I have loved education from an early age. So having completed a degree in Chemistry at Bristol University, I joined a secondary school in Hull teaching science. I taught there for three years and completed a Masters in Education in my spare time. However, I didn’t always agree with the way education was being ‘done’ to students. I left to travel to America to see a different style of education. I was fascinated by the stories that came out of places like High Tech High and wanted to see for myself if they were true.
The day I arrived back in the UK, I emailed XP. I wanted to get a look at how some of the ideas in education I had seen in America were being adapted to the context in the UK. I was hooked. Unfortunately, they weren’t recruiting a science teacher so I headed south to the home of ‘Educating Essex’. Eighteen months later, I get to return as part of the STEM team. I am incredibly excited to be part of the XP crew and get involved in every aspect of the school. I am passionate about developing myself and others, and have an (sometimes unhealthy) obsession with pushing myself outside my comfort zone.
Outside the classroom, I am a keen sportsman and particularly interested in football. Whether you kick it, throw it or hit it, I’ll ‘try’ and play it. I love travel and being outdoors, and I can’t wait for my first week away as a Crew in Wales.
The culminating event to our staff induction is an Educator-Led Conference, where staff prepare speeches, critiqued by their peers, which answer the guiding questions:
“How have my ideas about teaching and learning changed during this induction process and have I changed as a person during this induction process?”
Below is Mr Campbell’s speech: