BSc, Newcastle
What attracted you to Bedales?
The great reputation, and eight years of a very good friend of mine who used to work here telling me how wonderful it was. It was a simple case of the more I learned about it, the more I wanted to work here. We are now a few weeks into term and I am still learning more and more every day about all the amazing initiatives and events that the school has played a role in. I feel very privileged and excited to be a part of the future of Bedales.
What were you doing previously?
I was a head of year at St Anne’s Catholic School in Southampton; a large inner city girls school where over 47 different languages were spoken as a first language. I was there for eight years in a variety of roles over my time. My favourite memory of my time there being the day that we had an outside agency come in who put the whole of my year group in prison for the day so that they could experience it “from the inside”. By breaktime they were so involved that during “exercise” around the playground some were passing HELP ME! Notes to the staff and trying to pinch tea spoons at lunch to tunnel their way to freedom. Watch out Bedalians!
Who/what inspires you?
I get inspired by people who are passionate about what they do, and my stubborn streak makes me want to take on any challenge that I am told that I won’t be able to do. Thankfully I have a wonderful and very understanding husband who indulges my passions and is even prepared to come and live on a school campus to allow me to take inspiration from the young people of Bedales - and hopefully I will be able to inspire some of them in return.
Tell us something not a lot of people know about you.
Many years ago, (although perhaps not enough) I appeared on Blue Peter dressed as a Viking as part of the Viking long boat festival in York. The boys' and girls' first eights at school decided that we would like to combine forces and enter a team in the Jorvic Viking festival longboat race. Our cox thought it would be funny to invite Blue Peter along. So, a few months later we found ourselves quivering in our outfits (our headmaster having decided that for the race itself there would be no fancy dress and we would be in our usual school strip all-in–ones) as we stared at our longboat with Konnie Huq as our honorary member. Sadly victory was not to be ours as our opponents were a team of men in their early 30’s who were Viking longboat sea rowers from Sweden, but we did all receive our Blue Peter badges as a consolation prize and thankfully it was in the pre you tube era so footage is very difficult to get hold of!