Meet your Biology Teacher – Sarah Mahay
Sarah has been teaching at The Queen’s School for 10 years. Before relocating to Chester she worked in several schools in the West Midlands and the North West.
Her academic career began at Edinburgh University where she studied Biological Sciences. Whilst learning about a wide variety of topics, she found the more unusual and less well-known organisms and biological entities on our planet very fascinating, and she was lead down a path of microbiology, medical microbiology, and plant science for the final part of her degree. Even now she encourages her pupils to champion the amazing abilities of plants and fungi!
As Head of Biology and as part of a highly successful science department, her aim is to enthuse pupils, foster a lifelong interest in science, and equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
Meet your English Teacher - John O’Meara
John has been teaching at The Queen’s School since 2005. Before joining Queen’s, he worked at another private school in Cheshire and a state school in Liverpool.
His academic career started at U.C.D. in Dublin where he received a B.A. in English/Economics. From there, he completed a Masters in Victorian Literature at The University of Liverpool before studying for his P.G.C.E. at Durham University.
He is acting Head of English with responsibility for GCSE English and A-level Literature.
In his spare time, he likes to cycle, garden and consume all sorts of media.
Meet your French Teacher – Emmanuelle Lagarde
Emmanuelle was born in France next to the German border but her parents moved to Toulouse when she was nine years old. She has always had a passion for languages and was lucky to learn English, German and Italian in school and wanted to teach foreign languages ever since.
Due to her language skills, she was offered the opportunity to work for a French blue-chip company in England. She worked for Michelin Tyres in logistics for four years. She then left Michelin Tyres to complete her PGCE at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Since qualifying, she has taught in four outstanding British secondary schools, including three Specialist Language Colleges. She is mainly focused on teaching GCSE and A-level French but also has experience of teaching German, Italian and Spanish at Key Stage 3.
During her teaching career, she has acquired the necessary knowledge, expertise, and skills to run excellent revision sessions.
Meet your Mathematics Teacher – Mr Ian Magill
Ian has been teaching for 20 years and he has worked in various schools in the North West and Wales in that time.
Currently in his sixth year as Head of Mathematics at the Queen’s School and he leads an incredibly successful department that is very experienced in gaining top grades for students.
He studied mathematics at the University of Manchester before also completing his PGCE there too.
Beyond the classroom, his main passion is football and he supports Liverpool, but he also loves to ski, ride his bike, and eat pizza!
Meet your Mathematics Teacher – Mr Charles Godfrey
Charles has been teaching mathematics at the Queen’s school for 11 years and previously taught mathematics and physics at an independent school in North Wales.
He graduated from the University of Sheffield with a Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering. While studying, he conducted research on microwave propagation and gallium arsenide lasers. He gained his PGCE in mathematics from the University of Chester.
He particularly enjoys teaching the technical applications of mathematics.
Prior to teaching he competed in two World Karate Championships and climbed extensively around the UK and Europe. He has recently taken up field archery but doesn’t profess to be any good at it.
Meet your Physics Teacher - Erika Robinson
Erika has been teaching physics at The Queen’s School for 13 years and has held the head of the department role for the past three years. Prior to this she worked at a large comprehensive school in North Wales, spending five years there teaching science.
She achieved a physics degree from the University of Warwick before spending a year abroad in Austria, working as an English classroom assistant. This inspired her to undertake her PGCE, which she completed at Liverpool John Moores University.
She enjoys teaching all areas of physics, particularly practical experiments with all year groups and the Astronomy topic at A-level. Beyond the classroom, she enjoys spending time outdoors, particularly long-distance running, as well as baking and embroidery
Meet your Spanish Teacher – Inma Ruiz
Born in southern Spain, in a quiet city by the sea, Inma and her family relocated to Extremadura when she was 12, a lovely historical region famous for its Roman heritage and gastronomy.
Her passion for languages started when she began English lessons in secondary school; She was so keen that she would complete the textbook exercises before the term started – much to her teacher’s annoyance! Since then she has taken every opportunity she could find to learn or experience a different language.
After studying English and French in school, she went on to do a degree in English language and literature at the University of Seville, where she continued with French and also took courses on German and Arabic.
Teaching for over 17 years, she loves fostering a passion for languages in our students and seeing them enjoy and succeed. A strong teacher of Spanish but also some French and Italian (her favourite language after English). She has been Head of Spanish at Queen’s now for 11 years, and she is proud to be part of a strong department that achieves outstanding GCSE and A-level results year after year.
Understanding how we learn - Dr Jack Sheldrake
Jack is our Head of Teaching and Learning at Queen’s. He thoroughly enjoys working as a physics teacher and he is fascinated by all aspects of how pupils understand and process their learning. This interest in how young people learn led Jack to successfully study for a doctorate in education.
As Head of Teaching and Learning, he supports pupils with several learning processes, such as effective revision strategies, which utilise time as effectively as possible and unpicking how pupils learn and removing cognitive barriers.
He lives in Hoylake, Wirral with his wife and three children. When he is not doing helping his children with their learning then he will be in the garden or building something.