Meet our Kip Teachers
Our teachers are passionate, fully qualified and have QTS status, together with current enhanced DBS and Barring List checks. They work effectively to plan the lesson for each student and work individually with them during the lesson. The teachers set and mark relevant homework; re-enforcing the topics they’ve covered in their class. We always ensure your child is confident in a topic before introducing a new one.
If your child has school homework that they are struggling with, we encourage them to bring it to Kip and get help from their teacher.
Sue
Kip Owner & Teacher
Read about Sue
Sue is the Centre Director and is a fully qualified teacher with more than 30 years’ experience, working in schools throughout Derbyshire. In more recent times she was employed by Derbyshire LEA as an Advisory Teacher, across both Primary and Secondary schools – delivering pastoral care and training with great passion.
With a B.Ed (Hons) degree from the University of Warwick and a Professional Counselling Qualification she loves the challenge of helping students improve their academic and life outcomes.
Sue holds a Paediatric First Aid Certificate and enjoys home crafts, cooking and reading in her spare time.
Sue has been a teacher all of her life; you could say it’s who she is – even when she was a child she knew then that this is what she would be. She’s always loved learning.
Sue is a creative person, in particular she loves to make things through the medium of sewing and knitting. This is also seen in her cooking too – her creative side comes out in making food for family and friends.
She loves nature and in particular the colours and patterns she sees. Sue is very happy when in the presence of any animal large or small. For her 60th birthday, we all went alpaca walking and she looks forward to the day when maybe she will have her own dog!
Finally, Sue is never happier than when reading a book. She always has a pile next to her and enjoys reading novels, information books and books that help her to live better.
Helen
Teacher
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Helen is a talented and experienced Primary Teacher, most recently working at Lakeside School in Alvaston. Her specialities are Early Years and Maths. Beyond this, she has taught in a variety of settings; even private tuition up to GCSE Level in Maths. Wow!
In her spare time Helen enjoys quality family time and long walks in the countryside.
She’s never owned a pet; enjoys reading books but doesn’t have an absolute favourite. Her most enjoyable films to watch are ones that make her laugh.
Helen loves to see children’s confidence grow when realising they can do it!
Her favourite colour is purple and she loves to eat strawberries.
Julie
Teacher
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Julie has been teaching for over three decades in various Derby Primary Schools. She has also worked with hearing impaired students, having studied British Sign Language. Julie possesses a wealth of experience in both Key Stage 1 and 2 education. She now particularly enjoys working in small groups, finding student interaction and progress really rewarding. Julie enjoys the Kip environment and looks forward to her weekly sessions.
In the British Isles, Julie’s favourite holiday location is Norfolk but she also enjoys trips to European capital cities, particularly in the sunshine!
Julie’s main hobby is the theatre and she belongs to a group in the city, enjoying playing various roles. She is currently rehearsing a new comedy production. Her other interests include reading, walking and nice meals. Her favourite savoury dish is anything with pasta; while a sweet treat would always be profiteroles.
Alison
Teacher
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Alison took early retirement from the local Primary School where she remains actively involved as a School Governor. Alison knows how to motivate and encourage her students to achieve their very best. She is truly enthusiastic and it rubs off on all around her.
Alison doesn’t have any pets now, but she used to have a family dog when growing up. She enjoys swimming, tap dancing, going to the gym, trips to the theatre and travelling to different holiday destinations. Alison enjoys reading lots of different books, especially autobiographies. Her favourite book as a child was ‘Little House in the Big Woods’ by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Alison has 2 favourite movies; ‘Brief Encounter’ and ‘White Christmas’.
After 35 years of teaching, Alison continues to enjoy helping children to develop and make progress in their learning, finding it very rewarding to see children gain confidence and become independent, as they acquire new skills and knowledge. Teaching is the best job!
Alison’s favourite colour is Turquoise/Jade and she loves to eat any kind of cheese.
David
Teacher
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David is a very fortunate to have taught English in France, Belgium and the UK over the past two decades. In 2007 he achieved his Post Graduate Certificate of Education at the University of Nottingham, and has been assisting students in Secondary education ever since.
He is very passionate about teaching, and considers it a tremendous privilege to work with motivated students at Kip McGrath Derby South. Each student has his or her own unique requirements, and David particularly enjoys customising activities and lessons to assist their development in both general literacy and within the school curriculum. He believes that learning should be challenging, exciting, rewarding and fun.
David’s hobbies and interests include: sports, history, art, travel and conjuring. Some of his favourite writers are: George Orwell, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Christopher, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe and John Steinbeck. He is very fond of teaching Shakespeare to all year groups.
Kathryn
Teacher
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Kathryn has been teaching for approximately thirty five years, acquiring a wealth of experience across KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4. She enjoys teaching the wider curriculum in a variety of settings, both state and private.
She loves reading, and believes every child has a right to know how to read, both for purpose and pleasure. Kathryn did a post-graduate training course in Dyslexia and Literacy studies to better equip her to teach those students with Dyslexia.
Kathryn has five grandchildren and spends as much time with them as possible. Her personal loves are reading, baking and knitting.
During lockdown she has become a dedicated jigsaw expert. Kathryn’s favourite book is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; her favourite film is The Sound of Music, which was one of the first movies she went to see with her parents. She has a beautiful 16 year old Burmese cat, Heidi, that is very needy of cuddles and pampering.
Kathryn favours pinks, blues and lilacs (think of a Monet painting!) and enjoys anything authentically Italian.
Kathryn knew she wanted to be a teacher from the age of eight, pretending to play schools in her room at home. She likes learning and transferring that love of learning to her students. She very much enjoys seeing children discover ways of problem solving that works for them and uses a touch of humour to try to make learning more enjoyable. Nothing beats the relationships that Kathryn builds with her students.
Amy
Teacher
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Amy has loved maths since she was at school and continues to enjoy sharing maths with students and helping them progress. Amy helps students to build their confidence with maths and enjoy their learning. She has worked in various schools in Derbyshire and Staffordshire over the last 10 years, gaining wide teaching experience.
Amy grew up in Derbyshire but loves enjoying new places and travelling, which led to spending a few months camping in the Costa Rican rainforest, leading a group working with park rangers maintaining the national park. Amy also has a TESOL qualification to teach English as a second language, which she has used to teach abroad. More recent adventures have been closer to home, as she now has 2 young sons, and usually involve finding new parts of the Peak District to enjoy hiking and camping.
When Amy has spare time she enjoys learning new things, for example she has been recently learning more about map navigation, gardening and continually trying to improve her Spanish.
Amy has a pet black cat, named Selina (after catwoman!) and would love to have a dog one day when she has plenty of time for daily walks. Amys favourite colours are green and pink, and her favourite food is a good roast dinner.
Colin
Teacher
Read about Colin
Colin was born and educated in South Africa. He taught mathematics and history at high school level for eighteen years in South Africa before moving to the UK where he has taught KS3 and KS4 mathematics. He enjoys nothing more than seeing students overcome their difficulties in mathematics and exceeding expectations, by their own determination and his assistance.
In his spare time, Colin enjoys being with his family. He maintains his interest in history by studying his own family history. Part of this study involves investigating how the major events of the past may have impacted the lives of his ancestors. He has a university qualification in genealogical studies. Colin also enjoys playing the acoustic and bass guitars and learning new techniques to improve his playing. Every morning he takes his miniature schnauzer, Daisy, for a walk and gets to appreciate the freshness of the morning and the beauty of nature.
Colin’s favourite colour is blue and he enjoys most foods – except for kidney, liver and pork!