I have thirty years of experience working in IAPS schools, initially as Head of MFL and then Director of Studies at the Dragon School, Oxford, and then as Head of Town Close House School, Norwich.
I am an Oxford graduate in Modern Foreign Languages, with a reputation as an outstanding teacher, and an experienced ISI inspector.
As Director of Studies at the Dragon, I was responsible for the quality of teaching and learning, staff INSET and professional development, the balance of the curriculum and curriculum development, and reporting to parents. The ISI report on the Dragon School at that time found that ‘over half the teaching was very good or better, and a significant proportion excellent’. Perceptive, knowledgeable and supportive lesson observation of the entire teaching staff was at the heart of this outstanding performance. At Town Close House, pupil numbers rose sharply from a low point of 374 (2001), to over 460 by the end of my Headship (2004); the number of girls rose dramatically. A small annual loss was transformed into a surplus of around £300,000. Staff turnover after the first year was negligible.
The recent ISI inspection (2005) found that 'teaching was often excellent, and was very good or better in over half the lessons.' Management, pastoral care and pupil behaviour were also all found to be 'very good'. I am an experienced organiser and leader of staff training: Course Director of three IAPS residential French Conferences (1993 - 99), leader of regular IAPS conferences nationwide (1990 - 01), leader on ‘Classroom Observation’ at IAPS Directors of Studies National Conference. I regularly run individually tailored training days in many IAPS schools in addition. 'Outstanding Teachers Do This' a course analysing the characteristics of outstanding classroom practice, illustrated with personally observed examplar lessons from across the curriculum, is very much in demand. |
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