As interest in children’s activities and education increases, so does the section in our magazine. As such we have recruited the help of Rebecca Martin, who, with her knowledge and expertise, will help us fill our education pages in future issues of the magazine. In order to get to know her a little better, Nichola went to meet her.
It was both astounding yet mildly daunting listening to Rebecca run through her life’s CV with me. Actually just living for Rebecca must require the patience, determination and stamina of a bionic wonder woman of the modern age. She is so full of sparky, inspirational ideas that I spent most of our time together with my mouth agape, completely forgetting to do my usual scribbling of notes! However not to worry, as Rebecca is going to spread her talents to write articles within the educational section of our magazine, so I can continue to catch up with all she is doing.
A local girl, she went to Tavistock College and then read history at Marjons before adding on a fourth year, studying for a PGCE in Primary Education. Rebecca began teaching in Cornwall before moving to Horrabridge Primary in 2008. She became a Lead Teacher in Maths working with a consultancy team conducting research and training teachers throughout Devon. She began a Master’s degree in Education which she hopes to complete shortly and then moved to Kelly Prep (now Mount Kelly) in 2012 as an English specialist.
Two years ago Rebecca had an idea for a business – an education consultancy firm which would improve educational provision in places such as tourist attractions, the National Trust, museums, and any businesses with an interest in families. She aimed to empower these companies to facilitate and enhance exciting learning opportunities, improving the experience for visiting families. Her ethos: “to inform, enrich and inspire”.
She now heads up an innovative team of sixteen freelance consultants, with a broad range of specialist fields – special needs, child psychology, business management and art, for example. Her company, “Exciting Education” has recently begun a large research project on educational provision in partnership with parents, schools and tourist attractions with many other projects in the pipeline as well as contracts with a chain of nurseries.
Juggling a young family, a burgeoning business and teaching full time, Rebecca decided something had to give, so sadly gave up teaching last year and now enjoys the flexibility of working from home and the exciting times of a growing business. She writes a very successful blog based on her experiences as a working mother which she describes as “Dahlesque: slightly grotesque, filled with lesser known facts, anecdotes and quirky poems” – certainly worth a regular read, which I guarantee will leave you smiling!
So now she can add ‘Journalist’ to her long list of achievements and I am personally really looking forward to reading her future articles. She certainly has the knowledge, passion and experience to most certainly make education “informative, enriching and inspiring”.