Our Staff

I feel so proud and privileged to be the Headteacher at Sytchampton. It is a truly lovely school, with such a caring and nurturing staff and the most delightful children!

You may be surprised to hear that teaching is actually my second career, as I worked previously as a Police Officer for eight and half years in the West Midlands Police Force! For the final 3 years of my service, I worked as a Child Protection Officer covering investigations for the South of Birmingham. I left the police to have my son Matthew and re-trained to become a teacher.

Throughout my teaching career, I have worked at a number of schools in very different contexts. My first appointment was at Cranham Primary School, where I worked for eight years, and was promoted to Assistant Headteacher. In January 2013, I was asked by the Local Authority, to support a school in Redditch as Deputy Headteacher, following an OFSTED judgement which had put the school into Special Measures. I was extremely lucky to work with an amazing team of staff and leaders at this school and in July 2015, the school was finally judged to be a Good School.

Prior to joining Sytchampton, I worked as Deputy Headteacher at Westlands First School in Droitwich, where I gained a wealth of experience working with children with complex needs. During my time at the school, I supported the Headteacher in raising standards and the school was judged as ‘Good’ by OFSTED in January 2020.

My real passion is helping children to discover their talents and abilities and to achieve their dreams. I am very proud to say that I am a mum to an amazing young man, Matt, who represents Great Britain as a swimmer and won a Gold Medal in Tokyo last year! I have learnt so much from watching him grow and develop about resilience and growth mindset. I now want to use this knowledge to help other children unlock their true potential!

In the little spare time that I do get, I love taking our two dogs, Finn and Kylo for walks in the countryside and I am a keen artist and photographer! Life is about so much more than academic achievement, and I really hope that our lovely school reflects this ethos.

I am so excited to be joining the team at Sytchampton. I feel very privileged to be working in such a lovely little school and to be working in Reception, my favourite year group.

I have come into teaching following a career change and I love it. I love working with children, no two days are the same and their inquisitive nature is something to cherish. It is so important that children come to school and feel happy and safe.

I have two children who are growing up far too quickly and keep me very busy. I love to keep fit, ride horses and ski. I also love to read. I can still remember sitting on my bed reading The Twits when I was little and being totally enthralled; that is the great thing about reading, it can take you anywhere.

I am so grateful to have been so warmly welcomed by all of the children and staff at Sytchampton School.

I have worked for many years as a Dental Nurse and within the retail sector but no job has ever given me such a sense of purpose than being a teaching assistant.

When I am not at work, you will find me at home with my two children and my greyhound Fifi.

As a family, we love camping and enjoying our beautiful countryside. We also enjoy weekends away at local festivals. I am also a really keen crafter. I'm always creating and making gifts for people!

My son's football team keeps me really busy. If we're not at training or at games, I help out as club secretary.

Teaching has been my dream job since I was a little girl of 5 years old. I am so pleased that after 13 years of teaching I am still at Sytchampton and the reason for this is the children, who make me laugh and smile every single day! It has been an honour to see so many children pass through our wonderful school and to see how much they have developed and what they have achieved at the end of each year.

As well as being class teacher to Oak Class, I am also the school SENCo and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead, which I thoroughly enjoy. It is so important to me that every child has the same opportunities to learn, so I always strive to help and support where I can.

The most important part of being a teacher is making learning fun and exciting for the children and seeing them happy. Nothing can beat that!

Besides being a teacher, I am also a Mummy to a little boy and two very mischievous cats called Ziggy and Tilly! I enjoy spending time with my cheeky little man and watching him grow and develop. I also enjoy going for nice long walks in the countryside, as well as my “90-year-old” hobbies of colouring and cross stitch. Reading is my favourite hobby of all! I read every day and I can easily get lost in what I am reading!

I am very excited to be working at Sytchampton and to have joined such a lovely team. I love the family feel of the school and the children have all been so welcoming. I am going in to my tenth year of teaching, which has flown by!

The most important thing to me is that the children enjoy learning and are engaged; everyone can achieve so much more when they are happy. I love watching children persevere when they find something challenging, and the pride they feel when they achieve it.

One of my main passions in teaching is PE and I am lucky enough to have taken on the role of PE Lead at Sytchampton. I am very passionate about creating an environment where all children enjoy being active and hopefully create healthy habits that they take on for years to come.

Outside of school, I am kept very busy looking after my little boy. He loves being outside, so we spend a lot of time exploring and going for lots of walks. I love watching him learn new things and change every day. One of my main hobbies is dancing. I danced for years as a child and now enjoy dance classes at the gym when I get chance! Nowadays, I'm always the first one in line asking to run a dance club at school. I love seeing children perform a routine that I've choreographed.

My connection with Sytchampton goes back to when my two sons attended the school in 2002 and 2005. I loved this school so much, I stayed!

I am immensely proud to be part of such a dedicated and caring team. My role as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant allows me to work very closely with the teachers in order to support children across the whole school. As well as this, with guidance from the teachers, I deliver a wide range of lessons in KS1 and KS2 classes. The most important and rewarding part of my job is getting to know the children really well and seeing them happy, confident and proud of their achievements.

In my spare time, I love cooking my family's favourite meals, going on long walks, reading and taking part in Zumba exercise classes.

I have worked at Sytchampton since 2017 and have never looked back. I love working at such a friendly and welcoming school, it feels like a little family. I love watching the children start in Reception and grow in confidence as they move through the school.

I feel so lucky and proud to be the Reception TA and feel honoured to welcome the children at the beginning of their school journey at Sytchampton. My priority as the TA, is to support our wonderful class teachers and to ensure the children feel a sense of belonging and feel valued and special as the unique individuals that they are.

I’m a huge fan of messy play and you will often find me in the creation station making play dough, slime, jelly or spreading glitter throughout the whole school. I also love to sing and bring this love of music into lots of our daily activities. We love to take the lead from the children on this and follow their interests and requests and factor this into our provision.

I’m very happy when I’m outside spending time with nature. Our weekly welly walk is one of my favourite activities. I love animals so much and at home I have a cheeky black cat called Luna, a hamster called Oreo and 8 fish. I also have a nature pond with lots of tadpoles and goldfish. I also have 3 lovely children of my own who keep me very busy!

My other role at Sytchampton is as The Wellbeing Champion. I love the way that our school has emotional wellbeing as a top priority for staff and for the children. Every week on Seesaw we have a Wellbeing Wednesday activity for the children to enjoy. We also have 2 children from each class who are our Wellbeing Champion representatives. Throughout the year we organise wellbeing days where we focus on mindfulness, yoga, meditation, positive thinking, relaxation, managing anxiety and expressing ourselves by doing what we love.

I have worked in many schools over the years, but nowhere as welcoming as Sytchampton, where both the children and staff have become like my second family.

I first started here as a lunchtime supervisor, but had a long held dream of becoming a teaching assistant, with a particular interest in helping to support those with SEN. My son (who is now 25) found school life very challenging and unfortunately at the time, there was very little understanding of SEN. This has been a huge part of why I have wanted to contribute to creating an environment which cares and adapts to the needs of every single child.

So....I went back to college (at my age!) and i have been privileged to receive tremendous support from my Sytchampton family thus fulfillng my dream! I have learned and, continue to learn, so much. I look forward to every day at this wonderful school and all the fun and exciting things that we get up to. Already in my time here I have dressed up, been doused with water and I have even touched a snake!

My ultimate goal is to help every child feel valued and supported to reach their full potential and to go home every day with a great sense of achievement.

Outside of my Sytchampton family, I love nothing more than taking my dogs for a play in the park or losing myself in a really good book. I also enjoy being creative and I love to sketch.

I feel very lucky to work with such amazing people everyday; our community of pupils, parents and staff is truly wonderful. My favourite thing about teaching is building relationships with children that allow them to be confident in themselves as they become life-long learners.

In school, alongside teaching in class, I lead Maths. To do this, I work closely with the University of Worcester and the GLOW (Gloucestershire and Worcestershire) maths hub to continue to innovate our maths lessons in school.

Outside school, I like spending my time walking my dog and going to the gym. I love the feeling of getting stronger and being able to lift more and more weight off the floor! I also like to eat a lot, so going to the gym helps me stay healthy!

Once i'm wiped out from all the exercise, I tend to spend my time reading and watching youtube. I try to keep a healthy balance between the two, but it's difficult sometimes. My favourite children's books at the moment are Vi Spy by Maz Evans and City of Rust by Gemma Fowler.

I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work at Sytchampton! All of the staff, children (& dogs!) have really welcomed me and made me feel at home. I am very lucky to be part of both Willow and Bramble classes.

Before joining Sytchampton I did a lot of volunteering for the charity, Action For Children, which was a great experience and taught me a lot. I have a big interest in child psychology as I find learning about children's minds and behaviors so fascinating. I am always eager and looking to learn new things along the way. I am very passionate about nurturing and children's emotional well-being. I want to make children feel happy and confident and show them that they can achieve anything they set out to with the correct encouragement and positivity and I hope to fulfill this within my role.

I have two young children, a 5 year old boy, Theo, and a one year old daughter, Delilah. It's safe to say they both keep me very busy, but make me my happiest! When I get spare time I enjoy going to the gym or getting lost on long, random, scenic walks; it really helps me reset and unwind! Meeting up with friends and having a good socialize and giggles also works!!

I have recently joined the team and am delighted to be a part of Sytchampton family! This is a steep learning curve for me as I change from my career in police to teaching.

I tend to think that we are working towards the same goal; however, teachers are more proactive, as they influence and direct pupils from the very early stages.

I love children and I enjoy working with children. I am learning a lot from them and this two way communication is so special and rewarding, that it motivates me to do my best at school. My role mainly involves helping children who benefit from additional support or need some attention. They are little angels and I personally believe and have confidence in every one of them!

Most of my spare time I spend with my daughter Anastasia. She often takes part in rhythmic gymnastics competitions and I am her biggest fan. My son Volodymyr, is a student of Booconi University in Italy! We also like kayaking, horse riding, camping and singing in karaoke.

This year I am celebrating my twentieth year as a teacher and I’ve been based at Sytchampton Primary School for just over eight of those happy years! Sytchampton is by far my favourite school and I’ve worked in a few! I’ve worked across the school in various roles and that has allowed me to get to know a lot of the children and their parents very well. I always strive to be the type of teacher I would want to teach my own children; enthusiastic, adaptable, personable and a good communicator and listener. I want the children in my class to be happy, settled and feel that they belong.

In my spare time I love walking my dog, Pip. She’s a bundle of energy and really keeps me on my toes! We try to find at least one new route per week in addition to our daily walk. Walking my dog is not only brilliant exercise but it’s so good for my soul. I love the connection with nature and the feeling that my little feet can take me anywhere!

Some of my other interests involve many of the ‘Creative Arts’. I love to craft, draw, sew, journal and attend the theatre. I’m also a qualified chaperone and work backstage in professional theatres supporting rising stars.

My other passion is reading and I’ve been an avid reader since primary school. Reading really is the key to many things and I can talk endlessly about the benefits. I enjoy keeping my eye on new literature for young people as it hits the shelves so I’ve often got a good recommendation or ten for both children and adults! Feel free to ask!

I have been School Business Manager at Sytchampton for over 14 years and no two days have ever been the same! My days vary from budget planning and monitoring to arranging school trips and visits, arranging maintenance to keep our lovely school in good condition to mopping the floors - and everything in between! I am constantly learning new things.

I love getting out of my office and seeing the children around school. I make a point of getting to know all our new pupils each September and pride myself on knowing everyone in school. I love our little chats in the corridor!

I'm really proud to be a part of such a wonderful school community.

I started working at Sytchampton as Clerical & Finance Assistant in 2008, when my youngest daughter was just finishing at Sytchampton School. In 2012 I also became Clerk to our School Governors. I feel privileged to still be part of, and support, the caring and aspirational community environment that continues to make Sytchampton so special.