East Leicestershire
Nikki Copeland
ncopeland@waltham.risemat.co.uk
Nikki has been teaching for over 15 years and has taught across all year groups. She has previously been a ‘Lead RE’ teacher for Leicestershire Diocese and has worked in partnership to strengthen RE and Collective Worships across Leicestershire schools. She has previous experience of leading RE across the Vale cluster group meetings and developing professional expertise amongst all staff. Nikki is currently EYFS and RE co-ordinator at Waltham-on-the-Wolds Church of England Primary School. CW has always been a very important aspect of school life for Nikki and she believes if it is done effectively it is the beating heart of a school. It is a fantastic way of preparing children for life in our world and enabling them to think and develop spiritually.
Meeting Dates: 26th October
North West Leicestershire
Amy North
Amy is currently the worship lead at Belton CE Primary School, Leicestershire. Throughout the past year, she has worked on reinventing the school’s collective worship and spiritual offer. This is the first time she will have led a local network group but is extremely excited to see how this collaboration will benefit the children that she teaches.
Amy has had experience of leading worship in a small school, where mixed ages and low numbers can have an impact on her work. Also, she has worked with the head teacher to prepare for a SIAMs inspection and ensure that her school has a good Christian ethos. Amy has led worship days based on the school’s Christian values, school bible story and courageous advocacy.
Amy is the the lead for RE and Music and has done so for the past 3 years – this has really supported her changes to the worship in her school. She has a real passion for performance and dance and this reflects in her style and choices in worship. This has meant the children have a greater enjoyment of this time in Amy’s school. Spiritual connection is something very important to Amy and that idea of coming together and connecting is how we can see profound improvements in our lives.
One of Amy’s areas of expertise is ‘diversity’. This topic is something incredibly important to her as she really values the children’s need to see a diverse community outside the village school. She has done work with the St Phillips Centre and the Linking Project to help expand her children’s horizons. In the future, Amy will be working on the Global Neighbours award and the Leicestershire ‘Everyone’s Welcome’ Curriculum.
Meeting Dates: 23rd October
Secondary Lead
Edel Hawthorne
My name is Edel Hawthorne and I have worked at Brockington College for ten years. I am head of drama but also take on the role as Collective Worship lead at the college. I am passionate about working in a church school and want my pupils to be provided with opportunities to explore faith and what it means to follow Christ. It is important that Collective worship is engaging and inclusive for all pupils in our school. I am looking for ways to make it more innovative year on year…
Meeting Dates: 11th Oct, 7TH Feb, 22nd May