I am very honoured and privileged to be Headteacher at the school, having joined as a PE teacher in 2001. I trained as a primary school teacher, graduating from Reading University just over 30 years ago. Initially, I taught at a primary school in Reading and then moved into special education in 1996. I immediately felt like I belonged and this area of education was where I was meant to teach. I have been Headteacher at The Avenue since 2017. I love the unique nature of The Avenue, a place that genuinely offers everyone the platform to be the very best they can be.

I live with my very understanding wife, Tracy, and daughter, Tegan. Outside of school, I have many hobbies and interests. Most weekends I am engaged in some sort of DIY. I also enjoy social events, getting to know people better and meeting new people. I find relaxation in reading, swimming, watching sport, and walking my dog, Diego. In the future, like many, I would like to live near the coast.

I graduated as a primary teacher and conductive therapist in Hungary in 1997.

After my graduation, I travelled the world and supported many children in their physical development and in their education. I worked for charities and filled many different roles in schools (teacher, cluster leader, Assistant Head).

I moved to the UK in 2006 and have lived here ever since. I completed my NPQSL qualification in January 2017 and my SEND Elementary Law qualification in July 2018 and Level 3 in October 2023.

I joined The Avenue School in April 2024 as a Deputy Headteacher. 

I have worked with children and young people with additional needs all through my career. I am a passionate leader and I want to make a difference to all students.  I believe that The Avenue is a fantastic school where the students can thrive, achieve and fulfil their potential.

Outside of school, I live with my daughter and my husband. We love travelling and visiting different places.

I have held many roles within mainstream and special education across my career, ranging from Lunch Time Controller to Deputy Headteacher. I have worked at The Avenue School since September 2023, and I work closely with Pathway Co-ordinators and Subject leads to make sure that we are making strategic decisions regarding our school curriculum linked to effective assessment data collection. I have a passion for curriculum design and ensuring that learning outcomes match our pupils' life experiences. You will often find me around school with my head in an education research book, checking in with pupils in classrooms or drinking peppermint tea in my office.

Outside of school, I am often attempting to complete an escape room in under 40 minutes, watching the latest blockbuster at the cinema or playing board games. If you see me around school, I’d welcome suggestions of movies to watch or boardgames that I can share with my family.

I started working at The Avenue in 2012 as a learning support assistant and then as a teaching assistant whilst completing my BA in Humanities with Music. I achieved my QTS through the ‘School Direct’ initiative at Reading University and began teaching at The Avenue in 2018. Alongside teaching a class, I worked as Lead Practitioner for P.A.C.E and as a Team Teach Tutor before coming out of the classroom in 2022 to become Lead for Behaviour. I am extremely passionate about all things ‘Behaviour’ and enjoy promoting curiosity around the functions and communicative purposes of our young people’s behaviours whilst supporting them, their families and the staff that they work with on a daily basis.

Outside of school, I enjoy live music and going to gigs and festivals as well as following and supporting the mighty Portsmouth F.C. Above all, I love spending time with my partner, Hannah, and our son, Ambrose.

I qualified as a teacher almost thirty years ago, teaching in many varied and diverse roles, including A-level Science and Maths in a small village in South America; Key Stage 2 in mainstream schools in inner London; and Key Stage 1 pupils in a large British school in the Middle East. I spent seven years raising my family in Spain, India, and Germany, then returned to the UK to work in autism resources, become a mainstream SENCO, and then the Head of Autism Services at a large special school.  I have also trained both mainstream and special school teachers in the UK and South Africa, becoming a Specialist Leader of Education. My drive in education is equity for all and being curious about how this can be achieved across all settings through collaboration. 

Outside of school, I am the guardian of a small apiary. My beekeeping experience has been useful in my education roles – once I had to remove and rehome a bee swarm that decided a sunny school playground just before break time was the perfect place to settle! I also love to travel – packing a small bag and heading off to explore and photograph the world. These days, I am usually accompanied by at least one of my four children on our backpacking trips. If you speak English as an additional language and see me around school, I would be delighted to learn a few phrases in your mother tongue, both to support me on my travels and to support our bilingual pupils in understanding the value of their diversity in all its forms. 

I am a qualified accountant, and obtained my fellowship of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants too many years ago! Having worked in finance departments in industry and taking some time as a stay at home mum, I began working as a school business manager in a neighbouring primary school in November 2008 and then joined The Avenue School in January 2015, sharing my time between The Avenue School and the local primary school. I joined the Senior Leadership team in 2017 as full-time Head of Business and Finance, at The Avenue.

My responsibilities are for finance, premises, health & safety, audit, risk and staffing. I enjoy working with our fabulous staff and seeing the incredible things our pupils achieve every day. I am also an adult Mental Health First Aider.

Outside of school, I enjoy days out, cinema, gigs, going to the theatre, wandering around interesting places - mostly anything where I am spending time with my husband and our 3 daughters - or cosying up in front of the TV with our 2 cats.