Helping blind and visually impaired children access the curriculum in the UK was my inspiring and memorable first experience of working in a school. After doing this for three years, I completed my CELTA and spent 6 months as a volunteer EAL teacher in the slums and impoverished neighbourhoods of Delhi. The memory of the (sometimes) upwards of 60 eager, smiling children sitting crossed legged on the dirt floor still serves me as a potent reminder of the power and importance of education.
After this experience, I returned to England and worked in a highly successful secondary school in Bradford (my home town) further honing and developing my teaching philosophy and practices. This was followed by another international position in a prestigious language school based in Vietnam. This school was a loud, vibrant and exciting hub in which I gathered wonderful insights into working with students for whom English is not a first language.
Now fully invested in international education, I went on to spend 3 years teaching in Swaziland and another 4 years in the Middle East. Throughout this time, I completed my PGCE and was lucky enough to work in several world class English departments, each one staffed with supportive colleagues who helped me thrive and find new and effective ways of pushing students to achieve their best.
As well as being part of this exciting school community, I am looking forward to exploring the Czech Republic and taking full advantage of the huge range of family-friendly activities with my two young sons.