Simi Mcconnell

Biography

My background is centred around primary education. I have over 20 years teaching experience within primary schools, as a qualified teacher. I also gained recognition as an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) and fulfilled this role over 5 years, supporting teachers, through coaching and mentoring to improve their practice within the classroom. My work also involved facilitating the introduction of ‘Learning to Learn’ models of teaching and learning across Derby City primary schools. This work led to a visit to Moscow to examine and compare approaches towards ‘Learning to Learn’ with primary and secondary schools. This area still remains a firm interest of mine. As a science AST I also led the City wide science network meetings providing vital support and CPD for the City’s science co-ordinators. My Masters dissertation focussed on the effectiveness of peer coaching as a vehicle for CPD for primary teachers. This continues to be a research interest of mine. One of my life-long passions however remains the teaching and learning of primary science and I intend to focus on this in the near future.

Research Interest

Primary Education