My Tes stories

Hear from school leaders and teachers as they share their My Tes stories. Pick up their top tips and find out how Tes helps them and their schools.

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The senior leaders

Shabnam Ahmed

Head of English

My name is Shabnam, I’m a head of English in Suffolk. I’ve been teaching for eight years now, with roles in English leadership (in charge of assessments – that was tough!) and head of Year 12/13. I’ve also taught various subjects including media GCSE, health and social care, and Extended Project Qualification. I’m the first in my family to become a teacher, and unfortunately (fortunately?) for them, they’ve shared my journey!

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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: TES TIMETABLE

Simon O'Connor, Director

When a school leader finds something that saves time and money, they spread the word – and that’s just what Simon did when he started using Tes Timetable. The algorithm-driven timetabling system has enabled his school to make considerable efficiencies in staffing costs and saved weeks creating the timetable.

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Amy May Forrester

Director of behaviour

My name’s Amy and I've been teaching since 2009 – those 13 years have flown by! I qualified as a secondary English teacher aged 21 and got my first job at an academy in West Cumbria. In the time since, I’ve moved schools and taken a pastoral route in my career, taking the roles of deputy head of year, head of year and director of pastoral care. More recently I’ve moved into leading on whole school behaviour as director of behaviour in a school that I love. 

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James Birchenough

Headteacher

My name is James, I’m married with two young children, and I’m based in Birmingham. I was a Year 3 teacher in a brilliant junior school for two years as a trainee teacher. Since then, for the last six years, I’ve been the headteacher of one of Transforming Lives for Good (TLG)’s Education Centres, a secondary alternative provision for students at risk of exclusion. I’ve also set up and run TLG’s own ITT programme.

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Emma Faulkner

Head of department 

My name is Emma Faulkner, I live in Worcester with my husband and daughter. I've been teaching for just over nine years and have worked at RGS Worcester – where I'm now head of department – since completing my PGCE in computing. During the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’, I supported all teachers with utilising technology for teaching and learning, and since then I've hosted training sessions for various online festivals.

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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: TES TIMETABLE

Kate Moskwa

International schools often have many different staff from a wide range of countries, with a variety of teaching qualifications. By using our professional studies training package, on our online training platform Develop, Kate has been able to bring all her staff up to the same level.

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Terri Chard

Headteacher

My name is Terri Chard and I'm currently a head at Silverwood School Rowde. I started my career at the age of 22, straight out of university, as a PE teacher, but quickly discovered an interest in the pastoral side of education and became a head of year. I qualified as a headteacher when I was 30 years old and to gain experience spent 11 years as a deputy in a large mainstream secondary. Since then I've relocated to Wiltshire and the special school sector.

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Elizabeth Cloke

Regional head of learning

I’m Liz Cloke and I live in Penang. I'm the regional head of learning here in Malaysia. Five months ago I stepped out of the classroom for the first time in almost 20 years to join the International Schools Partnership (ISP). I've always had a love for learning, leading and developing teachers, and after five different schools spanning three countries I now collaborate, coach and support nine campuses and their senior leadership teams.

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The classroom teachers

Baasit Saddiqui

Education consultant

My names is Baasit Siddiqui and I live in Derby. I’ve been married for close to ten years and have two children aged seven and two. For ten years, I taught business, ICT and computer science to KS3, 4 and 5. I was a head of department for business, ICT and computer science across two secondary schools and a sixth form. Today, I run my educational consultancy business ‘Siddiqui Education’ working with schools, education providers and businesses.

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MyTes Jo Matherson

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: TES TIMETABLE

Jo Matherson, Deputy principal

Jo has introduced Tes Timetable, powered by Edval, to three schools and says the flexibility offered by the intuitive and easy-to-use system has revolutionised the process, saving time and enabling more students to study the subjects they love.

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Nikki Cunningham-Smith

Special education needs coordinator

My name is Nikki Cunningham-Smith. I live in Herefordshire and I've been in teaching for 12 years. Before that I was a teaching assistant for two years. I've worked with KS1, KS2 and KS3, taught ICT and business studies, and held the positions of head of house, SENCO and assistant head responsible for teaching and learning, and behaviour and outreach.

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Tom Rogers

History teacher

My name is Tom Rogers and I’m a history teacher. I qualified in 2008 and have since taught in England, Wales, Spain and Slovenia. I’ve also been a head of department and assistant headteacher for teaching and learning. In the last few years, I’ve been the director of Edudate and Teachers Talk Radio. Between working on other projects, and I’m currently supporting the GCSE and A Level history groups at my former school in Spain in an online capacity.

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Louise Robinson

Reception teacher

My name is Louise Robinson. I'm 48 years old and have been married for 24 years. I have two daughters who are 22 and 18 years old. I began my teaching career eight years ago as a TA in Nursery, while I was completing my degree in childhood and youth professional studies. I then began my Straight to Teaching journey, gaining QTS in July 2020. I'm currently teaching in Reception and am the early reading and phonics lead, RE lead and PSCHE lead.

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Katelyn Faust

English teacher

I'm Katelyn and I live in Dublin, Ireland. This is my second year of formal teaching, but I’ve worked in education for five years. I'm qualified to teach English, but I’ve also taught: ethical education, performance arts, and civic, social and political education (CSPE). I'm part of the digital leadership team in my school and I'm also an MIE (Microsoft Innovative Educator) expert.

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The early career teachers

Lily Norris

Year 5 class teacher

My name is Lily Norris, I live in Leigh-on-Sea and I’m 23 years old. I completed my PGCE through Tes Institute straight after graduating from the University of Cambridge, where I studied education and psychology. Teaching is my first ‘real’ job since graduating! During my training year, I worked in a Year 2 and Year 5 class as a student teacher. Currently, I’m a Year 5 class teacher in a three-form entry school. I also tutor part-time, specialising in entrance exams.

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Alice Downs

Higher level teaching assistant

My name is Alice, I’m 47, I live in Staines and I’ve been an HLTA for 10 years. Prior to this, I was a customer diversity manager for a large energy company for 14 years but was made redundant while I was on maternity leave. I couldn’t afford not to earn, so I set up my own childminding business, which I successfully ran for four years, receiving an Outstanding Ofsted report. 

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Gill Clark

Year 5/6 teacher

My name is Gill Clark and I'm based in Cheshire. I've been working in schools since 2014, initially as a one-to-one teaching assistant in Years 1 to 4. This role gave me a wealth of experience and a great perspective of how to support children in their learning. Finally, the time came to teach – I trained while working as a class teaching assistant, from September 2020 to July 2021, on a three term basis with Tes.

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