Can you tell us where you hail from, where you trained and what your qualifications are?

I was born in Edinburgh, where most of my family still live. My Dad joined the Army when I was young and we moved to Germany when I was almost three. We lived there for 10 years before moving back to the UK. Following my A Levels in Chemistry, Biology, Physics and German, I spent a year in Germany working as an au-pair for a vet in the Black Forest. I then studied full time at the University of Chichester while also working in the International Office at Crawley College and completed my BA (Hons) in Primary Education and Teaching in July 2004.

Tell us all about your career experience.

My first teaching position was at Walton on the Hill Primary School in Surrey, where I remained for nine happy years, teaching Reception and Years 1 and 2. I joined as an NQT and rose to join the Senior Leadership Team and to become the Science and MFL Co-ordinator. I also ran the Netball and Gardening Clubs and became a Practitioner Moderator for Surrey.

My next role was as Early Years co-ordinator at a school in South Croydon until I was seconded by the DFE to teach at the European School in Munich. This was my first position in an independent school. I enjoyed teaching smaller classes and being able to cater to all individual strengths and needs. I was promoted to Head of English within the Nursery and Primary school. We all enjoyed sharing each other's celebrations and customs, as well as cross-language shows, class trips and stage performances.

I met my husband who lived in Brighton at the end of my first Munich summer and we married the following July. Back in the UK, I found a lovely job as Head of Year 2 at a primary school in Southwater. I returned there as Head of Early Years after a short break after having Katie. I worked at a nursery for a few months before being engaged by Sompting Abbotts.

What strengths and experience do you bring to our school?

I have a vast experience of teaching in a variety of settings, all of which have offered me new experiences and opportunities, as well as ideas for resources which I have added to my 'teacher's bag'.

I have been observed as a class teacher and have observed others as a member of SLT and as a moderator. So I have been given feedback and given it and I understand the need for positive criticism, but also the need to set high standards both for myself and children as well as others.

You have to give people the opportunity to meet those goals but you also need to support them with achievable stepping stones along the way. “Reach for the moon and at worst you will fall amongst the stars” is my motto. I always try to find a positive in every situation and think that each day should be filled with as many laughs and smiles as can possibly be found.

What do you consider important when developing a stimulating learning environment that encourages children to be independent learners?

I think children need to feel safe, happy and valued in order to want to learn. They need to have access to resources that match their interests, as well as those which introduce them to new ideas. I believe younger children particularly need to keep their minds and bodies busy by engaging in activities that promote problem-solving through physical movement and a ‘hands-on’ approach to exploration, as well as discussion and collaboration with their peers. Children learn best when they are having fun and don’t even realise that they are learning.

What do you do when you’re not in the classroom?

I love to get lost in a good book. That’s not easy with a three-year-old although, luckily, The Very Hungry Caterpillar happens to be one of my favourite stories!

My garden is another of my favourite places, although it has now been taken over by a substantial wooden playhouse, a trampoline and climbing frame and an ever-increasing fairy garden! Katie, Emily [my step-daughter] and I all enjoy planting seeds, caring for them while they grow, then transplanting them to their ‘big’ homes in the garden and watching them thrive.

Last year we grew bunches of beautiful sweet peas, crowds of tall waving sunflowers and greengrocer shelves-full of delicious vegetables, including pumpkins for the first time. Our pet rabbits enjoyed their endless supply of fresh carrots and mini kale, and we had fun trying out lots of new vegetables. We also grew strawberries and raspberries.

I enjoy switching off by doing some yoga – our kitten has been trying to join in too recently!

What drew you to become a teacher?

I always remember wanting to be a teacher. As a little girl, I could often be found reading stories to my dolls and teddies! I have fond memories of my time in school and still remember special things that happened. For example in Reception, we had a visitor for Halloween and she happened to be a witch who flew down the corridors on her broomstick. To this day, I have no idea how she managed that!

I have enjoyed teaching in all the year groups I’ve been lucky enough to work in. But I absolutely love Early Years and Reception (PP2). No matter what you plan, every single day is different and filled with all those little important stories and conversations that are so important to a four- and five-year-old. Being part of their journeys to become lifelong learners is a pure delight. Children approach all aspects of learning with open eyes and untainted views. I’m constantly learning from them!

Why have you chosen to work in the independent sector now and what are you looking forward to?

I loved the freedom that the independent sector offered me while working at the European School in Munich, particularly with my lesson planning. I was able to pace my lessons and resources to the individual learners and ensure that they each had a good understanding of a new topic or concept before moving on to the next one. Smaller class sizes mean you can tailor your teaching to individual needs much more flexibly.

I also love that the independent sector enables teachers to relax the curriculum slightly. If it’s snowing, we can turn the day’s focus to snow; if the children are constructively engaged in an activity, we have the freedom to extend it (rather than the timetable dictating that we need to move on to the next lesson of the day), knowing that the lesson will be covered the next day.

Strong links with home and school have been important in all the settings I have taught. But I do feel that there’s more cohesion between the two in the independent sector and that this helps to ensure a positive learning experience for the children and parents.

What appealed to you about working at Sompting Abbotts given the point of your professional career at which you find yourself right now?

Two years ago my husband and I brought Katie to the annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic at Sompting Abbotts. I knew there and then that I wanted to teach at the school one day. The staff and children were lovely and so incredibly welcoming and the grounds were absolutely stunning. I was already planning outdoor lessons in my head then! Sompting Abbotts ‘found me’ when I least expected it. I am still on cloud nine to have been given the opportunity to work at such an amazing and unique school.

What is the sense of the school you get and its vision and values?

I love the long history of the school, the beautiful grounds, and the outdoor facilities on its doorstep. On my visits to Sompting Abbotts for paperwork before starting teaching here, I saw inspiring examples of children’s learning on walls and shelves; heard singing and lessons through the walls; and noted from the video that plays in the Reception Hall that the school is successfully striving to be a ‘centre of learning where children thrive, physically, emotionally, spiritually, creatively and academically’.

I was also impressed by the older pupils who were helping out at the Teddy Bears’ Picnic. They were polite, happy, smiley, knowledgeable and keen to engage in conversation with my husband, myself and our daughter, who was a baby at the time. That told me a lot about the kind of pupils the school is helping to ‘produce’.

As a member of staff you immediately feel part of this incredible team who work hard and have fun with learning, whilst working alongside families to encourage and support each child to achieve the very best of their abilities.

Tell us something we don't know about you or that might surprise us!

Here’s a few. I speak fluent German. I’m qualified to practice Reiki level 2. And I met Princess Diana at my secondary school when I was 12 and my Dad was in the Gulf War. She read aloud a poem I had written called Hope and said she wished she could write something like that!.