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 (1989-2010) before moving onto All Hallows Catholic College.  I have been a Foundation Governor at Saint Mary’s since 2011.

 I have worked as an Environmental educator in the North West for over ten 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 school 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 seven subsequent renewals, with the 8^th green flag awarded in July 2025. I trained as an eco-schools assessor in 2011 and have assessed over 90 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 11 schools in Congleton & District, including Saint Mary’s. I am a member of the Congleton Partnership Executive and trustee for the William Dean Countryside and Educational Trust.  I also help with publicity at Sant Mary’s. 

I ran the after-school Garden Club until 2020 (Covid). On several occasions Saint Mary’s held special days with the RHS as a Partner School, with teachers from all over the northwest attending. These sessions help to promote outdoor learning and growing in the school garden.  Each year children from Saint Mary’s join with other local schools to create a mini garden at Congleton Park. These gardens are open to the public each summer and show how we at Saint Mary’s know how important growing, nature and the environment are to people.

At the request of East Cheshire NHS, I designed and managed the creation of a well-being garden at Congleton War memorial Hospital in 2024. This garden was awarded ‘Best new landscape in the NW@ by NW in Bloom.  I was delighted that Year 6 pupils attended one of the planting sessions and presented a special birthday card to the staff to celebrate the 100^th birthday of this local community hospital.

I look forward to continuing to work with children and staff both inside and outside in the school grounds and in the community.