Governing Board : Who's Who & How to Contact

My name is Julie Merry and I am a co-opted Governor and currently hold the post of Chair of
Governors at Cathcart Street Primary School.
I am married with two grown up children, a daughter who is a teacher and a son who works in the
Charity Sector.
I started my career in Banking, where I worked for 19 years and following redundancy, I embarked
on a change of career and moved on to the Education Sector. It was through this change of career
that I developed a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning. Having worked in all areas and age
ranges of Education I moved on to work as the Safeguarding Lead for Education in Wirral Council and
currently work as an Independent Safeguarding Consultant with a number of Wirral Schools.
So, what made me want to be a Governor? I really benefited from the education I received during
my formative years and feel privileged to be a member of the Governing Body at Cathcart Street
Primary School where I am able to work with the Senior Leadership team to ensure that the children
at our School are provided with the very best educational experiences which will help to shape their
futures.
I have over 25 years’ experience as a Governor and have a particular interest in Safeguarding, SEN
and Finance.

I am the Health & Safety Governor here at Cathcart Street Primary School. After leaving college I worked as an Insurance Broker before starting my own business in 1997. Over the 25 year period I managed the business we specialised in insuring new homes against defects and comprised a Managing General Agency, an inspection company with surveyors and engineers, an Approved Inspector for Building Control and a Claims Repair business. I retired from the business in 2022 and am now pleased to be a Governor of Cathcart School.

I have been a Safeguarging Governor here since May 2022. I currently work for Everton in the Community supporting people around issues of homelessness and other housing difficulties. Previous to this I worked in various Youth Justice Services across Merseyside.

I have over 30 years Business experience , with the last 15 in senior leadership roles leading and delivering change management, service delivery , commercial and contract management plus customer service . My experience spans a number of different sectors ; Retail , Utilities, Construction, Customer Service, Energy Services however the thread that connects them all is my passion for creating brilliant working environments where individuals can thrive, be their authentic selves and deliver brilliant services all of which add together to deliver business benefit .

I am proud to be part of the Governing body at Cathcart Primary School and bring my leadership experience to positively challenge and champion the brilliant work the team at school are doing . Our mantra of ‘Learn today, aspire for life’ is applicable to all of us and I’m privileged to work with the dedicated School leadership to support them bringing this to life for each and every student.

My current role is Head teacher of a new SEND primary school in Liverpool. I am the SEND Governor for Cathcart Street Primary School. Previous to this I have had nearly 30 years’ experience as a teacher and Senior leader in schools in Halton and Wirral including mainstream and SEND schools.

I am passionate about teaching and learning and giving all pupils the best possible education experience. I am proud and privileged to be a governor at Cathcart Street Primary school and part of a safe and caring community where the children can blossom and grow.

I currently work as an SEN Casework Officer for Sefton Council after many years working as a primary school teacher, SENDCo and governor for Wirral Council. I am passionate about inclusion and ensuring all children have equal opportunities to education and learning.

I look forward to bringing my passion and expertise to support the school team in developing ‘happy, confident and safe children.’

I started at Cathcart Street in 2010 as a Year 1 teacher for ONE term only and in 2023, I am proud to still be teaching at Cathcart Street. I have always worked in Key Stage 1 and have spent most of my Cathcart career in Year 1. I have taught Year 2 for four years, but unfortunately 2 of those years were Covid lockdown years. Before training to be a teacher, I worked in an office for 15 years and led a team. Having a passion for teaching I left and went to be a Teaching Assistant working in Year 6 first, Year 4 and eventually Year 1 which I left to train to be a teacher. This year I became a school Governor as I wanted to have a more active role in developing the school and opportunities for our pupils to strive to be all that they can.