her favourite teacher was Mrs Michael, she was a kind gentle lady and she taught netball which was a big favourite. Mrs Cooke is a qualified chef and pattissier so it’s no surprise that baking is her favourite thing to support Lenny with, offen the staff are treated to some of their creations. Mrs Cooke has also cooked for Princess Diana and Sir John Mills to name but a few from her time working in The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge when she was 19. Her favourite adult book is Barefoot Soldier- a story of extreme valour by Johnson Beharry VC. An emotional inspiring read. As a child Mrs Cookes favoured books were The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe series. Mrs Cooke loves to run and take part in crazy events, from 100km hikes, muddy boot camps, cycling from London to Brighton twice, tri-athlons, night hikes, Spartan events and recently ran the Bath Half Marathon. Her biggest achievement was guiding a friend who is visually impaired around the London Marathon in 2019. She is also a big rugby fan and watch’s her sons play regularly and is excited for The Lions Tour in July/August. Mrs Cooke has also enjoyed her trips to Escot, especially the Swamp Walk as the picture shows. If she had a wish for school it would be for a school dog.
Mrs Jo Kirkpatrick – Mrs Jo Kirkpatrick has been a TA at St Peter’s since 2023 and works across the KS2 classes. She loves working in such a dedicated team and getting to know the children, hearing their wonderful creative ideas.Before joining the school she worked for 11 years as part of the management team at Exeter Library. Part of her role there was to care for the Special Collections Archive and curate the schedule of exhibitions, (did you know that our library in Exeter has books that date back to 1480?!) and one of her proudest achievements was setting up the Adopt a Book scheme to ensure the Archive is protected for future generations.Mrs Kirkpatrick’s favourite teacher at school was Mrs Stoddard, she was passionate about the value of ideas. Big or small, everything starts with an idea. As a child Mrs Kirkpatrick read everything and anything, her favourite was The Borrowers and she had an impressive collection of Goosebumps books. She is still an avid reader today and is excited to be sharing books and a love of reading (especially Harry Potter!) with her children, Lizzie and Logan. Mrs Kirkpatrick’s greatest wish for school would be for more funding and time for Forest School; the joy, creativity and knowledge of nature it provides for the children is so valuable.
Miss Louise Martyn – Miss Martyn has been with St Peter’s school just under 2 years as a Teaching Assistant; having previously been a Care assistant for 10 years. She is from Devon (and never left!) but also has family connections in Cornwall, Stoke on Trent and Canada. Her favourite teacher at school was her secondary school french teacher Madam Phillips (who liked to be called Mad-man Phillips). She was very enthusiastic about the subject and made everyone laugh. Miss Martyn has always had a passion for Art and Drama and these were her best graded subjects at school. She also studied photography for 2 years at Exeter College. She has worked in Years 1, 4 and 6 in her short time at St Peters and also provides diabetic care for pupils. She enjoys working across the school and getting to know as many pupils as possible. Her favourite lesson to teach is phonics and seeing how eager the Year 1’s are to learn. Favourite adult book: Blood and gold by Anne Rice. Favourite Children’s book: The hungry Caterpillar and Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. Miss Martyn’s favourite things to do in her spare time are finding new places to walk with her two dogs, gardening, foraging and spending time with her partner and two children. She has found working as a teaching assistant very beneficial to help support her own children’s education. Her one wish is that all schools can have swimming and forest school facilities just like St Peter’s.
Mrs Marie Openshaw – Mrs Openshaw has been at St Peters for two years, and she loves it here! She brings with her 25 years of early years care experience, working her way into senior roles. Marie joined St Peters in our nursery, and travelled into reception to follow the children’s journeys in their first years here. She has enjoyed teaching phonics and watching the children’s progress. A great journey to be a part of! Reading is a massive passion of hers, which is why she is so fabulous at reading to the children. Her favourite children’s books are anything by Julia Donaldson (Giraffes can’t dance a particular favourite, as her most favourite animal is a giraffe) For her reading, she likes a good “Who’s done it?” storyline, but she’ll read almost anything! In her spare time she likes being with her family; husband James, and 2 children Austen and Henry. She enjoys going on adventures and being a bit of a daredevil (she has done a skydive and the zip line Across the Eden Project and even has a boat she keeps on the beach!) If Mrs Openshaw had one wish that she could grant for the school, she would wave her magic wand and Grant a whole set of sparkly new classrooms for everyone to enjoy!
Mrs Nikki Reed – Mrs Nikki Reed is a dedicated member of the St Peter’s School community, where she has worked for over five years. She serves as a Teaching Assistant in Chestnut Class and also takes on the role of Play Leader at lunchtimes, supporting children both in their learning and during play. During her own school years, Mrs Reed’s favourite primary school teacher was Mr Bolsover, who stood out for making lessons fun and engaging. This early inspiration has shaped her own approach to working with children, always aiming to create a positive and enjoyable environment.Her favourite children’s book is The Scarecrow’s Wedding, a story she loves for its charm and warmth. Outside of school, Mrs Reed enjoys walking her two dogs and spending quality time with her family and friends. She is also a proud mother of four children. Looking to the future of St Peter’s, Mrs Reed’s one wish for the school is for increased funding and smaller class sizes, so that every child can thrive with the individual attention and resources they deserve.Mrs Nikki Reed is a dedicated member of the St Peter’s School community, where she has worked for over five years. She serves as a Teaching Assistant in Chestnut Class and also takes on the role of Play Leader at lunchtimes, supporting children both in their learning and during play. During her own school years, Mrs Reed’s favourite primary school teacher was Mr Bolsover, who stood out for making lessons fun and engaging. This early inspiration has shaped her own approach to working with children, always aiming to create a positive and enjoyable environment. Her favourite children’s book is The Scarecrow’s Wedding; a story she loves for its charm and warmth. Outside of school, Mrs Reed enjoys walking her two dogs and spending quality time with her family and friends. She is also a proud mother of four. Looking to the future of St Peter’s, Mrs Reed’s one wish for the school is for increased funding and smaller class sizes, so that every child can thrive with the individual attention and resources they deserve!
Mrs Jenni Marshall – Mrs Jenni Marshall has been at St Peter’s since September 2023 and is currently a TA in Oak Class. Mrs Marshall previously worked in law and more recently, higher education for over a decade. She is very happy to have made the change to work in a primary school and finds working with the children, both in class and at lunchtime, extremely rewarding. Her favourite teacher at school was her year 2 teacher, Mrs Ryan, she was very kind and the classroom was always a happy place to be. As she got older her favourite subjects were mathematics and history and she really loves seeing the children enjoying these subjects or helping to understand them in class. Mrs Marshall loves to read! As a child her favourite books were the Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton. As an adult her favourite author is Agatha Christie, so much so she has given her daughter the middle name Agatha! In her spare time, Mrs Marshall is happiest being with her husband and children. She enjoys exploring new places and revisiting old favourites. Jersey is her happy place! Her one wish for school would be to have the opportunity to provide individual support wherever needed, so all children could feel confident in every area of their learning.
Miss Lucy Burch – Miss Burch has worked at St.Peters for almost 1 year after joining in November 2024. Her previous experience has been working for HeadsUP and Exmouth community college. She currently works as a TA in Beech class and also runs the girls football. She used to attend St.Peters herself as a child and is so pleased to see how much the school has developed and how lucky the children are to now have a heated pool (the old one was freezing!). Miss Burch’s favourite teacher was Mr Stowe, her crazy secondary school maths teacher. His enthusiasm and love for the subject shone through, making it fun and engaging and each time she walked into class he would sing “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. Her favourite children’s books were anything Roald Dahl and her favourite books now are any good sporting autobiography. In her spare time, Miss Burch loves to play sports, football, netball and cricket being her favourites. She enjoys spending time with her twin nephews, family and friends. She often dog sits and one day hopes to get a dog of her own (if her boyfriend allows). Her one wish for the school would be to have more time dedicated to sports as she feels exercise is not only brilliant for physical development but is great for everyone’s mental health too.
Miss Emma Shaw – Miss Emma Shaw is one of our lovely TAs. Miss Shaw’s favourite teacher at school was her primary school teacher, Mrs Hoggart. She was a fantastic teacher that was always smiling and made learning fun. Miss Shaw has wonderful memories of being in her class. Miss Shaw’s favourite subject to teach is phonics/reading, finding it very rewarding to be a part of the children’s journey. The excitement they experience as they become free readers and beyond makes it very inspiring. Miss Shaw’s has several favourite children’s books: ‘Children of Cherry Tree Farm – Enid Blyton’, ‘Born Free series – Joy Adamson’, ‘My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell’. She enjoys being able to share her passion for books with her daughter Aria. As an adult one book that stands out to her is ‘The Lord of the Rings – Tolkien’ she read it in her early 20’s whilst recovering from a broken ankle and it totally transported her into another world. In her spare time, Miss Shaw loves spending time in nature; over the summer she enjoys camping and being in the great outdoors. In the winter she enjoys being curled up on the sofa watching a good film or reading a good book! Miss Shaw has a love of animals and owns a dog, cat and hamster. Growing up she was always surrounded by pets. Luckily her daughter Aria shares this love and they enjoy days out at animal sanctuary’s, zoos and lots of other fun places. If Miss Shaw had one wish for school, it would be for smaller class sizes, with more time for each child to ensure everyone feels seen and supported. Also more freedom in the curriculum for children to be able to explore their individual strengths and passions.
Mrs Jerusha Warren – Mrs Warren has been at St Peter’s since 2020. She currently spends her mornings in Willow class and her afternoons in Cedar. She loves splitting her day between 2 classes because it means she gets to spend time with lots of different children. Mrs Warren also shares responsibility of running the school library which is wonderful because she loves reading! Mrs Warren’s favourite teacher at school was Mrs Jones, she was strict and funny and she she was really good at celebrating people for their different strengths and achievements. Mrs Warren’s favourite subject at school was art, and it still is today! Mrs Warren’s favourite thing to do with the children at St Peter’s is going to forest school. She loves watching them build dens, problem solve, play, laugh and enjoy getting muddy!Mrs Warren loves reading! Her favourite picture books are ‘The Tiger who came to tea’ and the Mog books, both by Judith Kerr. Her favourite chapter book is ‘The house on hummingbird island’ by Sam Angus. In her spare time Mrs Warren likes reading, going for long walks, going to national trust places and baking cakes but her favourite thing to do is spending time with her Husband and 2 children, Lorelei and Miliani.If Mrs Warren had one wish for the school it would be for more funding so that there were enough staff to spend more time with the children in smaller groups and, of course, an enormous library!
Mrs Kelly Murray – Mrs Murray’s favourite teacher at school was her Literacy teacher, who she found very approachable and who always made her laugh. She loves to teach Maths, finding it particularly interesting to witness the children’s “aha moments” as they make connections in their learning. Her favourite books are autobiographies. In her spare time, she loves being with her family, especially playing with the children and enjoying days out like going to the zoo and swimming. If she had one wish for the school, it would be to have lots more playtime resources and more time for child-led play.
Miss Sammy Griffiths – Miss Sammy Griffiths’ favourite teacher at school was her maths teacher, Ms Willcox. She had a real passion for the subject which made lessons engaging and fun. Miss Griffiths has a real love of science, especially when it relates to anything animal based. She has a mini zoo of pets at home including the scaly kind. Sammy’s favourite childrens book would be the Kipper collection. She can remember reading them as a child and now thoroughly enjoys reading them to her son, Luca. Sammy’s favourite things to do in her spare time are spending time with her family, camping adventures and roller skating with her dog, Max. If she had one wish for school, she would like smaller classes so everyone gets the support they need and more hand on interactions with animals would be amazing!
Mrs Laura Millman – Mrs Millman joined St Peter’s in 2015 as a mealtime assistant and is currently a teaching assistant in Cedar class, a role she loves. Mrs Millman herself attended St Peter’s as a child and enjoys seeing the children experience the school she loved. All of her children have attended St Peter’s, with her boys still currently pupils, and she takes great joy in seeing them enjoy it as much as she did. Mrs Millman’s favourite teacher was Mr Lawton, her science teacher at ECC, who showed her that learning- her least favourite subject- could be fun. Her favourite children’s book is Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr Seuss, which she loves reading to her children as it shares such a beautiful and encouraging message. In her free time, Mrs Millman enjoys spending time with her husband and four children, playing board and card games and being outdoors, whether up on the common or at the beach. Her one wish for the school is for increased funding, so every class has enough staff to support children whenever they need it.
Mrs Vicki Stone – Mrs Vicki Stone joined St Peter’s 10 years ago as the school business manager. Her favourite teacher at school was Mrs Taylor who taught English because she was funny and kind and made understanding poetry and Shakepeare easier! She also developed a love for words that Mrs Stone took with her to college studying to be a journalist. When she was at school her favourite books were the Chronicles of Narnia, The Moonmins and Lord of the Flies. As a grown up she still loves reading and will read anything that interests her. Mrs Stone’s son George was in year 2 when she joined St Peter’s, he’s now learning to drive a car and is studying A levels but when he was little she loved reading ‘What Do People Do All Day’ by Richard Scarry with him. Mrs Stone was born and grew up in Devon but then went to work in London after university where she got to travel the world. However she always missed Devon and finally was able to move back in 2011. She used to have a huge dog called Alfie that everyone said looked like Chewbacca (in the pic) and loved going out running with him. In her spare time she loves gardening and being outside in nature. Mrs Stone had never worked in education before working here at St Peter’s; her wish would be that all schools were funded better!
Mrs Stacey James – Stacey James joined St Peter’s 5 years ago as an Admin Assistant. Her favourite teacher at school was Mr Eynon who taught Geography because he was funny, laid back and made learning so much fun! Because of this, Stacey decided to study Geography with the Open University and is due to complete her degree next year. Stacey is married to husband Robin and they have three lovely daughters; Poppy, Daisy and Alice. Her favourite children’s book would be anything by Julia Donaldson – The Snail & The Whale probably pipping as her favourite! In her spare time, Stacey enjoys long walks on Dartmoor or out on the coastal paths with her husband Robin and their children, particularly if the sun is shining (though walking in the rain is quite fun too!). If Stacey had one wish for school, it would be smaller class sizes and better funding.
Mr Glyn Cooke – Cookie joined St Peter’s in October 2025 after 5 months of retirement, as the new Site Supervisor. His favourite teacher at Primary School was Mrs Bailey, who he still visits when in the Northwest, as she was kind and always had time for everyone. During the school holidays we often used to go past her house on the way to play in the woods and she would always offer us fresh lemonade on the way home. Cookie’s favourite subject is woodworking and rugby and as a newbie woodturner, he has already made a trophy for Budleigh Cricket Club and as for rugby, he still tries to play at least once a year. Cookie is a supporter of Exeter Chiefs, but still loves watching his 2 sons play on Saturdays. Cookie love the outdoors and exploring new places when he goes on his motorcycle or in his motorhome for holidays with friends and family. Cookie’s favourite books are any from Andy Maslan and Matthew Reilly, who’s character Jack West Jr. is an amalgamation of James Bond and Indiana Jones, starting with Seven Deadly Wonders. If Cookie had one wish for school, he would grant a maintenance free, safe learning environment for all, with a sprinkle of self cleaning dust.