I have worked as a senior leader in TEAL schools since 2005 and it has been a pleasure to progress in my career during those 20 years. Through the diverse opportunities I have enjoyed, I have never been short of a professional challenge!

Early in my Trust career, as Director of Sixth Form and then Assistant Headteacher at South Hunsley, the work I was doing built on my accreditation as an Advanced Skills Teacher for teaching and learning, deepening my understanding and leadership of school improvement. As a member of the South Hunsley senior leadership team, I was responsible for our programmes of professional development. I then became involved in devising and delivering programmes of school improvement as part of the government’s National Support School strategy, offering school-to-school support, both locally and nationally, and helping to raise standards at every level from teaching to leadership. 

In 2014, I was given the opportunity to write and lead South Hunsley’s successful bid to form a Teaching School Alliance with other East Yorkshire and Humberside institutions. This gave me great experience of collaborating with local school leaders, stakeholders, Local Authority representatives and the DfE, to champion research-led practice, initial teacher training and school-to-school support in our partnership.

The knowledge gained from this project gave me the confidence to take on the most challenging project of my career thus far: the delivery of the first Free School in the East Riding, Hunsley Primary, from initial planning in 2013 through to opening in 2015, taking on the role of Headteacher, which I continue to enjoy to this day. We will celebrate our ten-year anniversary in September 2025.

Being a member of the TEAL headteachers’ team, I value working very closely with other heads, as well as contributing to the Yorkshire Wolds SCITT programme as one of the founding school partners, supporting the development of the next wave of teachers.

Most recently, I have been excited to join a group of school and MAT leaders from across the country on the Cradle-to-Career programme, led by the Reach Foundation, London. This is a development project which focuses on schools as regenerative community institutions, aiming to enrich children’s and families’ experiences from Early Years to 18. I feel fortunate that my varied career, teaching children from EYFS to Sixth Form, and leading teams to do the same, really has equipped me with first-hand understanding of the school journey as a powerful foundation for life. I look forward to implementing the learning I am gaining from this programme in my work to come.