Kelly Tuppen

Hello everyone and welcome to my classroom! My name is Kelly Tuppen and I am a Secondary English Teacher, as well as the Homeroom Teacher for Year 10 White. I joined HeadStart in 2020. I have a First Class Honours BA in English Literature and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education for Secondary English from the Institute of Education UCL. Prior to moving to Phuket, I taught KS3 and IGCSE English Language, Literature and some Drama for 4 years at international schools in Yangon, Myanmar, a place very dear to my heart. I have also more recently taught for the rural Canadian school system in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada: ask me about my grizzly bear stories! As an internationally-minded teacher, I take pride in cultivating a plurality of perspectives in my English classroom. I inspire my students to learn how to think, nurturing analytical skills, cultural understanding, open-mindedness and tolerance. Along with developing reading and writing proficiency, I encourage my students to be creative - we might roleplay, hold debates, put a character from a novel on trial and even try to sketch poetic imagery to help us visualise it. Developing independence and confidence in my pupils' communication abilities is central to my role as an English teacher. I also encourage students to see mistakes as opportunities to improve, and never to give up! As an English teacher, I especially love poetry and puns, so you may see some around the classroom. I am very much looking forward to the coming academic year, and feel privileged to explore the magic of the English language with my students and help them to progress. If there is anything you wish to talk to me about, please come to see me. Best of luck to everyone this year.