Members of The Priory Academy LSST's LGB come from a wide variety of different backgrounds. Below you will find a short biography of each of our thirteen Governors. Please click on the following link for details of appointments and attendance:

Governing Body Membership 2026-27 and Attendance 2025-26

Ms VIctoria Townshend (Chair)

Vic Townshend is a senior NHS leader and Portfolio Director with NHS England’s Get It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme. She leads national work on Population Health Management and reducing health inequalities, helping NHS trusts and health & care systems use data and evidence to improve outcomes for people and communities. With more than 16 years’ experience across NHS provider and system roles, Vic has led major transformation programmes and developed strong partnerships across health, local government, and community sectors. Her background spans strategy, service improvement, and governance, with a focus on turning evidence into practical action and delivering measurable results.

Before joining NHS England, Vic led the design and implementation of the Lincolnshire Population Health Management Blueprint, supporting integrated planning and data-driven decision-making across the county’s health and care system. Earlier in her career, she held senior operational roles in hospital services, gaining hands-on experience in leading teams and improving performance.

Vic became Chair of Governors at The Priory Academy LSST in 2022, having served on the governing body for several years. She is committed to high standards, strong governance, and helping every student achieve their potential. All four of Vic’s children attended LSST, with her youngest son finishing in summer 2024, giving her a long-standing and personal connection to the school community.

Dr Chloe Gilgan 

Dr Chloë Gilgan is a Senior Lecturer in law and Deputy Director of Research at the University of Lincoln Law School where she leads modules on constitutional law and public international law, supervises dissertations, provides pastoral support for students, and was the former Chair of the School's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee.  She was awarded and completed her ESRC White Rose Post-doctoral Fellowship and ESRC-funded PhD at the University of York. She also holds a Juris Doctorate (JD) from New York Law School and a BA in Urban Studies/Film from Barnard College, Columbia University. She was awarded the Professor Lung-Chu Chen Award for Excellence in the Field of Human Rights for her public service to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, the Crown Prosecution Service (London), the Women’s Rights Project at the national office of the ACLU in New York, the New York State Division of Human Rights and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2009 and then worked at a London law firm handling US and UK immigration before embarking on an academic career. She has presented her research at over 20 national and international conferences, and her research has been widely published in leading academic journals and as evidence for the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Her recent book on Lessons from Syria will be published by Routledge. She is committed to using her expertise, skills, and networks to support the development of the school for all staff and students. Chloë's two children attend Priory LSST. 

Dr Nicola Chanamuto

Dr Nicola Chanamuto is a Senior Lecturer in Academic Evaluation at the University of Lincoln.

Based in the Centre for Education and Students, her role involves teaching on the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PgCert HE) and the Learning and Skills Teacher Apprenticeship, which equip staff to teach in higher education (HE).

Leading the Advance HE fellowship scheme at the University allows Nicola to identify and ensure excellent teaching and learning support practice is formally recognised. She works on various strategic projects across the University and is particularly passionate about supporting those who are new to teaching.

Nicola’s background is in sociology and migration studies. Her academic research looks at addressing attainment gaps, preventing gender-based violence in education, and the experiences of international staff teaching in the UK.

Her work is grounded in principles of inclusive education, ethics of care, antiracist and reflective practice.

Nicola acts as an External Examiner for the University of Dundee, is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and a trained writing retreat facilitator. Before joining higher education, she worked in local government and various charities and social enterprises.

An alumna of LSST herself, Nicola lived and worked in Sussex, London and Singapore before returning to Lincoln ten years ago. She has two children currently attending the school.

Mr Matthew Thornton 

Matt Thornton is a senior officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF), with over 20 years of leadership and operational experience within the military. Having undertaken a number of demanding appointments throughout his service, including policy related roles within the Ministry of Defence, his most recent role has seen him serve as the Station Commander at RAF Cranwell – a key training establishment within the RAF. In this role he was responsible for ca. 4000 people, as their Commanding Officer, ensuring that standards, discipline, and welfare were maintained. A challenging undertaking that has provided him significant experience dealing with complex people issues, estate management challenges, budgetary constraints and accountability. All of which he hopes will support his role as governor. Significantly, he was the Designated Safeguarding Lead for the Station, ensuring that appropriate safeguarding policy was both in place, and importantly always adhered to. This required strong leadership to establish robust processes to set, monitor and assure safeguarding activity. He is an experienced instructor who is passionate about developing people, believing strongly in the power of effective coaching and mentoring.

 Matt’s daughter attends LSST and he is keen to take an active role in her education and support the school in whatever way he can. He hopes that his previous experience may bring a different and useful perspective to the role.