Brentwood Preparatory School Incipe 2017-18

Brentwood School Preparatory 9 studied a BEd degree in Primary Education. During my final year there, I was lucky enough to be chosen to complete my final placement at Churchfields Infants School in South Woodford – it was my first time in Essex and I haven’t looked back since. After completing my degree, I was offered my first teaching post at William Torbitt Primary School in Ilford. Whilst there, I co-ordinated the Computing across the school, led the netball team, and in my final year there I became Head of Year Three. I look forward to all of the exciting opportunities I am yet to face at Brentwood Prep. Sarah McConnaughie A Londoner by birth, Mrs McConnaughie has gained most of her geographical knowledge from avoiding aeroplanes and travelling widely within the UK. Even her Geography degree in Bristol did not take her beyond Bude. However, during an 18 month interlude in the USA, she finally canoed herself through the 1000 feet deep canyons of the Green River, the tropical swamps of northern Florida and the rapids of the Nantahala River in the Smoky Mountains. As with her travels, Mrs McConnaughie has taken on new challenges in education throughout her career, teaching a breadth of subjects across all ages, although Welsh did prove one step too far! Taking on the role of SENCO in Prep 7-11 consolidates much of her experience but she is looking forward to new challenges too. degree. With my rugby playing days well and truly behind me, I still enjoy coaching outside my school commitments. These days, it is predominantly through cycling and ferrying my own two daughters around the sports fields and courts of Essex, that I endeavour to stay as fit and healthy as possible. I also enjoy travelling, and have travelled around the world on two occasions, playing rugby, having adventures and forging memories, as well as reading, with WW2 history and cycling my preferred subject areas. My first year at Brentwood has been busy and action packed. The facilities are excellent and soon to be better still, and the enthusiasm of the pupils is invigorating. There is however, much further potential to realise, as we look to develop a PE & Games programme that continues to evolve to meet the needs of every single pupil. Salute Tim Sawyer Having visited Brentwood Prep on multiple occasions during my last role at St Cedd’s School in Chelmsford, I embraced wholeheartedly the opportunity to work at the school when the role of Director of Sport & Co-Curricular Activities arose. Prior to moving to the south east of England, I was a secondary school teacher and leader of Physical Education in my native Hartlepool, where I was also heavily involved with West Hartlepool Rugby Club for many years as a player and a coach. I have rugby to thank for leading me down the path towards a career in teaching; having been employed to coach in local schools alongside my playing commitments at the club, I decided that a career teaching PE & Sport was preferable to the career I had originally envisaged, after leaving university with a Law Anthony Sealey It’s fair to say that I had an ambition to be a PE teacher when I left school, however life doesn’t always go as planned and I instead found myself following a tried, although possibly not trusted, family route of bookmaking. After working for the Racing Post newspaper I moved on and sports coaching was my calling. I had already coached the under 15 side at Hornchurch CC for a few years and loved it. I gained my coaching qualifications in both cricket and football and taught various sports at schools across Havering. In sport if you work with good coaches, you can learn VERY quickly and I was lucky enough to find that out. I quickly found a base at my own school, Rise Park just outside Romford, and had 5 wonderful years there, challenging the larger established schools of Ardleigh Green, St Edwards and Upminster, particularly thriving in football. After applying for a position in the sports team at the Prep, I was delighted to get an interview and was thrilled when the Headmaster called the next morning to offer me the Sports Assistant position. The Sports Department at the Prep has been a huge help to me since I started and made me feel at home straight away. Everybody has the children’s best interests firmly in mind and, whilst we all want to win things, it is progression, development of skills and understanding that are the key. Carlene Kent After working in London for over 18 years as a Finance and Administration Manager, I decided, after having my daughter, to look for a new career. As I’ve always enjoyed spending time with children and find their enthusiasm, energy and honesty so refreshing, I decided to retrain as a teaching assistant so that I could support teaching and learning in schools. Having the chance to work at Brentwood School is such a fantastic opportunity that I am so grateful for. Being part of the dedicated, professional, caring and hard-working team is inspirational and witnessing the children’s development and achievements is so rewarding. I am thrilled to be part of it! I have several interests including Pilates, reading, music and theatre. However, many of these must now revolve around my daughter’s busy schedule! I look forward to working with the children and the many happy years to come at Brentwood School.