David has lived in Weir for the past 15 years (though was originally brought up in Oldham) and is the Chair of Weir Community Partnership.
He is Head of School at Alder Grange Community & Technology School in Rawtenstall, with responsibility for the day-to-day leadership and operation of all aspects of the school. During recent years, the school has achieved a number of awards for the quality of its work, and has been an OfSTED Outstanding school since 2004. He recently had responsibility for coordinating and project managing the planning, construction and commissioning of the school’s new £8m sixth form building, ag6.
‘Had I not joined PEER, having been inspired by Ernesto’s Hippos, then:
- Weir would not have had the vision and confidence needed to raise the £600,000+ required to build its fantastic new community centre, which has made such a difference to the quality of life for many people of all ages in the village.
- I would not now be looking out of my office window at the final stages of an £8m post-16 education building which will be a true community resource. The knowledge the school gained from the experience of being involved with PEER allowed it to form a truly community focussed vision, to provide for the future employment needs of the area, with a ‘grow your own workforce’ philosophy. This vision was welcomed by central and local government in a way that building another ‘bog-standard’ sixth form would not have been. This will be an enduring resource for the valley.
- As a result, I would probably still be working in an 11-16 school, and not be re-discovering the delights of A-level Maths (sad, I know!)
So, £8.6m inward investment to Rossendale can’t be bad!’
David has been a PEER board member from the start of the project, and has remained fully committed to the work of PEER as he has seen the huge difference the board can make both to individuals and communities within Rossendale. As well as supporting a number of David’s friends, colleagues and acquaintances to grow businesses based on their passions, PEER was also instrumental in helping Weir Community Partnership to
secure over £600,000 of investment to enable the construction of the Doals Community Centre in Weir.
His background is in mathematics, science and engineering, though his current
role involves less teaching and more leadership/ management. He is married (to
Helen, a primary Headteacher) and has two sons aged 20 and 15. David has a keen
interest in education issues, and regularly works with, and in, other North
West schools focussing on the effective use of data. He enjoys building and
operating model railways as a hobby, and has attended a number of exhibitions
across the country with his O gauge diesel layout.
