Staff

 

Headteacher – Mrs Rowen Prigg

Mrs Prigg has lived in Essex since she was 6 and did live in Galleywood when her son was first born. At 13, Mrs Prigg moved to sunny South Africa for four years, spending holidays travelling around Africa. Mrs Prigg completed her teaching training in 1997, having attended a University in Wales. Her first teaching job was actually at Danbury St John’s school where she started school when she moved to the area as a child. Three years ago Mrs Prigg worked as a Deputy Head and SENCo and then became Head of School for two years. 

Mrs Prigg is married with two children and has a spotty dog called Oscar who she enjoys running with. Running is one of Mrs Prigg’s favourite pastimes and she has completed two marathons! Now she just runs so that she can continue to eat crisps, her favourite! When younger, Mrs Prigg was called the Pepsi Max girl because of her zest for trying new things like jumping from planes, running marathons, canyoning and white water rafting!

Deputy Headteacher – Mrs Lisa Dines

Mrs Dines was born and raised in Essex. Before becoming a teacher, she had a ‘proper’ job in London! She was inspired to train to become a teacher when she saw the impact that great teachers had on her daughter when she started school. Now that her children are grown up, Mrs Dines enjoys going on warm summer holidays, reading, walking her dog and watching murder-mystery series. She dislikes sprouts, being cold and spiders!

Special Needs Co-ordinator – C Ladbrook

Mrs Ladbrook grew up in Chelmsford, where she also went to primary and secondary school. During her secondary school years, Mrs Ladbrook was lucky enough to have opportunities to travel widely and visited Greenland, Iceland, Borneo, Malaysia, Slovakia, Germany and Poland – to name but a few. Fast-forward many years, and after finishing her A-levels, Mrs Ladbrook went to university in London to study Geography as she was inspired by the amazing world around her and, still to this day, considers Sir David Attenborough one of her greatest heroes!  After finishing her university studies, Mrs Ladbrook embarked on her teacher training and went on to teach children across years 3 to 6 in a Chelmsford junior school for many years. Looking for a new challenge, Mrs Ladbrook trained to become a SENCO and has now been in the role for nearly three years. In her spare time, Mrs Ladbrook enjoys swimming, reading, drawing, watching films and going on days out with her husband and two daughters – mostly to the park, zoo or somewhere else outdoors!  

Class Teachers

Mrs Orton

Mrs Orton grew up in Colchester before going to university in Norwich. She completed her teacher training at the University of East Anglia before gaining her first teaching post in Lawford, Essex. Her second post at East Bergholt Primary School enabled her to teach creatively and develop her skills in using drama and dance and a Mantle of the Expert approach. Mrs Orton aims to inspire a love of writing in her pupils. She is a keen poet and has a dream of publishing her very own novel one day. Travelling is another big passion and her classroom is a showcase of artefacts collected from many different countries.

Miss Morris

I was born and raised in Shenfield in Essex and grew up loving the outdoors, horse riding and travelling. As an adult I have continued to enjoy travelling and have acquired a love for unusual foods and love to cook and share meals with friends and family. I have two children 16 and 14 who also love to spend time outdoors. We often go geocaching (a bit like a treasure hunt). I qualified as a teacher once my children were at secondary school, this has allowed me to bring lots of life experience to my role at St Michael’s including seven years spent as an LSA at another Chelmsford school. It’s a privilege to be able to share my passions and interests with not only my own children but those that I teach too.

Mr Archer

Mr Archer grew up in Essex before going to university in Leicester where he studied Drama. When he left University he worked in the pub trade for 3 years where he started off as an Assistant Manger in The White Horse in Great Baddow. From there, he moved to Thundersley, Hornchurch, Romford, Bury St Edmonds and Braintree moving up to a Managerial position. He then decided that he did not want to run pubs anymore and worked with his Dad for a year fitting windows and doors so that he could pay to get his teaching degree. He has now been a teacher for 7 years (as at 2022) and has found a true love for teaching and Science; organising many different experiments, experiences and Science days in the schools that he has worked in. Mr Archer was previously the Behaviour Lead and Science Lead in his last school. He has a dog called Jasper that he enjoys taking on long walks on every opportunity that he gets.

Miss Faldo

Miss Faldo was born and raised in Essex. From a very early age, it was her dream to become a primary school teacher. After Miss Faldo finished her Education degree at The University of East Anglia, she qualified as a teacher with Essex and Thames SCITT. After her first two years of teaching, she took a break and went on an adventure working with Disney Cruise Line travelling Europe, America and the Caribbean. When she got back, and was ready to settle, she started working as supply staff at St Michael’s where she is now excited to begin a more permanent role as Class teacher. When not at work, Miss Faldo enjoys going to the theatre, reading and travelling. 

Mrs Abe

Mrs Abe was born in Cornwall but has lived all over the world including in Saudi Arabia and Japan where she taught English and met her husband. Returning to England after the COVID pandemic, both Mr and Mrs Abe spent a year studying in Manchester before Mr Abe found a job with Colchester United FC, which meant a relocation to the east of England where Mrs Abe has never lived before. Mrs Abe is enjoying exploring a new area of the UK and has taken up rowing as a peaceful alternative to rugby which was her preferred sport for many years until age and injury forced a retirement. Alongside exercise and being outside, Mrs Abe enjoys reading, playing video games, singing and music. Mrs Abe is looking forward to getting to know 6A and St Michael’s this year.

Mrs Nicholls

Mrs Nicholls grew up in Essex with her family. After going to university in Manchester, she trained to become a teacher and has worked in Hainault, Chelmsford and Hutton. She has a little boy and girl, who keep her very busy! Mrs Nicholls enjoys baking, going on holiday and exploring new places with her husband and children.

Miss James

Miss James grew up in Chelmsford with her family. When Miss James left school, she trained to become a teacher at a university in Twickenham, the home of England rugby. She has a little dog called Henry – he is a working cocker spaniel, who absolutely loves belly rubs and going to the beach. Miss James enjoys going out for long dog walks, going on hot summer holidays and cooking at the weekends.

Mrs Turner

Mrs Turner grew up in Hutton with her family, before moving to Chelmsford in 2024. Prior to becoming a teacher, she started a career in Wealth Management but after a few years realised that she wanted to be a teacher. Mrs Turner began her journey into teaching by studying with The Open University whilst working as an LSA in another Essex School. She then completed her teacher training. In her spare time, Mrs Turner enjoys playing netball, spending time with friends and going on holiday.

Mrs Archer – Spanish Teacher

Born and raised in Madrid, Mrs Archer moved to England in 1989, bringing with her a deep love of Spanish culture and language. Whilst raising her children, she studied Health and Social Care with the Open University and later trained as a language tutor at Anglia Ruskin University. She began her teaching career at the ACL, where she taught Spanish from beginner to GCSE level.

Now in her second year at St. Michael’s, she loves making Spanish lessons fun to keep the children engaged and create a positive learning experience.

When she’s not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family and her cat, Sapphire. She also loves travelling, exploring different cultures, and playing the ukulele.

Mrs Cullen – Pastoral Care Manager

I’ve worked here at St.Michael’s since January 2009 after moving from a school in Rayleigh where I worked for four years. Prior to working in schools, before my children were born, I worked in Personnel and Management (children are much more interesting!)

My job title here is ‘Pastoral Care Manager’ and in a nutshell that means working alongside the teachers and the SENCo to support them with any emotional or practical barriers that are preventing a child’s learning. This could be anything from enabling a family access to a foodbank, through signposting parents and carers to organisations that can support them with their families, to referring children and families to external agencies such as Kids Inspire or the YMCA and all things in between.

If you are worried about your child then the first point of call should be the class teacher, however, there are times where you need to speak to someone ‘now’. I work full time and can be contacted in school by calling 01245 472682 and choosing option 2. If I don’t answer, you can leave a voicemail with your name and number and I will call you back as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can come into the school reception and I may be free to see you immediately.

It’s impossible to list all the things I can help you or your child with, so please feel free to contact me to talk anything through. Be assured, if I can’t help directly– I will know someone who can. Also, please familiarise yourself with our ‘Wellbeing and Safety’ section on the school’s website. Here you will find information about safeguarding, mental health, emotional wellbeing and online safety.

Support staff

  • H Scott (HLTA)
  • J Hanberger (HLTA)
  • S Taverner
  • C Power
  • C Washbourn
  • A Pearman
  • L Lawrence
  • L Gannicott
  • W Martyn
  • S Brown
  • E Coburn
  • N Nair

Wrap Around Care Staff:

  • H Scott
  • C Washbourn
  • K Ross

Catering Staff:

  • R Scotto Di Carlo
  • G Cusnir

Midday Assistants:

  • D Francis (Midday Supervisor)
  • K Ross
  • E Hunt
  • H Evans
  • W Martyn

Office Staff

  • R Barnes – Business Manager
  • E Best – Admin Staff/ K Morris (maternity cover)
  • L Homewood – Admin staff

Site Manager

  • Site Manager – R McAdam

Cleaning staff

  • Our cleaning is undertaken by the team at Reflection Perfection