We are really excited to announce the addition of not one but two new panelists to our NQT Q&A.

Current headteacher Richard Simcox and MFL teacher Louise Sieradzki willing be joining Suneta Bagri, Steve Waters and Chris Misselbrook to give advice and support to the NQTs of 2020.

To help you to get to know them a little better they’ve shared some information with us about themselves below. 

Richard Simcox

Richard is worked in education and schools for over 20 years. Starting out by volunteering at a primary when he was just 13, he then went on to complete a BA Honours in geography and history before completing a PGCE course. 

He started his career as a year 6 teacher and PE coordinator at a school in Kingstanding. Sport was something Richard has always been passionate about so he late set up a sports consultancy company whilst teaching part-time. Wanting to combine the two roles he went on to become a leader a lead practitioner of PE for the local authority, which provided him with a chance to challenge myself and teach the teachers.

Richard took his first assistant head role at a school in Erdington - a school which had been named and shamed as being in the bottom 200 schools in the country. He was a proud part of the leadership team that took the school on a journey to get its first ever ‘good’ OFSTED rating. He later continued to steer the ship by becoming headteacher. In January 2019 he went on to take his second headship in a large village school which, while being very different to the other settings he’s worked in, of course, comes with its own set of challenges. 

Louise Sieradzki

After completing her degree and working overseas in both France and Germany, Louise trained as a Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages in 2009. Her first teaching post was a successful 6 years at a local secondary school where as well as teaching, she held extra responsibilities including being a PGCE mentor. In this role Louise supported PGCE students through their first year in teaching, a role so important to many trainee teachers.

 Louise joined Smile Education as a supply teacher in 2015 to enjoy some flexibility whilst raising her young family and was immediately popular in many schools, which was confirmed when she was nominated by three different schools as Supply Teacher of the Year and won the award in July 2016. Through working as a supply teacher, Louise gained experience in a variety of schools and was offered a part time permanent teaching role closer to home that suited her family life well, and we were sad to see her leave Smile, but have kept in touch ever since.

If you haven’t already, you can register for our online Q&A here: https://bit.ly/2GMxGAO.