Longford Park Primary School

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School Leaders and Teachers

 

  • Mrs Preedy
    Headteacher/ DSL

    Mrs Preedy

    Mrs Preedy is an experienced teacher and leader, having worked for the schools within the GLA since 2022 where she joined as a Co-Headteacher of Rowanfield Infant and Junior School. Prior to that she worked at schools across Gloucestershire having taught across the whole primary range. Originally trained in Early Years, she has taught from reception to Year 6. Mrs Preedy is part of the Foundation curriculum team across the Trust and helps train subject leaders in their role. In her spare time she enjoys spending time travelling and experiencing new cultures. She lives with her two children, cats and a geriatric tortoise, who likes to escape! Mrs Preedy enjoys running, particularly, trail and marathon distances.

  • Mr Clowes - Currently on Adoption Leave
    Assistant Headteacher/ DSL/ Pink Class Teacher (Year 6 Wed - Fri)

    Mr Clowes - Currently on Adoption Leave

    Mr Clowes is a highly experienced teacher who has worked across different age classes in his teaching career. He really enjoys working at Longford Park Primary Academy, alongside all the families who join the school. He is passionate that all children can achieve and become confident individuals during their time at school. Mr Clowes will be overseeing the junior classes supporting all the children with their own learning journeys.

  • Mrs Best
    Blue Class Teacher (Year 1 Weds - Fri) Assistant Headteacher & DSL

    Mrs Best

    Mrs Best has been teaching for 13 years across a range of year groups in different schools in Gloucestershire. Her passion is PE and she encourages children to be actively involved in as much physical activity as possible. She loves to help children blossom and grow to be the best that they can be.

    Mrs Best is covering as Assistant Headteacher while Mr Clowes is on adoption leave. She is job sharing with Mrs Newell in Blue Class (Year 1)

  • Mrs Merrett
    SENDCO

    Mrs Merrett

    Mrs Merrett is a very experienced teacher who joined us from another GLA school in September 2019, Rowanfield Junior School. She enjoys helping children to achieve their very best and hopes that they have fun doing so! Mrs Merrett has worked as part of the GLA for many years and has a particular interest in reading and inclusion. She is in school every Thursday and Friday as SENDCo.

  • Mrs Hampton - Currently on maternity leave
    Pink Class Teacher (Year 6)

    Mrs Hampton - Currently on maternity leave

    Mrs Hampton has been working in the GLA for a number of years now. She enjoys working in KS2 and always looks to ensure that children receive the best possible education and support. Her favourite subjects to teach are English and Reading as she is an avid reader herself. She loves to make learning enjoyable and hope all children will 'Fly High' this year!

  • Mrs Pope
    Orange Class Teacher (Year 5)

    Mrs Pope

    Mrs. Pope joined the school in September 2022, having completed her School Direct PGCE teacher training at other GLA schools. She loves teaching KS2 and her ambition is for all the children in her class to Fly High , continue making great progress and have lots of fun in Year 5! Â

    Mrs. Pope really enjoys helping children to develop their confidence and shine in all areas of the curriculum. She particularly enjoys teaching Philosophy 4 Children (P4C) and hearing all the insightful things the children have to say! She also loves teaching Music and plays the bass guitar outside of school. Â

  • Mr Byles
    Purple Class Teacher (Year 4)

    Mr Byles

    Mr Byles joined Longford Park Primary Academy in 2020 whilst training to be a teacher, where he worked in Year One. He enjoyed getting to know the pupils, staff and families at Longford. Before teacher training, Mr Byles worked in another school as a teaching assistant for ten years, supporting children of all age groups as well as running a breakfast club and an after-school club provision. Mr Byles is a passionate teacher, who wants to make learning exciting and inspire all pupils to achieve their best as well as be their best at Longford.

  • Miss Hibberd
    Green Class Teacher (Year 3)

    Miss Hibberd

    Miss Hibberd joined Longford in 2023 after previously working as an SEN teaching assistant and then going on to complete her PGCE. Miss Hibberd has worked across a range of schools in Gloucestershire, and she strives to provide fun, engaging lessons which enable all pupils to achieve their best. Miss Hibberd's hobbies are art, hiking with her dogs and being a competitive cheerleader and she loves to share these skills with the school.

  • Mrs Evans
    Yellow Class Teacher (Year 2)

    Mrs Evans

    Mrs Evans joins our teaching team in September 2025 in Year 2, having previously worked at another of our GLA schools, Tredington Primary School.

    We look forward to welcoming Mrs Evans to our school!

  • Mrs Newell
    Blue Class Teacher (Year 1 Mon/Tues)

    Mrs Newell

    Mrs Newell joined our teaching staff team in January 2025. She job shares in Blue Class ( Year 1) with Mrs Best.

    Mrs Newell is an experienced teacher who has also worked in another of our GLA Trust schools, Rowanfield Infant School. She is also a familiar face to Longford Park, as her children also attend our school.

  • Mrs Harrison
    Red Class Teacher (Reception Wed - Fri)

    Mrs Harrison

    Mrs Harrison joined Longford in September 2019, and previously worked in Reception in one of our GLA schools for two years. Mrs Harrison, previously known as Miss Valente, before her marriage in June 2022, Â is passionate about working alongside parents to ensure children have the best possible time in Reception. This includes providing the children with activities that are exciting and engaging, and help support their learning and development across all areas of the curriculum.

  • Mrs Badar (Mrs B)
    Red Class Teacher (Reception Mon/Tues)

    Mrs Badar (Mrs B)

    Mrs Badar (known as Mrs B) joined our teaching staff team after the February half term 2025. She teaches Reception Class every Monday and Tuesday.

    Hello! I'm Mrs B, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be returning to teaching after my maternity leave. With 3 years of experience in Reception, I have a deep passion for nurturing young children's curiosity and love for learning. There's nothing more rewarding than helping children take their first steps in their educational journey, and I'm so excited to be part of their growth and development once again. I'm returning to work part-time, and I can't wait to connect with both the children and their families as we embark on this exciting new chapter together!

  • Mrs Hamilton
    HLTA/PPA Cover

    Mrs Hamilton

    Mrs Hamilton has worked at Longford Park primary Academy since it opened in 2017, in various teaching roles and is currently PPA cover for our teaching staff.

    Mrs Hamilton is a integral member of staff, providing invaluable support to our teachers as well as a consistent and familiar presence in the classrooms for the pupils.

  • Miss Overbeck
    Pink Class teacher (Y6 maternity cover)

    Miss Overbeck

    Miss Overbeck is the Pink class teacher and joined the school in October 2025. She has taught on three different continents, and is passionate about learning new things every day. She has experience in secondary schools, and is looking forward to getting the year 6s ready for their bright academic futures.

 As part of the GLA, we have the expertise of a range of specialists who support us:

Melody Thomas:

Melody is the Trust Curriculum Lead. She supports subject leaders and senior leaders weekly at Longford Park Primary School to ensure the children have a progressive, inclusive and knowledge rich curriculum. 

As a Deputy Director of Gloucestershire Research School, she provides CPD and support to LPPA on evidence-informed practice, whilst also supporting schools across the county with Writing as part of an ongoing partnership. 

Laura Spence: 

Laura leads is Director of the EEF Gloucestershire Research School. She has extensive experience of trust wide implementation.

Laura leads ELS phonics across the trust, supporting our phonics and reading leads. 

Jenn Sills:

Jenn Sills is Trust Lead for Social Justice, supporting senior leaders and teachers at LPPA to ensure outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, including Pupil Premium, are always at the forefront of decisions. 

Emma Wale:

Emma Wale is the Trust SEND lead, supporting senior leaders and the SENDCo to ensure barriers for SEND children are understood and minimised. 

Flying High with AI

Our pupils took part in a fascinating assembly all about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it is becoming part of everyday life.

We explored what AI is, how it works and some of the ways it is already used in the world around us — from voice assistants and translation tools to image editing and creative design. The focus of our session was helping children understand that, while AI can be exciting and useful, it can also change how things look and seem in ways that are not always truthful.

As part of the assembly, we showed the children a series of staff photos that had been altered using AI. This led to a thoughtful discussion about how AI can change our perception of reality, especially with images and videos. The children shared mature and insightful reflections about why it’s important not to believe everything we see online and to think critically about digital content.

We were incredibly proud of how engaged and reflective the pupils were. Their ability to question, reason and discuss these big ideas shows just how important digital literacy is for young people growing up in today’s world.

By learning about AI in a safe and supportive environment, our pupils are developing the skills they need to be curious, informed and responsible users of technology.

Below is a video that was made using AI. The children were shown the still image and how this can be manipulated into a video. 

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