Year(s) and Subject(s) Taught
Year 5,6, 8 Maths • Year 5,6,8,9 French • Section Head of Year 5 and 6
How long have you been teaching?
26 years.
What do you do in your free time?
Go out to local restaurants with my family, cook, taxi service to my three teenagers.
Why did you become a teacher? Why did you choose teaching as a profession?
I had taken part in several summer camps teaching TEFL to foreign students and running activities and also as part of my French degree I worked as an English Assistant in a school on the outskirts of Paris. I enjoyed working with kids so the PGCE course seemed like a natural fit.
Tell us about your own education journey.
I completed my BA Single Honours in French (with subsidiary - Spanish) in University College of Wales-Lampeter. I then worked for a year as a Housemistress in Badminton School Bristol – running a house for the 14-16 years old girls. After that I completed my PGCE in Modern Languages and PE at Swansea University.
What is the most memorable moment in your teaching career so far?
The highlights for me are when students I have taught previously get in touch to say that they have decided to take French / Spanish at University and claim that it is because of the fun they had when they first started learning the language with me, that led them down this route.
What do you like most about teaching?
The light bulb moment when you can see the penny drop on a difficult concept and a pupil’s face lights up. The fun you can have with pupils in the classroom.
What is the best thing about teaching at your school?
Being given my pastoral role – although it is exhausting and the workload can be overwhelming on occasion – I enjoy establishing the close working relationships I have with my team of tutors and pupils within my section.
Who or what inspires you?
Teachers who can control a large group of pupils just by looking at them, because they have established such an amazing rapport with their pupils. My old PE teachers from school – Miss Clutterbuck who persevered with me and got me to county level at high jump and hurdles.
