Originally from Ireland, I have a BSc Honours degree in Psychology from Queen’s University Belfast. I then moved to Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, in 2011, to complete my PGCE and teacher training at Newcastle University. For four years, I worked in a school rated by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’, teaching Years 3, 4 and 5 before moving to King’s College Doha.

This is my second year as Head of Maths and Head of Year 3 at KCD. As Head of Maths, I have continuously improved the Maths curriculum from pre-school to year 6 whilst leading staff training in mathematical pedagogy. To ensure the best standard is raised and a collaborative approach is achieved, I also host curriculum mornings for parents to develop strategies on how they can support their children at home.

Slightly different, is my role as Head of Year which mainly involves overseeing the academic progress of the students whilst collaborating with the Year 3 team to ensure an engaging and challenging curriculum is put in place.

King’s College has been a very rewarding school opening to be involved in. With it being a start-up school, there were definitely challenges when we opened in 2016, but year on year, we have become a very successful school in Doha.

This is my first time teaching abroad and all the leadership team at KCD are approachable and want the best for the school and staff who work there. I have been given the opportunity to embrace new roles which have enhanced my professional profile and my own skill set. Our accommodation has been excellent from day one and we were all greeted at the airport by a member of the leadership team – that was nice to arrive to!

Our students and parents come from a wide variety of backgrounds. With over ten different nationalities in my class, this has definitely been a huge learning curve for me. Nevertheless, it adds considerably to the school environment and is what makes KCD so different from the other schools in Doha. KCD parents are very happy with the school and I have built a very warm, professional relationship with many of them.

Compared to my time in England, the work life balance is significantly better. KCD offer a range of specialist teachers which allows me to prioritise my work efficiently throughout the week. This means I’m able to socialise and with the competitive salary package of KCD, I have been able to travel all over the Middle East, Asia and Africa with my friends and sports team!

I would highly recommend teaching abroad. There are so many positives that have come from it and it has literally opened up a whole world to me, which I never thought would have happened a few years ago.