Head of English and Media receives recognition for teaching methods

Westonbirt School’s Head of English and Media, Tabatha Sheehan, is rapidly making a name for herself in educational circles for her innovative teaching and learning methods.

Schools Week recently published a piece entitled “Six top tips to diversify your English curriculum” written by Miss Sheehan, which explored how students’ reading of classics could be enriched and complemented by the introduction of writers and texts from a more diverse range. This range includes not only race, but also neurodivergence, disability, gender identity, sexuality and class.

Miss Sheehan regularly writes pieces for other websites and journals including FE News, Pearson and the Times Educational Supplement (TES) and was shortlisted in 2022 for a prestigious TES Schools Award for the category Subject Lead (Secondary). However, this particular Schools Week piece prompted an approach from a commissioning editor at Bloomsbury Publishing in London and Miss Sheehan is now in early talks to write her first non-fiction educational book.

She says “I’m really flattered by the outside interest in my teaching methods. These have been developed and inspired by working with an excellent cohort of students and staff and wanting to do my best for them. I feel thoroughly passionate about my subject and imparting knowledge to others and that’s the motivation behind it all.”

Miss Sheehan will be commencing study for a part-time Master in Teaching and Learning qualification at St Anne’s College, University of Oxford in August, and has recently been invited to become an Ambassador for the Global School’s Alliance.