Meet the Staff
2026/2027
Head Teacher
Mrs Christine Brentnall is the Head Teacher
Deputy Head Teacher / Year 6
Mr Jonathan Hornsby is the Deputy Head Teacher.
Year 6
Mrs Jill Stamper and Mr Jonathan Hornsby are the Year 6 Teachers. Mrs Deborah Garnett is the Teaching Assistant.
Year 5
Miss Sophie Daglish is the Year 5 Teacher. Ms Larissa Jones is the Teaching Assistant.
Year 4
Mrs Magda Ryczel is the Year 4 Teacher. Mrs Lisa Knowles, Mrs Carol Tallentire, Mrs Deborah Garnett and Mrs Kath Brown are the Teaching Assistants.
Year 3
Mr Joshua Blood (Assistant Head Teacher/SEND and Inclusion Lead) is the Year 3 Teacher and Mrs Jackie Whittaker is the Teaching Assistant.
Year 2
Mr Findlay Provan is the Year 2 Teacher. Miss Laura Burnikell and Mrs Marie Punshon are the Teaching Assistants.
Year 1
Mrs Sinead Armstrong is the Year 1 Teacher. Mrs Beccy Richards and Mrs Rachel Griffths are the Teaching Assistants.
Reception Class
Mrs Chantel Ferguson is the Foundation Stage Teacher. Miss Gemma Hodges and Miss Katie Allport are the Early Years Teaching Assistants.
Nursery
Mrs Catherine White is the Nursery teacher and EYFS Lead. Mrs Claire Taylor and Miss Aislinn Paley are the Early Years Teaching Assistants. Miss Abigail Hodgson is the Early Years Teaching Assistant apprentice.
Reading Champion
Mrs Barbara Hawman is our Reading Champion.
Support Staff
We have invaluable support staff here at Cleves Cross who are an integral part of our school team.
Mrs Emily Ebdon is the School Office Manager and Mrs Ruth Hardy and Mrs Carol Tallentire are the Administrative Assistants.
Mr Vince Carr is the Caretaker. Mrs Margaret Hall, Mrs Joanne Horner, Mrs Amy Davies, and Mrs Wan Sexton are the School Cleaners.
Lunchtime Supervisory Assistants
We have Lunchtime Supervisors – Mrs Diane Podmore-Hayat, Mrs Amy Davies, Mrs Michelle Hutchinson, Mrs Lindsay O’Neill and Mrs Jo-Anne White.
School Lunch Team
Our School Lunch Staff are a key part of our School Team. Mrs Alison Malkin is the Unit Manager, whilst Mrs Margaret Hall and Mrs Joanne Horner provide assistance.
Our Rights Respecting Ambassadors attended the Armistice Service at the Town Hall today, paying their respects and remembering all those who made the ultimate sacrifice. We are very proud of them for representing our school with dignity and respect. ... See MoreSee Less
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Year 5 have arrived at Newton Aycliffe and are ready for their multi skills event! Thanks Go Well ⚽️🤾♀️⛹️♀️🏓 ... See MoreSee Less
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Year 5 have had a lovely walk up to Ferryhill library this morning. 📚❤️👩🏼🏫 ... See MoreSee Less
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What a great first week back for Year 1! The children came back with a wonderful attitude to learning and have started off the term with so much energy! We started our new Geography topic, “Where I Live” by exploring our local community and sharing observations about our surroundings. The excitement continued as we introduced our brand-new Curious Quests characters - the children can't wait to follow them on their learning adventures! Throughout the week, it was wonderful to see everyone exploring and extending their learning across our continuous provision areas. To finish off the week we had a parent story time 📚 A big thank you to the grown-ups who joined us, the children loved having you all there! We are looking forward to another fantastic week ahead! 😃 ... See MoreSee Less
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Don’t forget to go along to the junior park run tomorrow! This could be the week we win the trophy again!✨ SCHOOLS SURVEY IS BACK IN THE MORNING ✨
It’s that day of the month where we take a tally of the schools of our participants to see which school brings the highest % of their school to our event.
There are two trophies up for grabs:
INNER SPENNYMOOR TROPHY - It’s been Rosa Street’s for the last two months, where previously it lived at Kirk Merrington. The only other school to have won in the past has been King Street. Usually in the Top 3 are either St Charles or Tudhoe Colliery with good showings from Springmoor Grange as well. Last month saw a big increase for Middlestone Moor, and were hoping for the same from North Park too!
OUTER SPENNYMOOR TROPHY - This is the trophy for the school that brings the highest % from a school outside of Spennymoor. Current holders are Escomb, and previous winners have been Cleves Cross, Toft Hill and Dean Bank .. will one of these schools take the trophy back to their school or is it another schools time?
Remember, the speed the course is completed does not matter, each junior is counted equally whether they are the first, fifth, fifteenth or fiftieth finisher. ... See MoreSee Less
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Year 4 have had a busy but exciting week learning about area in maths and setting up a folder in computing. They especially enjoyed creating different shapes using Post-it notes to check how the area changes. ... See MoreSee Less
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What a brilliant trip Year 2 had to Durham Cathedral! The children loved learning about the life of St Cuthbert through drama and costumes. They really enjoyed seeing the Cathedral and hearing about the history of the building, they’re all history and RE experts now! ⭐ ... See MoreSee Less
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We had such a lovely day in Nursery on Wednesday. First, we were joined by Jami, an artist who helped us to make some beautiful rangoli patterns linked to our learning about Diwali. Then, in the afternoon, we welcomed our grown ups to join us for storytime and songs. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us! 🪔📚 ... See MoreSee Less
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Reception class absolutely loved their first visit to Ferryhill Library this morning! We enjoyed listening to a story, completing a book hunt and colouring in with our friends. We already can’t wait for our next visit! 📚❤️ ... See MoreSee Less
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