Headteacher - Thornhill Academy

Up until very recently, I largely led an unassuming and very private life, plying my trade as a teacher, and latterly as a Headteacher.
Since the arrival on Channel 4 screens of Educating Yorkshire, however, life has quite simply never been the same.

Having graduated from Heriot-Watt University with a degree in Interpreting and Translating in 1994, I embarked on a career in accountancy with one of the Big Six, a move I soon came to question when I realised contact with other human beings would, indeed, be a rare treat.

I swapped the tax computations for the bright lights of Paris, where I spent four very happy – if expensive and exhausting – years translating legal documents for unfeasibly wealthy clients.

The relief was palpable when I could afford to return to the UK and train to be a teacher, a decision I have never regretted.

Teaching – and especially being a Headteacher – is a hugely rewarding vocation, and it is fair to say that it can take over everything.  Since the national exposure, my time is rarely my own; I am the “go to” for TV and radio news whenever someone makes a pronouncement that has anything whatever to do with education.

I am currently writing a weekly column for the local newspaper, and have been commissioned by various national dailies to write about educational issues.

I am a champion of equality of opportunity for all children, an opponent of private education and a staunch advocate of free education and tuition for everyone who wants it.

The future of education is far from secure in this country.  Too much emphasis is placed on standards achieved in exams, and far too little is focused on the acquisition and application of genuine skills.  I see it as my role to bring whatever pressure I can to bear to ensure that this changes, and fast.

The same is true for the future of language learning.  Despite the presence of highly-skilled linguists at the forefront of the profession, the relentless pressure from Government to teach children how to reach national benchmarks has removed the joy from language learning, and is churning out students who achieve high grades but who cannot necessarily communicate effectively.

I haven’t written any books on the issue, and doubt I ever will.  But one thing is certain – I will continue to champion the role of languages within the school curriculum and help to safeguard our common national role in the wider global family.