About me
Teaching found me following a long and energetic career in Hospitality Management both in Scotland and latterly for the MCC. Following schooling here in Berkshire and latterly Somerset, I moved to Scotland to study Medieval History (MA Upper Second) in 1994, returning to retrain at the Institute of Education, UCL.
Food and drink excite me nearly as much as History, as a legacy from my previous career, and I needed no second invitation to revive my starter and get back into sourdough recently! After a hiatus of several years I have this year rediscovered my love of running and can frequently be seen pushing my sons along the leafy local lanes in their running buggy. Next year I hope to resume long distance running and attempt my first ultra. Watch this space!
Why do I love my role?
"Why?" has always been my favourite question, and this innate curiosity finds its home, for me, in the study of diverse histories to allow me to make better sense of the present. An ability to disseminate fact from fiction, to establish the motivations and influences on different, divergent interpretations and to plot a path through the information pandemic is a skill that our students require more now than ever.
The critical thinking that historians must deploy in their analysis of the past is the ideal training for the digitally-literate citizens of the future. Put simply, the skills I hope to pass on to my students will last beyond their exam grade - the true value of an education in History is a better understanding of the present, and that is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Well, that, a double espresso and my early-to-wake son.
My other roles at Pangbourne are:
In the past five years I have coached both girls and boys hockey, patrolled the Thames for the Boat Club and have helped maintain the staff social calendar as Wardroom President.
Currently, alongside my sporting commitments, I coordinate the School Council meetings that allow the students' voices and concerns to be heard by senior management and also facilitate fundraising activities in my role as Charity Coordinator.
