Juliet was co-opted to the Board in May 2020 and brings expertise in Educational Leadership and Inclusion.

Until 2019 I was a headteacher at a state primary school in South Gloucestershire. I had been a teacher for 16 years, having taken a degree in psychology and then a PGCE as a mature student in my early thirties. I taught at a small rural school before moving to a larger school in Yate, where children came from far more diverse backgrounds. I now live in Stroud and am retraining in psychological therapy for children and families.

Whilst working as a Head, my primary aim was to make sure that the children in my school were happy; that they felt valued and confident. Fundamental to my approach to teaching and learning is that every child is unique and deserves cherishing for that uniqueness.

Coming from the state sector, I have great respect for Steiner Waldorf education, not least because I can see how the state sector is challenged to provide what I as a child most valued in my education. But also because I taught children who had come from a Steiner Kindergarten, who impressed me so much in their attitudes towards and aptitude for learning. Parental choice is a government mantra which often means very little; what matters to me is recognising that every child is different, and has different talents and gifts, which need to be drawn out in different ways.