Since qualifying for Primary teaching in 1990 I have spent over 30 years working across the whole Primary age range with children from 4-11 years of age – and I love it! There is nothing like the buzz and satisfaction of someone loving learning and finding that they can achieve things they never thought possible, whilst all the time having fun and finding their inner confidence.
I teach the whole curriculum but my particular passion is teaching literacy skills. To establish a love of reading and writing is one of the best gifts you can give, enabling a lifetime of self-expression and the skills needed to do anything a person desires. It is this belief that led me to lead English in school for almost 20 years, spending eight years as Assistant Headteacher whilst developing a program of ‘catch up’ for those disillusioned children who have a belief that they cannot read and write.
It was the most satisfying time of my career to see children blossom into avid learners. They became successful students using the nurturing strategies of gardening, cooking and lots of talking to develop those all-important skills in English, and realised that they can achieve and learn now that they have some self-confidence.
I also enjoyed researching the best strategies for supporting students who are new to English and sharing the results of that research in a town-wide project which led to many of us learning new skills.
When I am not teaching, I enjoy the great outdoors, walking and gardening. I love any number of crafts and can usually be found sewing, silversmithing, trying new workshops – either that or engrossed in a book which I seem to get through far too quickly!
