Little Beacons Staff

Lucy Gordon started teaching at The Beacon in 2015. She taught Year 1 and became Deputy Head of Pre-Prep in 2018. Lucy is particularly interested in the way boys learn and prior to joining the school she conducted a research based Masters of Education degree concerning boys opinions of writing. This was a fascinating insight and showed the benefits of creating a curriculum specifically for boys. In her spare time, Lucy enjoys reading books, baking and going to the theatre.

Claire has 25+ years experience teaching young children, 20 of which have been at The Beacon, and she absolutely adores it. Claire finds supporting and encouraging young children’s learning and development such a rewarding experience. Every day is different and that brings her so much joy. One minute she could be a superhero, saving the world with her trusty fellow superheroes, and the next she could be given a worm to hold, as a special gift from a boy and his curious peers. Claire makes learning fun and wants boys to be passionate about the world they live in. Claire enjoys going to the theatre.

Jenny has been working in Early Years for over 20 years now, and she loves working with Nursery children specifically as they have such an infectious and inquisitive love for life and learning. She truly believes that we should all look at the world through the eyes of a 3-year old! Jenny genuinely enjoys everything about her job! From helping our Little Beacons explore and learn about the world to supporting them to become independent. Hearing the words "Mrs Grubb, I did it myself!" is extremely joyful! She is proud to have been part of the set-up, launch and ongoing success of our Little Beacons Nursery. Jenny loves being outside - her favourite place to be is by the sea, and she enjoys going on long walks and hiking with her family.

Carrie-Anne qualified in 1994 and since then she has worked in various Early Years settings for 28 years, starting her career as a Teaching Assistant at The Beacon in 2021. Carrie-Anne loves caring and educating young children because they are like ‘sponges’ and soak up every activity, experience and opportunity presented to them. She finds it such a pleasure to be part of our Little Beacons young lives. Carrie-Anne is extremely passionate about each individual she teaches to become independent and unique at their own pace. She is a mother of four boys ranging from aged 22 down to 15 years. She adores family-time and enjoys baking (sometimes her boys still offer to help!) Carrie-Anne enjoys travelling and having Summer holidays with family and friends.

Lisa has always had a passion for teaching in Early Years. Now with 17 years’ experience, she was delighted to embark on working with young children in Early Years as soon as she finished her education at school. She believes these years are very important in laying down the foundations for the future development of every child. Her favourite part of the job is seeing the world through the eyes of a child, helping them to use their imagination to turn everyday objects into whatever the child chooses them to be. Outside of work, Lisa enjoys spending time with her three children who are 12, 10 and 8 years old. She loves going to parks and visiting museums with her family.

Mel started working at The Beacon in July 2021 in the Admissions Department and has recently moved roles to join the Early Years team in Little Beacons. She is thoroughly enjoying getting to know and help support the youngest members of our school community as they begin their Beacon journey. Mel will tell you that no two days are the same and there is never a dull moment in Nursery. The boys are always busy, busy, busy, and a favourite aspect of her new role is being able to share in all the experiences they have as they learn and play in their new environment. Mel is a mother to a son and loves spending time with her family. She also likes to travel, ski and enjoy time with friends in her spare time.

Elena started working at The Beacon in 2011, she has had various roles in the School over the last 11 years. From 2013 she has been a classroom support from Reception to Year 3 and provided one to one support for pupils with special needs and really enjoyed helping them to achieve their full potential. Following maternity leave in 2021 Elena has returned to work with the Little Beacons Nursery, encouraging them to express their imagination in play and finds it a great pleasure to see them gain confidence and engage in all their activities. Elena enjoys time with her daughter, loves family time and friends, also enjoys UK holidays and reading.

Peter started teaching PE and Games at The Beacon in 2022. He teaches all age groups from Little Beacons up to Year 8, across all sports. Peter enjoys seeing the vast amounts of progress that the Little Beacons make throughout the course of their early years at The Beacon. He feels strongly that the pupils develop so much more than just an enjoyable and healthy lifestyle through playing sport. It also leads to the pupils learning and practicing sportsmanship, respect and courage. In his spare time, Peter enjoys running, swimming and generally anything that keeps him active and moving. He hopes to share his love of physical activity with the pupils!

Jane has been teaching Music at The Beacon for 4 years. She takes a special interest in teaching our younger boys, and particularly loves coming into Little Beacons Nursery. She has a creative and imaginative approach to teaching and uses innovative strategies and activities to encourage the boys to develop a keen interest in Music, ensuring they have fun and make good progress. Jane uses body percussion, rhythm sticks and other percussion instruments to help our Little Beacons develop awareness of rhythm patterns. She uses listening-games and activities to explore pitch and dynamics and selects lively songs with actions to develop confidence, posture, coordination, and diction to develop a love of singing. Her favourite hobbies are playing the violin in orchestra, going for walks, seeing musicals and exploring new places!

With a background in musicology and a passion for guitar and violin, Alicja brings a unique blend of musical knowledge and hands-on creativity to her teaching. Alicja has a special passion for community music-making and group singing, helping our Little Beacons explore music through playful, engaging activities. She uses a variety of instruments, call-and-response songs, and rhythm games to encourage musical expression, cooperation, and confidence in each child. In her free time, Alicja loves exploring the outdoors with her dog, Maple, often found rock climbing or trekking along new trails.

Michael – known as Mitch – has recently joined The Beacon following several years of KS1 & KS2 teaching experience and a Head of Primary Languages role at another Prep School. Alongside this, he also has experience teaching A-level French and German. Mitch is an expert in and has a particular passion for using Makaton as a Kinesthetic learning tool when teaching languages, which he applies to his Modern Foreign Languages lessons at The Beacon. Outside of school working hours, Mitch is developing his language skills by doing an MA in Translation (German to English). In his leisure time, Mitch enjoys running and fitness, having completed 10 marathons and continuously training for and entering other marathons. He is an avid animal lover, particularly fond of dogs owning his own little fur baby called Freddie Teddie.