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St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, part of the Romero Catholic Academy has been rated good by Ofsted and has also been judged to be an outstanding Catholic school following an RE inspection.
School Life
Megan grew up in the Binley area of Coventry and attended St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School before joining Cardinal Wiseman School in 2002. She followed in the footsteps of her mum who attended when it was a separate girls and boys school, and her younger brother also joined in 2005.
She said: “I have some great memories of my time at Cardinal Wiseman. It was very inclusive, all of the staff were really supportive and I had a lovely friendship group.
“I was a real lover of English and enjoyed English literature, creative writing and also the analytics side of the subject, such as looking at how sentences were structured. I also enjoyed business studies and learning more about management and leadership styles.
“My favourite teachers were Mr Kingshott and Mr Wheat, who both taught maths
at the time. They were both extremely supportive and went over and above for
all of their students.”
The wider curriculum was also an important part of school life, and Megan enjoyed sports – particularly playing netball.
Megan went on to study maths, business studies and geography at A-Level at Cardinal Wiseman. She knew that she wanted to go into teaching from an early age, something that the school also supported her with.
Megan said: “There was always an aspect of vocational exploration at Wiseman, and you were encouraged to pursue your passions and do what you love. I was supported with my university application and helped to prepare for the interview, and I was also able to take part in enrichment afternoons where I volunteered at St Gregory’s which was a fantastic opportunity.”
Career
Megan went on to study a BEd in Primary Education with QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) at Newman University, in Birmingham, for three years.
During her degree, she took part in placements at Christ the King, Good Shepherd and St Anthony’s Catholic Primary Schools, before being employed by St Anthony’s as an unqualified teacher until she finished the course.
She then successfully applied for a position at St Thomas More Catholic Primary School where she taught Year 3 for two years and Year 6 for three years. During this time, she was appointed as English subject lead and phase leader for Key Stage 2.
Megan said: “My role involved the management of upper Key Stage 2 – modelling lesson expectations, acting as line manager to other staff and ensuring that Years 5 and 6 were correctly catered for in terms of provisions.”
She joined the Romero Catholic Academy in 2017, based centrally as a leading practitioner for three days each week and at Corpus Christi Catholic School the remaining two days where she taught Year 6.
Megan said: “I absolutely loved my role – it gave me the opportunity to work with staff right across the Academy on their development and drive new initiatives while also still working with the children. My job evolved into strategic lead for school improvement where my responsibilities shifted to looking at implementing improvements, supporting
staff across the whole of Key Stage 2, looking at teaching strategies and the curriculum and also expanding the wider curriculum offering.
“This has involved collaboration between all of the schools across the Academy, introducing activities such as our Year 5 moves up day and Year 4 camp and we’ve
received some excellent feedback from the children.”
Megan has now been appointed as Interim Head of School at St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, which is part of the Academy. As well as leading the school, she is set
to make a number of changes to the school environment, including creating a more welcoming front office and remodelling the school hall.
She said: “It’s a real honour to be appointed as Head of my former primary school. I have so many fond memories of my time at St Gregory’s – it’s always had a special place in my heart so it’s fantastic that I’ve been given the opportunity to give something back and make a difference.
“The children are at the heart of everything we do, and I hope to make their time at the school as memorable as possible.”
Advice to current pupils
When speaking about the advice she would give to current pupils, Megan said: “I would really encourage everyone to embrace every opportunity given – these are the experiences that you will reflect on and use as examples when you are older.
“It’s also important not be afraid to ask for help. Nobody knows everything, but there
will always be support available.
“Finally, always be brave enough to go for the things you want in life. The first step is
the hardest, but it is better to know than wonder what if.”
