The Huish Centre
The word Huish comes from Old English word ‘hīwisc’ meaning “household” or “family,” and also refers to a unit of land big enough to support a family.
The Huish centre aims to create an international professional family which put students and teachers at heart of education development and research through Joint Professional Development.
Building on the highly impactful Joint Practitioner Development at Huish and in collaboration with Camtree, Exeter University and other partners, we aim to empower student facing colleagues to be axis of international professional development.
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I began my career as an Educational Research Assistant at the University of Cambridge, School of Education, supporting teachers with professional research and enquiry and working with secondary school student researchers, championing learner voice as an integral part of school development processes.
Since then, I have worked in the post-16 education sector for over 25 years in a variety of roles, as a History and Sociology Teacher, Head of Teaching and Learning at Varndean College, Assistant Principal for Academic Studies at Exeter College and as Principal of Richard Huish Sixth Form College in Taunton since 2020.
I have had a career long interest in the provision of high-quality professional development and in the meaningful transfer of practice between teachers and student facing staff working together in education.
I am passionate about the importance of leading quality improvement through Joint Practice Development models and am incredibly proud to be part of a thriving practitioner research community at Huish. Recent work has included collaborating with the SFCA and Camtree to grow a free to access digital library of close to practice research for post-16 educators.
My experience in education spans from Early Years to post-16, including mainstream, special, alternative and hospital settings. In addition to my role at the Huish Centre I am a freelance educator, speaker and adviser.
I designed the ‘Finding my Voice’ Oracy approach, I’m a collaborator for Myatt & Co and also a fellow of the Chartered college, and recently lead on the Oracy strand for the ‘Re-thinking curriculum project‘.
I’m and deeply honoured to be the Director of The Centre for Practitioner Development at Richard Huish College leading on the re-professionalisation of education.
With just over 30 years of teaching experience within the post-16 sector, I continue to find the most rewarding moments of my career come from working alongside colleagues to explore, refine, and reimagine our practice. I am Course Manager for A Level Biology and a Professional Learning Coach, and in recent years have helped develop and lead our cross-college Acton Research programme.
I’m passionate about the way Joint Practice Development reinvigorates practice—bringing fresh thinking, innovation, and shared learning to our community.