My background, qualifications and experience
My career in education spans 30 years in primary schools in London and Bristol - 10 years in the classroom and 20 years as a Headteacher. Before training as a teacher, I worked for 10 years as an architect. Throughout my adult life I've also been an active, performing musician and a keen global traveller.
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My teaching career began in inner-city London. After 7 years, in two schools, I moved to Bristol, when my children were of primary school age, to take up a Deputy Headship. During my teaching career, I led variously on Maths, Computing, Design Technology and Curriculum Development. I also played a significant role in the promotion of extra-curricular activities, music and in the introduction of whole school learning-to-learn approaches, including ELLI (the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory), Philosophy For Children, and Carol Dweck's Growth mindset theory.
In 2004 I became Headteacher of Henleaze Junior School. I led the school through three Ofsted inspections, each time under a different inspection framework and each time graded “Outstanding”. Regardless of Ofsted's definition of the term, I firmly believe that an outstanding school is a place where there is an excitement about learning, a place where people grow because they are inspired, nurtured and encouraged and above all, a place that always strives to improve.
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Working with a dedicated team of skilled professionals, in each of my schools, we created an environment where everybody feels a sense of belonging. With belonging comes self-belief, and thence aspiration. Children love coming to school because of the excitement and thirst for learning. Every school should and could be like that. In spite of all the challenges faced in education, it should feel like a privilege to get up every morning excited about going in to school, whether you are a member of staff or a student.
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I have always been committed to partnership working and networking. With my colleagues in the north of Bristol, I founded the NW24 Teaching and Learning Partnership in 2015 and chaired the Steering Group until 2023. With more than 24 member schools, including primary, secondary and special sectors, SATs, MATs and LA schools, this network aims to provide consistently high standards of teaching, learning and pastoral care for all children in the area of the city it serves by sharing expertise and resources and organising stimulating, inclusive activities.
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I have served as an executive member of PHAB (the Primary Heads’ Association, Bristol). I am a governor of Elmfield School for the Deaf in Bristol.
Why does an architect become a teacher?
I am often asked what prompted me to move from architecture to teaching. My standard response is that I haven't really moved anywhere: I've taken a series of logical steps, all informed by my decision to study architecture all those years ago, and influenced by personal and external circumstances.
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As a primary school teacher, I found that my training as an architect was a perfect preparation for covering a broad curriculum. Architecture is both creative and scientific, inventive and mathematical. In terms of the national curriculum, my studies encompassed history, geography, physics and chemistry, maths, art, design technology and computing. Architects are communicators, using images and words to persuade clients and instruct builders. They are problem solvers, marshalling many, often conflicting, variables to produce elegant, efficient solutions.
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As a Headteacher, I found that in my daily work I was more intensely involved in "architecture" than I was for a lot of my career in the drawing office. In education, the Headteacher or School Principal or CEO is responsible for designing an environment in which people can flourish. This requires consideration of all the factors which could help or hinder, careful management of the available resources, and constant attention to changes in context. I became an architect in order to design built environments that improved the quality of people's lives. I am proud to say that in my career as an educational leader I was able to design positive, stimulating environments which have set thousands of young people on the path to aspirational and inspirational futures.
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I am indebted to all of the wonderful colleagues that have supported me throughout my career, particularly to those who enabled me to be an effective leader by trusting me, challenging me and following me. Strong leadership requires conviction and humility in equal quantities. Schools thrive when they encourage their staff to develop leadership skills, and when there is a reflective, analytical approach to strategic planning.