On my return to the UK, I secured a role at charity as a Support Counsellor, helping clients with their debt management. I then progressed to a more senior role as a Debt Counsellor, supporting and guiding the many vulnerable people who find themselves in financial difficulties. A further opportunity arose to become a Learning and Development Trainer; a role I thoroughly enjoyed for 6 years. This wonderful position required training new and existing employees in the Leeds office and other offices in England and Scotland, as well as delivering training courses to external stakeholders. A fast paced and extremely rewarding role, which further ignited my desire to become a teacher. My next step was in management as a Team Leader, managing a team of insolvency specialists.
Finally, my dream of becoming a teacher was realised, after 12 years at the charity, I returned to university to complete a PGCE in English at York University in 2015. A challenging transition, but one I knew would be fulfilling. During my studies to become a teacher, I also tutored Key Stage 2 students in Maths, English and Science.
My first teaching experience was as a secondary school teacher in Leeds, where I remained for 4 years, teaching English to Key Stage 3 and 4. I thoroughly enjoyed developing in confidence and refining my teaching practice, in my initial two years as a teacher. For the last two years, I had the privilege of teaching English Literature at Key Stage 5, further widening and evolving my knowledge and understanding of teaching my subject at A Level.
In addition to working in a school for the last 4 years, I private tutored both primary and secondary aged pupils on a part time basis; therefore, I have been very busy since first commencing my journey into teaching English 5 years ago.
Teaching abroad has been a life-long goal of mine and thankfully, I learnt about the fantastic reputation of Compass International School Doha – the friendliness, support and the positive environment that it has to offer, which really enticed me; when the opportunity arose for me to join the Compass community I could not refuse. The ethos at Compass appeals to me and I am thrilled to be commencing the next chapter of my teaching career as a teacher at Themaid Campus.
Outside of work, I have many hobbies and interests; they range from travel, fitness, music and reading. For the last year, I have been practicing yoga on a regular basis and last summer I had the pleasure of visiting Porto in Portugal and escaping to a yoga and surf retreat. It was delightful to switch off from the rest of the world. I also experienced my first surfing lesson and managed to catch my first wave. I hope that I will be lucky enough to catch another on my next attempt!