Patti Pinto
Type: Foundation Governor

Date of appointment: 01/09/23

Term of office expiry: 31/08/27

Responsibilities: Science Governor

All five of my children attended Saint Mary’s before moving onto All Hallows Catholic College.  I have worked as an Environmental educator in the North West for over seven years advising schools on the environment and sustainability. I have thirty years experience in industry as a toxicologist and project manager.

I have been developing the schools grounds at Saint Mary’s since 2006, raising over £20,000 from a variety of local and national charities to create a series of habitats, orchard and school vegetable garden. I have been on Saint Mary’s Eco Council since 2008 helping the school achieve their first Green Flag and four subsequent renewals. I trained as an eco-schools assessor in 2011 and have assessed over 50 schools in the North West and Midlands for their Green Flags.

I am a founding member of Congleton Sustainability Group, helping Congleton become a Transition Town and acting as the eco coordinator for all 16 schools in Congleton & District, including Saint Mary’s. I am a member of the Congleton Partnership Executive.  I am on the Congleton Fairtrade Steering Group and I am working with a team at school helping Saint Mary’s achieve Fairtrade School status.

I have accompanied the children on many residential trips to Savio House, Tattenhall, Conway and Burwardsley.  In addition to being a member of the Faith and British Values working party, and the School Nutrition Action Group, I am also Publicity Officer for the school.  It is great to work with a team of Governors dedicated to Saint Mary’s with such a varied set of skills and experiences.

I run the Garden Club with a number of parents helping out regularly. In 2013 Saint Mary’s was a Partner School with the RHS and I am working closely with staff and the RHS representative to promote outdoor learning and growing in the school garden.  The school garden has won a number of awards and now is included in the Congleton in Bloom judge’s tours in July & August.  I look forward to continue working with children and staff both inside and outside in the school grounds and in the community. In autumn 2015 we were delighted to supply enough fruit from the school orchard to produce 118 bottles of our own Saint Mary’s Apple Juice.  This has continued annually since then.