I’m Assistant Head of Curriculum at the Energy Academy, and my role is focused on making sure everything runs smoothly for both staff and students.

A big part of what I do is ensuring learners get the best possible experience - particularly making sure they gain as much practical, hands-on experience as possible so they’re ready to go straight into the workplace.

I’ve always been interested in science and maths, and I knew I wanted to do something within those fields.

Engineering felt like the natural route because it’s hands-on and allows you to apply what you learn in the classroom to real-life situations. My background is in renewables and sustainability, so when I found the Energy Academy - a facility dedicated to renewable engineering - it felt like the perfect fit.

The focus on renewable energy was a huge factor.

It’s such a growing industry, especially in the North East and globally, and being able to play a part in training the next generation of renewable engineers really appealed to me.

Seeing the development of the students.

We get a lot of learners who maybe didn’t have the best experience at school or don’t have much confidence in their abilities. Watching them grow over two or three years, build that confidence and then go on to secure really good jobs is incredibly rewarding.

Some of them wouldn’t have believed they could do that when they first started.

It’s a great place to learn.

We’ve got strong facilities and access to industry-standard equipment, which means students aren’t just learning theory - they’re applying it straight away in a practical environment.

That hands-on experience makes a big difference. Students learn quicker, and it’s much more meaningful when they can say they’ve actually done something rather than just watched it.

Because it’s such a growing industry with a huge demand for skilled workers.

There are so many opportunities coming up, and it’s really important we’re preparing students to take those roles. It’s also about keeping talent in the North East - helping learners see the opportunities available here and encouraging them to build their careers locally.

They’re essential.

A lot of the companies around us help shape what we teach. We work with employers to understand what they’re looking for in their workforce and then design our curriculum around that.

That means our students are coming out as strong candidates for jobs because they’ve been trained with those exact expectations in mind.

It’s really exciting.

At the moment, we’re almost at capacity because of the demand, so the expansion is going to make a huge difference. It will give us more space, more specialist facilities and allow us to go into even greater depth with what we teach.

Ultimately, it’s about giving students an even better experience and preparing more learners for the industry.

The way I see the Energy Academy is that it’s like a mini version of industry.

From Level 1 through to Level 6, students are learning how to design, build and test - just like they would in a real workplace. It bridges the gap between school and employment.

When you’re here, you’re not treated like a child - you’re treated like someone preparing to enter the workforce.