I trained as a Drama teacher at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and came to Deptford Green as a trainee teacher in 2001. I fell in love with the school and the community and I have stayed here ever since.

I am always energised to see the gifts and talents of our students, to see them being curious and enthusiastic is a real privilege.

In my current role as Deputy Headteacher I lead on a lot of the day-to-day operations of the school. I lead on our Equality and Diversity work and have contributed to a conference on tackling racism in education as well as working with industry professionals to ensure we have the systems and processes in place that will enable all our colleagues to flourish and find their own leadership positions within school and in particular colleagues from under-represented groups.

I work with a very talented team of teachers developing our work around the arts. Establishing a culture of theatre going and gallery visits, exploring the vast array of creative opportunity on our doorstep and building cultural capital and a sense of agency for all our young people.

Over many years I have worked with Secondwave Youth Arts, forging links with them around some of their important work with young people in our community, including their Shadow Games project about online grooming and their Critical Encounters work, which aims to foster positive relationships between young people and the police. I am also on the Board of Management at Lewisham Young Peoples’ Theatre.