I have been filled with wanderlust from a very young age. After completing an MA in English at St Andrew’s University, followed by a PGCE and a few years of initial teaching, I departed Scotland for adventures in foreign lands. For the past 20 years, I have been teaching, coaching and mentoring in international schools in New Zealand, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Malaysia and, most recently, Bali, Indonesia.
As an English specialist and Head of Department, I have been delivering Cambridge IGCSE and A level for many years and have substantial experience teaching and tutoring students for whom English is not their first language. I have marked for CAIE at all levels. I am a warm, caring and perceptive tutor who enjoys unearthing my students’ literary interests – and also their big dreams for a wild and adventurous life!
For me, the study of literature and language allows us to understand the human experience more deeply. It provides the communication skills necessary to skilfully connect with others, whatever their cultural, economic or social background. Through reading, we get to experience ways of life that would be otherwise unknowable. With this knowledge, we can learn to have a fuller appreciation of what it means to be alive in the 21st Century.
In addition to teaching English, I am an experienced university and career guidance counsellor and life/career transition coach. It is incredibly fulfilling for me to support young people, fellow educationalists and ex-pats from all over the globe on their path to creating meaningful professional and personal lives. Currently, I also volunteer for the Matchlights Scholarship programme that supports high achieving, low-income students with free college counselling.
Outside of my professional roles, I love to go hiking in wild spaces and, after many years in tropical climates, I am currently looking forward to exploring the hills and glens of Scotland on brisk autumn days. I have been a dedicated yogi for over a decade and this year am delighted to be continuing my learning through a year-long Ashtanga teacher training programme. I also enjoy creating healthy bakes with some of the native flours I have been introduced to through my travels, knitting and reading contemporary women’s fiction and memoirs.
I can’t wait to meet you through your English courses and to be your learning companion as we work together to achieve your literary aspirations!
