Teacher trainer at the INSPE in Rouen, Normandy. An English girl in France, living the dream of baguettes, berets and 2CVs. 

I first trained in the UK, doing a PGCE in 1988-1989. I started teaching in 1989 in West Sussex and then moved to France in 1991 to be with my handsome Frenchman.

I had to retrain in the French system – CAPES in 1997 and Agrégation in 1998 and I taught for 19 years in the same lycée following that. I began working in teacher training in parallel to my school work in 2000, with the training taking a bigger and bigger role in my working week as the years progressed. Two years of full-time secondment to the university led to a full-time post from September 2019.

My areas of professional interest are : teaching pronunciation ( it is bordering on an obsession) and real useful English, and the actual ways of being the teacher in the classroom. What makes a person into a teacher ? How do we interact with the students ? How does a good teacher do it ? I always say to my trainees that I am an English teacher, but before that, I am a teacher and before that, and above all, I am a human being. How do we deal with students in a humane and caring way, without going all touchy-feely new agey on them ?

My out-of-work interests are : dancing, musical comedies, my garden, my painting and fiddling with manual stuff. 

I heartily dislike : housework, paperwork, spiders (eek), grumpy people and people stuck in a rut. I need constant change as I bore very easily.

BTW I bring home lots of baguette in my home-made baguette bag, I have hats that are sort-of berets but my handsome Frenchman definitely does not wear one and one day, I will have a 2CV !!

Welcome to my blog.