The staff at West Lakes Academy are inspired by helping students succeed and reach their full potential. Many staff mention being inspired by seeing students blossom, develop, improve, and achieve their goals. Several staff wanted to become teachers because they were inspired by their own teachers and wanted to have a positive impact on students. Overall, the staff find their work rewarding and are motivated by the students.

1. What Inspires Staff At West Lakes Academy?

2. Mrs Brown
(Head of Year 9)
“What inspires me to work in a
school is my love of children and
the children we have here. To see
all children thrive and do well, it is
a pleasure to watch them blossom,
being the young individuals that
that they are. I love seeing them go
on to bigger greater things and
knowing that I have been a part of
their lives.”

3. Mr Rush
(History Teacher)
“Seeing the youngest
kids develop
throughout their
school life.”

4. Miss Fell
(Behavioural Support Assistant)
“What inspires me to do my job
is that I want to help students do
the best they can in school, so
they can do what they want in
the future. Seeing them improve
makes me want to come in
everyday for school.”

5. Mrs Rinaldi
(Maths Teacher)
“I had a really good
teacher who I'm still
friends with. That’s why
I wanted to be a
teacher”

6. Mr Walker
(RE Teacher)
“I wanted to be in a
job that equipped and
inspired young people
to be what they want
to be.”

7. Miss Beckwith
(Science Teacher)
“Every day is different
at WLA.”

8. “What inspires me is seeing
students in my intervention groups
be successful, whether they are
going for a grade C or a B, but
especially for those ones that work
that little bit harder to achieve their
grade. That is what makes me
come in everyday to school.”
Mrs Plews
(Maths Teaching Assistant)

9. Mrs Robinson
(Learning Support Assistant)
“What inspires me, is when the
students achieve their goals with
my help and move forward in their
future learning. Watching them
progress over time motivates me
and makes me want to come in
everyday.”

10. Mr Haslop
(Geography Teacher)
“Because I wanted to
make a difference,
develop young
people, to make them
more fully rounded
and better people .”

11. “I'm motivated because I like to be a part of
the academy and I want all students to
achieve their goals, whatever their
personal goals may be. I want them all to
be the best while they are here, and when
they move into their future they don’t look
back and have any regrets. That they are
fulfilled and happy to be here and that they
know why they are here and that we will
support them, whatever their needs may
be.”
Ms. Wightman
(Head of Year 8)

12. “I enjoy helping and supporting
students who are facing difficulties
in their lives and encouraging them
back into lessons at West Lakes
Academy. Seeing them improve
and grow as a person inspires me
to come to work.”
Mrs Williamson
(Head of Inclusion)

13. “What inspires me is seeing
children reach their full potential
and knowing that I took part in
their lives. It’s fantastic to see
students excel in their grades and
constantly pushing themselves to
improve.”
Mrs Johnston
(Learning Support Assistant)

14. Miss Contell
(MFL Teacher)
“I love to see
students make
progress and
improve.”

15. “What inspires me to come to West
Lakes Academy is the wonderful
students we have here, I love to help
students if I can and make them feel
better. If they are feeling poorly or
injured they come to me so I
sometimes feel like the mother of the
school!”
Mrs Tuck
(First Aid Co-ordinator)

16. Miss Donaldson
(Head of Year 11)
“What inspires me to come to my
work everyday is the opportunity
to work with students, I thrive on
seeing students excel in all
different areas, but also the fact
that each day is never the same,
always different. I love the variety
of my job!”

17. Miss MacLeod
(English Teacher)
“My teachers
inspired me to
become a teacher
myself.”

18. Miss Brown
(Head of Year 7)
“I love coming into West Lakes
Academy to help students
achieve all they can and remove
any problems that may be in
their way so that they don’t
impact on their learning. By the
time they leave, they have
everything they need to have a
successful life.”

19. “You lot, you all inspire me,
that’s why I do my job and
enjoy it.”
“All of you children inspire
me.”
Teresa and Allison
(Kitchen Team)

20. Mrs Wharton
(Librarian)
“You can spend time giving people
instructions, advice or guidance but it
doesn’t mean they are going to take
it. For me working with a child and
spending time on them, and then
seeing the improvement whether its
1%, or 100%, that’s why I do my job.”

21. Reception Staff
“Working with the
people here at the
academy really inspires
me.”

22. Miss Lithgow (PR Manager)
Mrs Wond (HR Co-ordinator)
“Its rewarding to know that I help publicise the
achievements that the students have made
throughout their time in the academy, and rewarding
to know I’ve played a big part in that. Its nice to see
the parents’ faces when they see the photos and
articles that I have produced to show the success of
our academy.”
“I show people around when the school is recruiting,
and that for me is like the same relationships that
teachers have with students, it’s nice to see their
faces when we show them the school, they seem
really amazed and it’s satisfying as I work in a place
that is so amazing to other people it really makes me
proud, that’s what inspires me.”

23. Ken
(Site Management)
“When I was in the police force, I did
various jobs such as helping children
with their cycling proficiency, and little
jobs like that and when I retired I
wanted to do something with all the
time I had on my hands. I didn’t want
to waste it, so when the job for site
management came up, I took it and
I’ve been here ever since, and I love
it. The kids keep me young!”

24. Miss Kerr
(PE Teacher)
“I work here in
the hope that I
can make a
difference in
students lives.”

25. Miss Capstick
(English Teacher)
“I wanted to work with
children, give young
people an education
they’ll remember and
give them the
opportunities that they
want.”

26. Miss McCrory
(MFL Teacher)
“I enjoy helping
children learn.”

27. Mrs Durham
(Science Teacher)
“David Attenborough
inspires me as weird
as that sounds.”

28. Miss Lewthwaite
(Food and Nutrition Teacher)
“I wanted to be a
teacher because of the
impact my teachers had
on me.”