A Conversation With... Mrs Lucy Isaac

This week's 'A Conversation With...' features the English Department's Mrs Lucy Isaac who is currently doing maternity cover. In this feature, we find out more about what motivated her to become a teacher as well as why she is already familiar with the College grounds...

What is your role and how long have you been at Shiplake? 

I have been at Shiplake for three and a half weeks doing maternity cover in the English Department.  

What were you doing before working at Shiplake? 

Before working at Shiplake, I was (and still am!) working on my master's degree in inclusive education at the University of Reading. 

What is a day in the life like for Mrs Isaac at Shiplake? 

A day in the life for me at Shiplake usually involves a lot of coffee, poetry, books and petting as many of the dogs around school as I can. Of course, I also spend a lot of time supporting pupils in their English lessons. Luckily, there have been some excellent creative schemes of work this term which are my favourite! 

What inspired you to pursue a career in teaching and education? 

I found school very difficult as a teenager, in fact, I really hated it. I found the prospect of going to school every single day daunting, but it was the staff at school that helped make it better. When I was in the Sixth Form, I did originally have my heart set on working in prisons but realised that I could make a difference to children who also weren’t keen on school. I can remember sitting down with my tutor and her asking me what I was going to do, and I remember saying to her, ‘I’m going to help children who hate going to school like me!’.  

When I finished my teacher training, I went back to my old school and said thank you to my tutor and a few other teachers for encouraging me. There were many looks of disbelief on my old teachers’ faces that day! 

We've heard it's been a busy summer for you including a special day; can you tell us more? 

It was a very busy summer with a very special day! My husband and I got married in July this year and we held our reception in the very beautiful grounds here at Shiplake College. We had a fabulous meal from the Thomas Franks team, had spectacular weather (possibly thanks to an old wives’ tale that includes burying a pork sausage in the ground!) and we were lucky enough to arrive by boat. We had the most fabulous day, and we feel incredibly lucky! 

Are there plans for a honeymoon? 

We are off to Japan in April. We are timing our trip so that we can see the beautiful cherry blossom. My husband and I also absolutely love rollercoasters and many of our plans are revolving around going to different theme parks there as well. 

What does the future hold for Mrs Isaac? 

The future hopefully involves me completing my master's degree! I cannot think much beyond that at the moment as my dissertation is taking up a lot of my brain power! 

What does Mrs Isaac do in her spare time? 

My husband is a musician and therefore much of my free time involves going to support him at gigs. This means lots of festivals in the summer but also going to the Alps as much as I can in the winter – this is of course all to support him and not at all about having lots of fun and getting to ski! Otherwise, my time is spent with my four (!) cats and spending as much time as possible with my seven nieces and nephews.