About Me

I have been a Mathematics teacher for the last 19 years, including as a Head of Mathematics, and also have the Chartered Mathematics Teacher designation. I am currently a Lead Practitioner at a secondary school. I am also a wife and mum. Most importantly I am a person who has had a love of Mathematics, science and the outdoors from early on. I was fortunate enough to grow up on the south coast of England with the sea at the end of my road. I was also lucky enough to go on annual road-trips in a campervan to the Italian Alps for skiing holidays (people who shared said campervan during these trips may disagree). I loved Mathematics from an early age, especially it’s ability to organise and describe patterns, this was no doubt helped by my aeronautically minded Dad who could link the aerofoil design to any mathematical concept- even multiplication tables. After a trip to the Himalayas half way through my A levels to assist on a research expedition I had found what I wanted to do. I followed my love of applying mathematics to explain the world around us through an Earth Science degree and then a PhD (research degree) in the dynamics of glaciers. I also worked for a small specialist travel company during this time to pay the bills and continue exploring. Through this period, I realised I enjoyed the teaching aspects more and found them incredibly rewarding, so my teaching career began.
After spending my early adult years living in the wilderness (!) that is Oxfordshire I moved to Cumbria in the summer of 2018 and now call the beautiful Lake District home. I suffered from a debilitating illness during my early adult years but have been able to regain my fitness over the last 6 years or so. I can often be found near the back of triathlons, trail runs and open water swimming events- my motto is “enjoy the scenery and get value for money for that entry fee”!
I have always enjoyed including real world examples in my teaching and hope this blog helps me to share some of these. Other musing maybe slightly lighter hearted and reflect the joy we can get from being outdoors.
Subscript: In late Autumn 2019 I was taken seriously ill, followed by cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2020. I am now in the process of recovery- relearning many things including walking properly and how to multitask! Running will follow at some point I’m sure.