Helen Smith
Trust Lead for Maths & Head of Maths, Pool Hayes Academy
When I applied for my first teaching job 35 years ago, I had no idea where my career would take me. Three schools, two children, and a granddaughter later, I find myself as Head of Maths at Pool Hayes Academy and the ATT Trust Lead for Maths.
To say the job is ever changing is an understatement. I started teaching on a blackboard and have had to learn how to use technology, and even teach over Teams, but looking back all the hard work disappears into insignificance. I think about all the students whose lives and futures I have helped shape and am so proud to know that I have inspired some of my students to go into teaching themselves – even working with two of them!
Within my new Trust role, I have had the privilege of visiting other ATT academies, meeting and talking with staff and students, and finding ways to work together to ensure our students get the best possible maths education regardless of which of our academies they attend.
As I now approach my final years in teaching, I can look back at all the challenges and changes, but still the most important thing to me is being in the classroom teaching the next generation.
