Kirsty Layton

Head of Geography, Bedales

BSc (Hons) Earth Sciences, Plymouth University (1999)
DipHE Oceanography, Southampton Uni (2002)
PGCE Canterbury Christ Church University (2006)

 

What makes a good teacher at Bedales?
High expectations, but one willing to ‘expect the unexpected’! Willingness to adapt, but essential to give the students a chance to flourish and not make them mould into a particular ‘type’!

What are you trying to encourage and instil in the children?
Confidence in trying, and value in success.  Experience the world, not just talk about it in a classroom!

Apart from your teaching role, what else do you get involved with at the school?
Officially – Visits, travel and the International Committee this year, always looking for the chance to find new places for us to really see.  Unofficially, anything I can fit in when I can – there’s always so much to be getting on with, there’s never a dull moment!

In your opinion, what makes Bedales special?
I used to work in Sail Training before becoming a teacher, ocean sailing on a tall ship with young people.  There was always something magical about life at sea, the mystical star filled skies, the early mornings, the change of watch, and being in the middle of an ocean with the challenge of the next day not too far in the future.  I didn’t imagine I’d ever find something or somewhere that could offer that same exciting and challenging feeling without the seasickness – but here it is!

Who or what inspires you?
Sunrise and moonset, and the sound of eureka moments when an idea is realised!

Tell us something not a lot of people know about you.
I played ‘pooh sticks’ on a lava flow from Pu’u O’o’s eruption on Kilauea to measure the speed of the lava flow through a tube (without using a laser measure).  Over the course of 200m the 6ft log turned in to tiny bits of charcoal… A new technique for the Americans I worked with!