Hi I am Mary Burns
I am proud to say I am a member of the Eighton Banks Village Hall and have been on the committee at the Village Hall for 25+ years and have been Secretary for the past 10 years where I was very active in the asset transfer from Gateshead Council to our CIC charity. I wrote the business plan for the transfer and am instrumental in fundraising for the hall. I have been a youth worker at the Hall for 25+ years both as a paid worker and latterly as a volunteer.
My work background is in UK post 16 education I initially trained as a Catering and Childcare teacher working for Monday Crescent Ltd who were a training provider in Newcastle, before moving to Gateshead Council Learning Skills where I worked for 23+ years, I taught Cookery, the Support Worker Qualifications and Childcare, before moving to our SEND curriculum area where I became a development officer for Learning Skills in the SEND area. I then gained promotion to unit Curriculum lead and gained status as Lead Internal Verifier for Learning Skills.
I am an advocate of lifelong learning and continuing professional development. I have several interests primarily Special Educational Needs and inclusive education. I am also interested in helping to develop and support trainee teachers and those commencing careers in teaching. During my time in Post 16 and SEND education, I mentored trainee teachers to work in the SEND setting. I have also developed the SEND training course which I delivered as staff training in our department.
I joined the Parish Council in September 2021 as I am passionate about the area of Eighton Banks and want to work with the parish council and local community to make it even more special.