Denise Fox has been described as a “one-woman powerhouse in education in Hammersmith and Fulham”. But her education career got off to an inauspicious start. A local girl who went to school in Fulham, she failed her O levels. But, undaunted, she repeated fifth form and then applied for teacher training. During her course at Roehampton University, she was told that she “wasn’t cut out for teaching” and advised to “give it all up”. This lecturer hadn’t reckoned on her tenacity - Denise got on with learning her craft and started on a career that has spanned nearly 40 years in education. 

Her first job was as a home economics teacher at Hurlingham and Chelsea School, but she quickly picked up extra duties in the form of shared responsibility for careers and running the “fifth-year bridge course”. She then moved to Fulham Cross Girls’ School, where she has spent the remainder of her career. As “head of personal development, sixth form and fourth and fifth year”, she forged a relationship with the police schools’ liaison officer in Fulham. Many of the students in Denise’s care are brought up in environments that experience a high level of crime, but she has always worked to educate them so that they understand the potential consequences of poor choices.

Working her way up to head of school at FCGS, Denise has taken the school from strength the strength - it now sits in the top 2 per cent of schools for progress. The strapline for the school is “empowering tomorrow’s women’ - something Denise embodies in everything she does.

For the full list of winners, click here, and keep up-to-date will the glitz and glamour of the night with #TesAwards10.