Meet the Barnabas Schools' Team
Below you can download a PDF of the Team profile for each member of the Barnabas Schools' Team. Each profile also includes a photo of the Team Member.
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- Anne Offler
- Chip Colquhoun
- Chris Hudson
- Dave Jenkins
- David Pollendine
- Graham Nunn
- Heather Butler
- James Hamilton
- Jane Tibbs
- Jane Butcher
- Jane Whittington
- John Hardwick
- Joy Howell
- Ken Wylie
- Linda Galpin
- Lisa Debney
- Lynne Wright
- Martyn Payne
- Sean Arberry
- Stephen Mott
- Veronica Priest
Anne Offler
Anne trained as a primary school teacher and has had experience working across all of the age ranges with special interest in storytelling, crafts, PE and ICT. She currently works in Durham as a Children's and Youth Development Worker in the Methodist Church. This entails lots of contact with children in and out of school settings, and includes assemblies and some curriculum work.
Chip Colquhoun
Chip leads Barnabas RE Days in and around East Anglia. He is one of the founding partners of Snail Tales (www.snailtales.org).
Chris Hudson
I'm an experienced primary teacher, subject leader and educational author, working in the north-east for Barnabas in Schools, which is part of the work of Bible Reading Fellowship, a Christian educational registered charity. Our aim is both to encourage and to equip primary teachers to teach about Christianity and the Bible, and to provide exciting pupil workshops (Barnabas RE Days) that enable pupils to explore these topics creatively.
Dave Jenkins
Dave trained as an actor, writer and director with a professional theatre company in Ontario, Canada. He was involved with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for 4 years, taking drama teams to countries such as Guyana, Honduras, Latvia and Estonia. Dave spent 13 years working as full-time Director of Creative Arts at a church in Luton, where he was responsible for bringing creative arts, drama and videos into the life of the church.
David Pollendine
After completing a degree and PGCE in Physical Education, David spent a decade in the Czech Republic where he taught and helped to establish the National Student Christian Union. During this period, he set up a community theatre project in Haje, one of the largest housing estates in Prague. David returned to the UK to study Physical Theatre and Mime at the Desmond Jones School, and Acting Studies at Morley College.
In 2004, David took up a full-time post at the Church Mission Society as a Youth & Children's Adviser and continued working creatively, writing and putting on a number of Theatre in Education (TIE) tours aimed at Key Stages 2 and 3 working with hundreds of schools nationwide.
Graham Nunn
Graham has a wealth of experience in making the gospel message come alive for children and young people. As the Children's Missioner in the Diocese of Canterbury, Graham has worked with different age groups in churches and schools throughout Kent, as well as further afield.
Since 2008, he has been using these skills as part of the Barnabas Children's Ministry Team to lead Barnabas RE Days in schools and church events for adults and children.
Heather Butler
Heather has over 30 years teaching experience in primary schools across the UK. She now teaches part time.
She has written over 30 books for children and for use in schools, including 35 Stories to Make You Think (BRF, Barnabas, 2008), which address a range of topical and often sensitive issues relevant to the lives of children in Years 3 - 6.
James Hamilton
As an experienced actor, writer, director and children's leader, James has been involved in theatre and children's work throughout the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the USA and Africa for over a decade.
Jane Butcher
Jane joined the Barnabas Children's Ministry Team in September 2007. She had previously been a children's worker in a large church in Birmingham and before that in a church in the USA. Having originally trained as a teacher, she moved into church ministry some 15 years ago and has a broad range of experience.
Jane Tibbs
Based in Somerset, Jane has a background in education, having been a teacher and Headteacher before moving into church ministry eleven years ago. She has a wide experience of primary school teaching, and has taught music and drama in secondary schools. She was also the head of a multi-national school in Saudi Arabia. Since leaving teaching, she has continued to be involved with schools as a governor and also as an Inspector of Church of England schools (SIAS).
Jane Whittington
Jane has a BEd (Hons) and MA in Early Years and Primary Education and has taught Reception through to Year six.
For most of her teaching career, Jane has been the RE subject leader and has been involved in developing creative approaches to teaching RE while meeting the requirements of the syllabus. In her last school, she worked with Orison and Prayer Spaces in Schools to develop reflective prayer spaces for the children. These ideas are now being developed in schools across the country.
John Hardwick
Based in Cambridgeshire, John primarily covers Barnabas RE Days in East Anglia. He works under the banner of 'counties' and 'children worldwide' to present the Christian message in an exciting non-confessional way, which appeals to children of all ages. Equally well received in schools and churches, John is a bit like a modern jester, juggling, singing and telling stories. He set up GenR8 teams, which are schools teams in over 100 primary schools in Cambridgeshire.
Joy Howell
Joy has been involved with children all of her working life, mostly in formal education. She trained as a primary teacher, specialising in RE, but during her 16 years in education she has taught every primary year group from Reception to Year 6, and children from a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Ken Wylie
Based in London, Ken covers Barnabas RE Days in Greater London, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire. His area of expertise is mime and physical theatre, having trained with Dave Hopwood (formerly Creative Director at Lee Abbey) and at The Desmond Jones School of Mime and Physical Theatre in London.
Linda Galpin
Linda trained as a nursery and infant teacher but has taught classes throughout the primary age range before taking time out to have four children. During that time, she continued to be involved with children in preschools, running toddler groups and leading collective worship in schools.
Linda now works with 4 - 11 year olds in local schools. She does this through REinspired, who work with local schools to support the delivery of inspiring and creative RE lessons. Linda is a coordinator of the volunteer team.
Lisa Debney
Based in West Yorkshire, Lisa leads Barnabas RE Days across Yorkshire. Trained in dance at Surrey University, she currently dances with TranscenDance Company.
Lisa has a keen interest in both visual arts and the written word, and enjoys combining art, writing and movement to provide a rich stimulus for learning.
Lynne Wright
Based in Ilkley, Lynne primarily covers Barnabas RE Day bookings across Yorkshire using dance and movement as the basis of the workshops. She is an accomplished performer and choreographer with considerable experience of both professional and community dance. For many years she co-ordinated the Yorkshire/Humberside Christian Dance Fellowship, and is the founder and Artistic Director of TranscenDance Company.
Martyn Payne
Based in east London, Martyn leads Barnabas RE Days across the UK. After 18 years as a teacher of RE and languages, he joined the Church Mission Society as a Children's Education Officer, working in schools and churches nationally.
Martyn runs workshops in both schools and churches. His workshops enable children to step into the Christian story and bring the Bible alive through a variety of storytelling methods. He also has experience in the planning and leading of festivals and school events.
Sean Arberry
Sean has been a professional television and theatre actor since 1985, touring with many different companies. He directed The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for a UK National Tour on behalf of Vanessa Ford Productions.
Sean has taught drama in London theatre schools and is currently a freelance drama teacher in Devon.
Stephen Mott
Born in Yorkshire, Stephen has been a life-long churchgoer, first as a member of the local Sunday school and later as part of a youth fellowship. His interest in church music started at around the same time - he is a competent church organist and has played regularly for many years, at one stage being Organist and Director of Music at Shipley St Paul's Church, Yorkshire.
Stephen has taught in schools most of his life, mainly but not exclusively at secondary level. About ten years ago, he retrained to teach RE, having taught Science, Geography and Geology for several years before that.
Veronica Priest
Based in Lancashire, Veronica leads Barnabas RE Days across the northwest of England. She has over 20 years experience of primary school teaching, with leadership responsibility for Arts and Humanities subjects. She also has considerable experience in the teaching and coordination of RE and Collective Worship in a wide range of schools.