Viv has worked at Westcourt since 2006 when she was an NQT. During this time, she has taught across all year groups with Upper Key Stage 2 being her main specialism. Having been in Year 6 for the majority of her teaching career, Viv has been a county moderator for writing for the past 4 years. This is a role that Viv relishes; she is able to support others in different schools and identify good practice that develops her own teaching and thinking.

After being a Phase Leader for a couple of years, Viv became Deputy Head in March 2018. Along with this, she took on the role of English and Assessment. Viv has loved being able to introduce a reading rich curriculum to the school and raise the importance of reading and writing across the school.

Viv is very excited about her role as Assessment Associate this year. She is enthused by the new system and is looking forwards to working with colleagues both within and outside her school to ensure that the assessment system is robust, fit for purpose and a tool that can be used effectively to promote progress within schools.

Originally from South Africa, Alanah is currently the Early Years Lead and Nursery teacher at The Federation of Barnehurst Schools. She is a passionate, enthusiastic teacher who has experience teaching across Early Years to Ks2, in London, Bexley and Kent, since starting her career in 2005. Over her years she has held the position of Assistant Head, subject leader, DSL and now EYFS lead.

Her passion for building relationships with the people she works with, as well as the families in her school community, is something that she holds close to her heart. She believes that these close relationships are the key to any positive development. Alanah values creating a welcoming and engaging learning environment for her children and her EYFS team. Through her support and guidance, many learning environments have been transformed.

She has high expectations for herself, her team and the people she collaborates with and models an ethic of excellence.

Tamara Hunter has been working in education since 2005 and has taught across all key stages in Kent and Greenwich. Her passion lies in early education where she has led many Early Years settings. She has also been a moderator in Bexley and an external early year’s school advisor.

Tamara is the Deputy Head Teacher at the Federation of Barnehurst Schools and currently leads the curriculum and holds the post as English Lead. She believes that progress is achieved when children and teachers have an emotional link with their learning and she is an advocate for Global Citizenship. Tamara leads talks on how to create a global curriculum within primary education across the UK.

She has held multiple leadership roles and loves the ability to work with so many people who are passionate about education.

Matthew is an award-winning teacher, writer, speaker and influencer with a passion for EDUTech, community collaboration and equal access to education.

Matthew joined the Teach First Leadership Development Programme in 2018 and has previously worked in corporate responsibility, community investment, school development and Her Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS). He is currently in the final year of an MBA in Educational Leadership and has undertaken a number of research projects concerning gamification, attachment theory and knowledge democracy.

Claire is Co-Associate for Inclusion and Mental Health. Although new to the Trust, she is settling in quickly and is enjoying getting to know her new school community.

In a very varied career, which has involved a number of years teaching in Australia, Claire has taught at Primary, Middle, Secondary and University level. She has completed the SENCo award and is continuing with her studies, to complete her Masters.

Within a previous M.A.T Claire was a Lead Practitioner for Inclusion and one of her schools attained the Centre of Excellence with the IQM. She is now embarking on this process with Westcourt Primary. She has led many subjects including maths and English and has enjoyed many roles in Senior Leadership, but particularly enjoys developing and empowering staff within the field of inclusion.

Clare has worked at Lessness Heath Primary School since 2001 since joining the school as an NQT. During her career Clare has taught in all Key Stages, led Maths and Science across the school and held the post of Leading Literacy teacher for Bexley Borough. Clare has been leading inclusion across the school for the last five years and during this time achieved her NASENCO and NPQSL qualifications. She is passionate about inclusion and achieving the highest standards for all children in her care, and this has been recognised with Lessness Heath achieving and retaining Centre of Excellence status for inclusion awarded by the Inclusion Quality Mark.

Clare feels it is a real privilege to be asked to be an Associate for the Trust and is excited to have the opportunity to work collaboratively with Inclusion leaders across the Trust to ensure the best possible outcomes and opportunities for all children.

Zanya is the Early Years Lead at Springhead Primary School. Specialising in Early Years Education in 2016, she has taught both nursery and reception classes in two other schools. She has also spent time in Year 1 and Year 2, which she found insightful as it informs her on how the EYFS curriculum leads on to the National Curriculum. Zanya is a pioneer at heart and has initiated, led and designed many successful programmes in all her posts. Teaching is Zanya’s second career; before this, she ran a performing arts school for children and youths.

Kay is a career changer. After many successful years as a training and development manager within the travel industry, she retrained to follow her interest in primary education. Kay joined the Primary First Trust as a class teacher at Lessness Heath in 2020 after many years in an outstanding school in Greenwich. Kay’s enthusiasm for the teaching of English grew after Talk 4 Writing training with Pie Corbett in 2015 as part of the primary writing project. Kay is passionate about the development of oracy skills for children and how this impacts overall outcomes for children.
In her previous school, Kay has led year groups, developing teaching and learning. She is an ECT mentor and has successfully coached early career teachers developing their pedagogy and practice. Kay’s passion for all things English means that her love for the subject bleeds through to the children she is teaching and leads by example by being an avid reader of children’s literature.
Kay is honored to be asked to be the English Associate for the Primary First Trust. She is looking forward to working with all schools within the Trust to share best practice and her passion for English to ensure the best possible outcomes for all children.

Jenny has worked within the Primary First Trust since she was an NQT and has had experience of teaching a variety of year groups, with her specialism lying in upper key stage two. Currently, she is working in Year Six at Lessness Heath and has been Maths lead for the school for two years. During her time at the school, she has worked with all staff to introduce new concepts such as developing a Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract approach to teaching. Introducing support for out of band children and ensuring the curriculum is manipulative heavy and staff are confident in using a variety of questioning techniques and resources to support the individual needs and overall outcomes of the school.
Jenny’s passion lies in the teaching and learning of Maths across all year groups. She believes in making Maths current, purposeful, exciting and relevant for all ages. During her time at Lessness Heath she has worked closely with all phase leaders from EYFS to UKS2 to ensure the approach to teaching Maths is reflective of the needs of each cohort and engaging for their age groups.
Jenny feels it is a real privilege to be Maths Associate for the Trust and is excited to work with the other leads in order to support one another in continuing to develop a creative and responsive approach to Maths within the Primary First Trust. Jenny knows that the Trust is built of unique and individualistic schools and believes working collaboratively together by sharing good practice can ensure quality first outcomes in Maths for all.