What inspired you to be a teacher?

Ironically, I came to teaching by way of a happy accident and I have never looked back! I had been out of art college for a year when I received a call from a senior school nearby where the Head of Art knew my work. The Art teacher they had lined up to teach in the new academic year mysteriously never showed up. They asked me if I would like to ‘hold the fort’ until they had appointed another. In the meantime, I found I enjoyed it so much that I applied for the job and ended up staying!

Tell us about your path into teaching:

Before I entered teaching I had been awarded a major bursary and grant from the Crafts Council of Great Britain and was working full-time as a ceramicist. My work was purchased for the collection of Brighton and Hove Museum and I was getting some nice commissions, amongst them a tea set for Roger Daltrey of ‘The Who’ and a dinner service for a game show prize on television! I continue to make my own work alongside my teaching…it influences the way I teach as well as fulfilling my own creative drive. One informs the other and to lose either would be like losing a limb!

What do you love most about teaching?

Seeing a pupil ‘get it’ and then watching as they take flight. That moment when you realise that what you have encouraged children to do, the leaps of faith, the bravery, the determination has started to become second nature and that they are doing it for the joy of it and the ultimate satisfaction of achievement….that is so exciting.

What were you like at school?

I’m afraid I was an utter swot! My school was a very large comprehensive school, the second largest in the country with 2,500 pupils. I loved it! I was never overwhelmed by being amongst so many others and it never felt like I was just a number.

What’s the funniest moment you’ve had in a classroom?

Drawing something on the whiteboard that was misinterpreted as something rather rude!

What’s the most important lesson you can teach?

You learn more from your mistakes than from your successes.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I have always wanted to be an Artist so I am incredibly lucky to be able to do what I love within my working life as a teacher, as well as encouraging others to do the same.

What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?

Seeing past Art Scholars becoming artists in their own right and being selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

What makes Marlborough House such a special place to be?

For pupils I think it’s the freedom to be the person you want to be. There are so many opportunities for children to find their own pathway. As a member of staff, it is the support and camaraderie of the teachers and the involvement of parents.

Quick-fire questions:

School House: Awdry

Years at MHS: 7

Clubs: Art club and Scholars Art

Unusual fact: I frequently dislocate my thumbs if I remove my socks too hastily! I’m also learning Vietnamese.

Highlight of my day: making something with my hands!

The book I am reading: An Autobiography of Tove Jansen (Artist and creator of ‘The Moomins’)

Most memorable moment at MHS: Standing under a tree with bright red leaves in the autumn sunshine of 2015 on my first outside lunch duty as a new member of staff and thinking, ‘how lucky am I?’