Senior Trainer and Consultant at Boingboing
Like many Boingboingers I have multiple roles and I have travelled across the country working with schools, colleges, H.E. and the third sector to help them to translate the resilience research base for their own contexts. I’ve helped with research, designing webinars, putting up our stand at conferences and sourcing fantastic food for our workshops. I have particularly enjoyed being involved in long term projects such as in Hastings and Blackpool where our continuous input means we can see the positive results flourishing before our eyes. But it can also be great to design the launch of a resilience focus in a large organisation such as Victim Support in order to inspire participants to embrace the ideas and adopt practical strategies in their work. I have discovered some amazing train trips on my travels, my favourite so far being across Morecambe Bay on the way to Barrow in Furness where the rail appears to float on the water.
My expertise is in education and teacher training and this has been enriched by my Boingboing work over the years where I have been able to work with so many different sectors and adapt to different priorities. Widening participation has been a key focus as well as supporting schools to deliver excellent PSHE in line with new statutory requirements. I’ve also been doing more thinking and training centred on staff resilience and during this time I have discovered sea swimming as an exhilarating start to my day. Honestly (I stop screaming after 5 minutes).
As part of a Masters in Education dissertation, I focused on the use of adult-to-child mentoring as a means to support young people who were not thriving in school. I think mentoring could be a powerful way to support young people if well planned and the Resilience Framework is a great tool to help.
It’s been really inspiring to be based in the University of Brighton and associated with the Centre of Resilience for Social Justice. I’m constantly meeting people and coming across challenging ways to think about things and I was also able to do some extra study to gain a Fellowship in Higher Education Award. We all know that learning is a resilient move on the Resilience Framework, even if it doesn’t feel like it when you are writing your references.
I was a History teacher for 18 years and involved with teacher training, so I love getting back into the classroom sometimes, or delivering seminars at Universities. I volunteer at a local secondary school to give some students a leg up with their GCSEs. That way I can talk History with them, which is a relief to my own children. I also try to cycle to work and I sing in a Swing choir, so I feel pretty lucky all round.
