Staff Profiles

	Richard Collis
Job at the Academy	Head of Media Studies and Teacher of English
Where born	Chertsey, Surrey
Previous employment	The Winston Churchill School (teacher of English & Maths)
Education (past school, college, university	University of Reading English, Film and Drama. Woking College English, Media, History, Drama, German. The Winston Churchill School.
Best Moment in your own schooling	Performing Hamlet at University on a custom built stage. Being Deputy Head at school.
Best moment at the Academy	The amazing success of Othello for the Shakespeare School festival.
Outside interests or hobbies	Football (playing and watching!), movies, reading, theatre, music (playing and listening!)
People who inspire you and why	The people who I work with everyday, who work so hard and constantly deal with the situations that can arise.

	Ennelyn Schmidt - Roberts
Job at the Academy	Assistant Principal - Community
Where born	Bremen - Germany
Previous employment	Germany: Grammar School teacher. London: Holland Park School. Westminster City for Boys.
Education (past school, college, university	1988: MA equivalent in English and German Literature and Philosophy at the University of Osnabruck in Germany. 1990 second MA equivalent in Pedagogy and Education.
Best Moment in your own schooling	When my German literature teacher recommended a book to me as outside class reading and I realised that there were more questions and answers for the turmoil going on in my own young mind.
Best moment at the Academy	There are so many of those so my answer has to be "every day".
Outside interests or hobbies	Dance, Literature, Music, Art, Travelling, and Nature.
People who inspire you and why	1. Anybody who dares to speak the uncomfortable truth to the ears of the general opinion. 2. The heroes of environmental activist groups in particular Greenpeace and WWF.

	Abigail Watson
Job at the Academy	Vice Principal
Where born	Reading, Berks
Previous employment	Teaching English in China Teaching History since 2003 in Cambridgeshire and London schools
Education (past school, college, university	School of St. Helen and St Katharine (Oxford) Bradfield College (Reading) University of Edinburgh (MA Hons) University of Cambridge (PGCE)
Best Moment in your own schooling	Lots! Winning a debating competition about the recent earthquake in Kobe – it felt so relevant and exciting to be discussing something in the news Playing Professor Higgins in Pygmalion Representing my school for netball (I was very tall!) When Miss Roker used to make the past come alive in history lessons (usually with a gruesome story attached) Midnight feasts at my boarding school – it was like something out of Enid Blyton!
Best moment at the Academy	When Joyce in Year 10 came to see me in Year 8 saying she was not enjoying reading. We chose a book together and now she reads all the time and is on track to achieve highly in her GCSEs Watching our small music concerts – the courage and determination (and talent!) of our students is overwhelming Any time when I have watched my A level historians debate and argue about Russian History with verve and passion – they are so insightful and perceptive
Outside interests or hobbies	Travelling, hiking, reading - and good food!
People who inspire you and why	Anyone who makes an effort to be the very best they can be – they recognise the effort it takes and yet strive for the stars. Anyone who does not give excuses – they do their best and expect to be judged on a level playing field. Elizabeth I – she may not have been loved by everyone and occasionally she made some poor decisions. However, she held her head high in a man’s world and did not flinch from difficult decisions. My grandmother – she was brought up in the deserts of northern Chile and lived a bohemian lifestyle yet was a social chameleon. She was confident and elegant in every circumstance and she remained fascinated by the world around her until the day she died at 95. By always looking about her and asking questions she made the most of her life and any experiences she could seek out. Now there’s a life fully lived!

	John Watkins
Job at the Academy	Vice Principal
Where born	Wiltshire
Previous employment	Phil Edwards PRU, Croydon
Education (past school, college, university	Haileybury College, Hertford Exeter University
Best Moment in your own schooling	Getting the grades that got me into the University that I really wanted.
Best moment at the Academy	Seeing the results of our SEN students in august 2009 and the looks on their faces when they got their certificates.
Outside interests or hobbies	Fishing, motorcycling, Chelsea FC
People who inspire you and why	There are one or two here but I don't want to embarrass them or over-inflate their egos by naming them!

	Jim Henderson
Job at the Academy	Deputy Principal
Where born	Camden, London
Previous employment	I was assistant Head at the Charter School in Dulwich
Education (past school, college, university	I went to secondary school in Chigwell, Essex Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University for my degree in Natural Sciences I did my PGCE to become a teacher at Manchester University.
Best Moment in your own schooling	In the sixth form a group of us wrote a sartirical version of Dick Whittington which we performed to a large audience. It was very scurrilous about some of the teachers. NB Don't get any clever ideas, Lambeth sixth-formers!
Best moment at the Academy	Every single performance that I have seen with Lambeth Academy students has been amazing and I have occasionally been known even to shed a small tear of pride. Othello has got to get a name check for the cream of the cream so far ....
Outside interests or hobbies	Cycling, growing vegetables, reading, playing guitar, theatre. I have also just taken up a beginner’s running course in Dulwich Park so maybe running marathons will be on this list by next year!
People who inspire you and why	I know that this sounds rather obsequious but I am regularly inspired by the energy, creativity, patience and care shown by all of the staff here at Lambeth Academy. In addition, I am often in awe of many of our students who persist with hard work and endeavour, even in the face of challenging obstacles in their own lives.

Staff Profiles

Lots!

When Joyce in Year 10 came to see me in Year 8 saying she was not enjoying reading. We chose a book together and now she reads all the time and is on track to achieve highly in her GCSEs