My main goal as a teacher is to help my students maximise their potential and give them the best possible opportunity to achieve their ambitions. Underpinning this aim is a desire to instil inquisitiveness and a love of problem-solving so that students gain an independence that allows them to be successful.

Graduating with a BA (Hons) and MA (Cantab) in Economics from Queens’ College, University of Cambridge, I then went on to complete my PGCE at Northumbria University, specialising in mathematics teaching.

My PGCE was completed in conjunction with the Teach First Leadership Development Programme, a UK-based charity that takes recent university graduates and places them in underprivileged schools across the UK. Placed in a school in Newcastle, near where I grew up in the North-East of England, I was able to learn my teaching practice in a community in need of passionate and dedicated teachers. This experience helped me realise that a love of learning can be nurtured in students from a variety of backgrounds and aided in developing my engaging style of teaching mathematics.

Following this, I moved abroad, teaching both mathematics and economics at top international schools in Thailand and Rio de Janeiro. Here, I helped high-achieving students reach their potential and receive offers from some of the top universities around the world. Progress is at the heart of my teaching practice. Particularly in mathematics, it is important that students understand what progress looks like, as celebrating it can be a significant motivator for students who may have previously been demoralised by the subject. This can be done in many different ways, but my students frequently comment on the enthusiasm and passion that goes into my lessons and how this creates a positive atmosphere in which everyone is driven to succeed.

Not all teaching can take place in the classroom, and as practitioners, we need to take a much more holistic view of education. To promote this, I have previously offered business management and portfolio management simulations that encouraged students to assume roles they might be considering for future careers. Engaging in relevant decision-making processes, students applied the knowledge they were gaining in lessons in new, unfamiliar, and exciting contexts. Sports and other extracurricular activities also offer a great way to grow outside the classroom, building teamwork, determination, and resilience.

As a keen sportsman, I will try my hand at any sport I have an opportunity to, with rugby and cricket being my main sports.

I look forward to offering a range of different opportunities and activities to students at Avenor College so that they become rounded and successful individuals.