A little about me. First of all I am a Dad and husband! I have three amazing children and a wonderful wife (who also works in education). My eldest has just started Key Stage 2, my middle one has just started Key Stage 1 and my youngest has just started Nursery. Being a Dad puts an interesting perspective on being an educator. I am seeing schooling from both sides of the classroom door now, and it is hard work to not be a teacher all the time!
I am a passionate educator with 13 years experience. I have been an advanced skills teacher specialising in Science and Initial Teacher Training, and also spent four years working as a Headteacher in a rural Lincolnshire Primary school. I have developed a very keen interest in curriculum development, ever since being asked to write a whole school science curriculum just three months into my NQT year.
I have been fortunate to work for two excellent Headteachers in my career. One of them had a passion for curriculum, and even when many schools were going down the route of defining their curriculum by the use of QCA units (remember those?) kept with a creative and cross curricular approach. This was the inspiration for the work that I have done ever since.
In the last two years I have worked with the QCA in two roles. The first was in the development of the Level 1 and 2 statements for the Science APP criteria and our school was one of the pilot schools that helped developed the Standards files. Somehow I ended up being invited to be part of the development groups that supported the QCA in designing and developing the curriculum that is now know as The Rose Curriculum - the one that never was. This was an amazing experience, and leading public consultation meetings where I was part of the team communicating the messages from the review and taking feedback was an exhilarating experience.
Most recently I have changed jobs and actually worked for QCDA as a Curriculum Adviser. Our team have developed several resources that support Local Authorities and schools to assess their readiness for curriculum development and for assessing the impact that curriculum design is having on raising standards (in the broader sense of standards, not just English and Mathematics).
I've been very fortunate to work with some inspirational characters, and to take on some brilliant roles. Latterly I have started blogging, and have developed a Personal Learning Network on Twitter. Developing a PLN is highly rewarding, and it is fantastic to realise just how much people are willing to share with other professionals, even though they have never met them!
Employment History:
April 2010 - Present: QCDA, Primary Curriculum Adviser
April 2006 - March 2010: Headteacher, Welbourn C of E Primary School., Lincolnshire
Sept 2004 - March 2006: Advanced Skills Teacher / Assistant Headteacher, Waddington All Saints Primary School, Lincolnshire
Sept 2000 - August 2004: Advanced Skills Teacher, Welton St Mary's Primary School, Lincolnshire
Sept 1997 - August 2000: Class Teacher, Ermine Junior School, Lincoln
Qualifications:
2006: NPQH
1997: BSc (Hons) Primary Education and Science
