Our team

Mike read History and German at Wadham College, Oxford before training to teach with Future Teacher Training. In his time at Future Academies, and alongside his work as a classroom teacher, Mike has written and resourced a bespoke KS3 History curriculum which is in use across all secondary schools in the Future Academies Trust. Beyond this he has also contributed to the Department for Education’s curriculum pilot for the development of the Key Stage 2 History curriculum. He now splits his time between Phoenix Academy in White City, where he is Head of History, and the other Trust academies, where he supports Heads of Department to implement their curricula successfully. In addition to this, he is also currently leading on the design of the History curriculum with the OAK National Academy. Mike’s first passion remains the study of the past, and is working towards an MSt in History at Selwyn College, Cambridge: his research focusses on the ways in which peasants interacted with the local English legal system in the wake of the Black Death. rdion content

Nathan studied Literature at Liverpool John Moores before qualifying as a teacher, and teaching English abroad. He has taught at Pimlico Academy for 15 years, has led the ECT provision and has worked on the English curriculum since the inception of the Curriculum Centre in 2013.

Idara taught her first mathematics lessons straight out of A-Level, as an eighteen-year-old, and has been trying to improve her own lessons through and with the teachers she has met since. This journey has taken her through teaching and middle-leadership roles in two other large multi-academy trusts, including Mastery Lead responsible for the implementation of both Ark Mathematics Mastery and White Rose Maths curricula, department head, initial teacher trainer under different school-centred programmes and content writing for Mastery curricula. Idara's involvement in education involved a significant detour through strategy and projects in the energy and petrochemicals industry, so she is experienced in and perennially curious about how we help professionals to improve what they do daily. After her BA in Mathematics and English Literature she cheated on the discipline with an MPhil in English, an MBA and then a DPhil – again, in English – before her PGCE (Secondary Mathematics). Ultimately, she enjoys co-creating conditions for learners to make better decisions and produce more beautiful mathematics. 

Charlie is the Subject Lead for Latin at Future Academies and the Director of the Department for Education’s Latin Excellence Programme. After completing degrees in Classics at Oxford and King’s College London universities, he started teaching in January 2015. He trained with Future Teacher Training at Pimlico Academy in September 2016, coinciding with the launch of Latin at the school. Due to student success and demand, since September 2019, the subject has been taught at all primary and secondary schools in Future Academies. In September 2022, Future Academies launched the DfE’s Latin Excellence Programme, which will develop Latin and Classics provisions in forty schools across England. Charlie is passionate about teaching Latin and making the subject accessible, challenging and enjoyable to everyone. 

 

Adam has been teaching Computer Science for over 12 years and has been a Head of Department for 7 years. He is currently the Trust Lead for the subject as well as the Head of Department at Pimlico Academy. Adam has a successful record of delivering outstanding results at both GCSE and A Level and is responsible for providing support, resources and CPD for departments across the Trust. Adam is passionate about declarative Computer Science knowledge, including how computers operate and process information, as well as the more procedural knowledge including how to nurture skilled and conscientious users and creators of technology. Adam has worked closely with Future Teacher Training through various remits, gaining holistic knowledge of our training provision, having mentored several trainees and within his previous role as Professional Mentor for Pimlico Academy.

A science teacher with nearly a decade of experience in the classroom. Philip was KS3 science lead at Pimlico Academy for 6 years before moving to a trust-wide role. He has an MSc in Chemistry and has a keen interest in curriculum design.

Phil is the Science Trust Lead for Future Academies. He has written and oversees the implementation of the KS3 science curriculum, which is taught throughout our Future Academies schools across Years 7, 8 and 9.

Before moving to the Trust Lead role, Kate was Head of Geography for 6 years in two different schools. Alongside this, Kate has been heavily involved in geography curriculum more broadly presenting, consulting and authoring for both the Geographical Association and the Royal Geographical Society as well as a wide range of publishers and organisations. She completed her Masters in Education with a thesis exploring the use of TAs in the geography classroom and continues to engage in geography education research.

She is particularly passionate about Key Stage 3 geography curriculum and loves engaging in the debates of how to ensure the very best geography teaching possible.

Nickael is Vice Principal for Personal Development and Safeguarding at Ark Acton Academy, where she oversees PSHE. She has worked as Curriculum Leader for Citizenship, Sociology, RE and PSHE in three different secondary schools and is an experienced Teacher Educator. She obtained a PGCE in Citizenship at the Institute of Education, University College London and has led sessions at UCL on how to successfully implement GCSE Citizenship into secondary schools. As an experienced teacher educator, she frequently coaches' staff at varying levels and uses evidence-informed strategies to promote high-quality teaching. Most recently, Nickael was listed in the Guardian’s top 100 inspirational teachers list for her co-curriculum work and has written a chapter on PSHE curriculum for the “Developing Quality PSHE in Secondary Schools and Colleges” book which will be published by Bloomsbury academic. 

Lisa has been a drama teacher at Pimlico Academy for nearly 15 years.  During that time, she has had a key role in developing the curriculum. Soon after joining Pimlico, she became a House Lead Learner and was responsible for the academic progress of students across the House Team. In addition, she was also part of a team responsible for developing PSHE delivery across the school. Subsequent to that role, Lisa joined the SCITT Team as a developer and took on the delivery of the RIS programme, whilst also providing feedback to many trainees across the trust. 

Lisa then became a Professional Mentor at Pimlico and was responsible for overseeing the role of the mentors, delivering training sessions and supporting the trainees at Pimlico Academy.  Lisa is now the Head of Drama at Pimlico Academy and continues to develop the curriculum alongside mentoring new trainees. 

Lizzie has been teaching Art for over 14 years and is currently Head of Department at Pimlico Academy. Lizzie studied fine art at both UAL Camberwell and Edinburgh College of Art, where she completed a BA Hons in Drawing and Painting and a Post graduate diploma in Tapestry.  

Since becoming a teacher Lizzie has written and implemented a new KS3 curriculum which is still in use at Pimlico Academy and has now been Head of Art for three years. Lizzie has a proven record of excellent GCSE and A level results and has mentored a number of trainees and new teachers throughout her career. Prior to being Head of Department Lizzie was also a Head of Year in the sixth form where she gained valuable knowledge about how students learn and how to create a culture of independence. 

Shahid leads on writing the Future Academies bespoke KS3 Spanish curriculum. He believes firmly in the importance of teaching students languages through the acquisition of highly generative chunks of language, alongside the rigorous and explicit teaching of grammar, that can be manipulated and unpacked to serve different communicative functions.  

Shahid splits his time between his role as Head of MFL at Pimlico Academy and work in our other Trust academies, where he supports with curriculum implementation. Before training to teach with Future Teacher Training, Shahid read Modern and Medieval Languages at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also completed his MPhil in Latin American Studies. 

Sophie joined Pimlico Academy in 2018 as a teacher of Classics and is now a Lead Teacher on the Latin Excellence Programme. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Manchester in Classics and Ancient History and has a PGCE in Classics from the University of Sussex. Having attended a non-selective state school herself, Sophie is passionate about making Latin a subject that is available and accessible to all. She also leads on the teaching of Ancient History and Classical Civilisation in her school, giving her comprehensive knowledge and experience of all the Classical subjects available at KS4 and KS5. 

Lauren splits her time between her roles as Lead Teacher for the Latin Excellence Programme and Head of Classics at Pimlico Academy. After reading Classics at St John’s College, Oxford, Lauren completed her training with Future Teacher Training in 2016, and has been teaching at Pimlico since. She is an experienced mentor of both trainees and early career teachers and is currently completing an NPQ in Leading Teacher Development.  

A trained linguist and philologist, with over 10 years of experience in higher education and research, Claudia joined Barclay Academy in 2019, where she successfully introduced Latin to all pupils in Year 7 and was soon after appointed as Head of Latin. In 2022, she was seconded to Centre of Latin Excellence, where she contributes to the delivering of the Department for Education's Latin Excellence Programme. She oversees teacher development in our Hertfordshire schools and supports school leadership with the smooth running of the Latin programme. 

Claudia was a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where she completed a PhD in Medieval Italian Studies. She has a PGCE in Education and is passionate about language teaching and learning as well as the intersection of language history and culture. Claudia is a published author.