Life, leadership and the pursuit of happiness: Behind the Principal's Desk with Steve Giles

We are thrilled to bring you an intimate conversation with Steve Giles, the principal of Raffles International School in Dubai. Come along as he takes us on a journey through his life, sharing his profound love for the UAE and its people and giving us a glimpse into his personal and professional world. From his beginnings at a school in Al Ain to his current leadership role at Raffles, we discover what makes Steve an exceptional educational leader, husband and father.

In our chat, we veer off the beaten track, discussing everything from our daily commutes, our shared love for rock music and cinema to our passion for teaching. Yes, we even touched on our idea of a perfect date night! Through these candid conversations, we learn more about Steve's happiest moments as a parent, his favourite attractions in the UAE, and even his take on not-so-glamorous fashion trends. There's indeed a surprise at every turn.

Teach Middle East Magazine is the premier platform for educators and the entire education sector in the Middle East and beyond. Our vision is to equip educators with the materials and tools they need, to function optimally in and out of the classroom. We provide a space for educators to connect and find inspiration, resources, and forums to enhance their teaching techniques, methodologies, and personal development. We connect education suppliers and service providers to the people who make the buying decisions in schools.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:26

You are listening to the Teach Middle East podcast connecting, developing and empowering educators.

Speaker 2: 0:37

Hi everyone and welcome to the Teach Middle East podcast. Today I am again going behind the principal's desk to learn a little bit more about one of our school leaders here in the region. Today I am talking to Steve Giles and he is the principal of Raffles International School in Dubai and we want to know what makes Steve tick. Now, steve is a good sport because he literally signed himself up to this. I promise I did not have to twist his arm, so I know he's going to give us some good answers and we're going to have a lot of fun. Now remember, on this series of the podcast, I get to ask the questions that the parents might want to ask or, better still, the other teachers want to ask the teachers in his school, who are probably scared to ask him some of those little cheeky questions. I'm not scared, I'm going to ask him. Welcome, steve, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 3: 1:35

Thank you for having me. Thank you very much. I'm nervous. I wasn't nervous until that.

Speaker 2: 1:39

Oh, really, don't be nervous. You know it's crazy. I don't know why people say they're nervous. I am a good girl. I will not ask you who was your first love or something, or am I? Anyway, keep listening, guys. I might ask that. You know he might not want to answer, but I might ask Okay, steve, are you a family man?

Speaker 3: 2:03

Absolutely, yeah, absolutely Married with two children. They're both actually now in Manchester in the UK. So my daughter's at Manchester Metropolitan University. My son has just started in an excellent well, I hope to be an excellent university called the UCFB, which is not well known. It's called the University Campus of Football Business and it's linked to East London, but he wants to get behind the scenes in the football industry. So he's actually studying football business and marketing and he literally just started last week and his first day was at Old Trufford meeting an ex Premier League manager. So it wasn't a bad start. So he married two children and I'm actually one of six boys, five brothers Wow where did you grow up?

Speaker 3: 2:58

I grew up in a city called Plymouth in the south west of England, where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail to discover America. So Plymouth, in the south west, in a county called Devon, beautiful seaside town surrounded by beaches. It's very rural. It's right on the gateway to Cornwall, which is where Lanzenders Plymouth. That's a quarter of a million people in Plymouth and, yeah, it's a lovely city and I do miss home.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Yeah, I've been to Devon. Actually, I went to Devon. I took a trip when I, when I taught in London, I took a trip to Devon and it was beautiful there, really loved it. We did some sort of adventure abseiling and climbing and all those things. It was great. It was great fun.

Speaker 3: 3:51

As I can say, it's very touristy. It's very much a place where a lot of people in the UK will visit for their holidays. I'm quite surprised.

Speaker 2: 3:59

Yeah, it's beautiful. How long have you been out here?

Speaker 3: 4:04

In the UAE now for six years, have you?

Speaker 2: 4:06

always been at raffles.

Speaker 3: 4:09

No, I started. I first came to Alain, which is that way, about an hour and a half that way into the desert. That was beautiful. Alain was stunning, beautiful, beautiful city and if you get the chance to visit, I would strongly recommend it. It's a beautiful city, it's quiet, but it's stunning and there's some beautiful places to visit, like the mountain Jabalha, peat and the Oasis. There's a pretty good golf course there, so a little bit of a plug to the golf course. So I lived there for two years and then I moved to Dubai in 2019 and then I joined in a Ventures group which is part of where I am now. I was at the other raffles, so I was at the other raffles, world academy, which is 200 meters that way.

Speaker 2: 5:00

Yeah, and in terms of your time in the UAE, what has been your highlight?

Speaker 3: 5:09

100%. The highlight, I think, are the people. Honestly, I cannot put into words and I know this might be sound cliche about the Emirati people, but for me it absolutely isn't. From the moment that I joined the country in Alayne, I've been looked after by the Emirati people and I think they're the most caring, understanding, tolerant, polite, just amazing people that I've ever met. And I don't say that just because I'm in this country. I really don't. I'll take this with me forever, no matter where I go.

Speaker 3: 5:50

They looked after me when, because I first moved to Alayne with just my son and my wife and my daughter stayed in the UK because she was finishing her GCSEs at the time. So I moved over with my son and we didn't have a clue really what we were doing, to be honest, and I had a landlord in Alayne who was an Emirati gentleman and he really looked after me and he would invite me in for food sometimes and he took me out in his car to look for things that I needed to buy and things. So from that moment, really, I've got a special place in my heart for the Emirati people and that stays with me every day. So even yesterday I met an Emirati family who wanted a little bit of help with something, and I made sure that I cleared my diary completely and I really wanted to look after them.

Speaker 3: 6:39

Not saying that I favor them, because I don't, but I am honored to be in this country and I feel that the least I can do is to try and help and support when I can, if I can.

Speaker 2: 6:50

Where were you in Alayne with school?

Speaker 3: 6:53

Alayne English speaking school.

Speaker 2: 6:55

Oh, are you at okay?

Speaker 3: 6:57

I'm on school, yeah, yeah, for two years. Two years in that school and that school's on the up and that school's doing really well now. And then I moved to Ruffles World Academy, so that was a UK curriculum school. Then I went IB for three years. Now I'm back for the last year and this year back to UK curriculum, which is Ruffles International School. So I'm experienced in both now and actually joining an IB school was excellent. Again at my age, when you've been in education a long time, to go into a different curriculum was fantastic. It kind of reignited your zest for learning again because I was learning things every single day and in those three years that I was there I worked with some phenomenal professionals who were phenomenal at the IB and I learned a lot from them. And you never stopped learning, do you?

Speaker 2: 7:50

Yeah, no, that's true. That's true. How long is your commute to school?

Speaker 3: 7:55

Oh, coming to school, because I leave at about six o'clock about 20 minutes, and going back could be anything up to an hour. Unfortunately, I have to go down to Unsekine Road and if there was a tube line or a metro I would definitely use that if I could. But unfortunately there's no way around getting home by vehicles, cars, so I have to sit in that traffic, unfortunately. But I listen to my podcasts and things like that and I try and make it as enjoyable as possible and I try not to get too stressed. I don't worry about it, I just think I'm living in this beautiful country. The sun's out, it's not raining. If this is taking a long time, then you've got to try and look at the positives.

Speaker 2: 8:43

Yeah, no for sure. What are you listening to? Which podcasts?

Speaker 3: 8:47

I'm actually hugely into sport, funnily enough. So I try and switch off in education when I'm in the car. So I love music. I absolutely love music. But at the moment I've been listening to some football podcasts because I'm a big football fan. So one of them is a phone-in on BBC Five Live phone-in so that's after the football matches have been played all the supporters phone-in, and I think the other one's called the Rest is Football, which is Gary Lineker, alan Shearer and Mika Richards, and they just talk about life in the world of football and I quite enjoy that as well. So I try to turn off from work on the way home and then when I get home I plug the laptop back in there at that point. But that time in the car, I try and switch off from everything.

Speaker 2: 9:37

Really, what's your favourite song to listen to?

Speaker 3: 9:43

That's a very good question. I'm a huge. I'm a huge Coldplay sort of Bon Jovi, queen, fam. They're my kind of go-to groups. And there's a song by Coldplay called Culloratura, which is not the latest album actually, and that's about 12 minutes long and it's absolutely beautiful, it's very orchestral. So that is a song that is really chill. We're really chill and I relax to that. But I'm a bit of a rocker. I'm an 80s boy. So I like the American, like the rock from there, from the Bon Jovi and people like that from the 80s. That's my, that's what I like. So, yeah, when Guns N' Roses came not so long ago to Abbey Dabbey, I was there and watched a bit of Guns N' Roses. So I know people wouldn't know that about me, but yeah, I'm a bit of a rocker.

Speaker 2: 10:36

Really, there is a I love Coldplay and there's a favourite song of mine which is Skies Full of Stars. Yeah, yeah, Do you know that one Can?

Speaker 3: 10:46

you see the line. No, I love that song. I've seen Coldplay twice and I really wanted to go and see them when they came to Expo, because I was a huge Expo fan I love. I thought Expo was fantastic and I was desperate trying to get tickets. I just couldn't get the ticket so I couldn't go. So I'm hoping that they'll come back, maybe some point to Abbey Dabbey. Yeah, yeah, they're fantastic live.

Speaker 2: 11:13

So if you were to plan an ideal date night for your wife, what would that be?

Speaker 3: 11:20

Wow okay, we might have differing opinions here I just took her away this last weekend. So I took her away to celebrate our anniversary, which was a little while ago, and I took her to Abu Dhabi. We went to the Anantara in the Eastern mangroves, which was absolutely beautiful, and you know we're not big party goers. You know we enjoy a nice meal. We love the cinema, we absolutely love the cinema. We go probably about two, three times a month and again, the cinemas here in the UAE are just phenomenal. I just can't get over how amazing they are. So we go there. So maybe a film, then after something to eat, and then maybe a couple of drinks somewhere and a bit of a beautiful hotel stay somewhere, somewhere really beautiful, and a little bit of a plug for the Anantara there, because we had a wonderful stay last weekend at Abu Dhabi.

Speaker 2: 12:17

Yeah, it's a nice place. In terms of restaurants, what is your favorite Like? What type? If you don't?

Speaker 3: 12:23

want to name what type. Yeah, I like meat. I'm a meat eater, so I like steaks, you know I like things like that. I like, you know, fish, but not the, not shellfish. I like fish, but, yeah, I'm a chicken, beef kind of lamb sort of guy and a beautiful roast would be, would be lovely. But I also also absolutely love Chinese food as well. So, yeah, yeah, absolutely I love Chinese food, so that I eat too much. When I go to a Chinese restaurant I eat too much. I have to stop and calm down.

Speaker 2: 13:01

It gets silly sometimes, you know have you found good Chinese food here?

Speaker 3: 13:08

Sometimes, yeah, the Great Wall is a very good delivery. The Chinese delivery, the Great Wall, that's, that's very nice. But as far as eating out for a Chinese, I mean you have your PF challenge obviously, but yeah, it's more difficult sometimes to find the, to find the Chinese. But yeah, I do really enjoy when I go back to the UK as well. The UK has some really good Chinese. So when we went back literally just this summer, just with that one, we went to find a Chinese.

Speaker 2: 13:37

Yeah, you know it's crazy, because Chinese is my worst. I don't like Chinese food at all. But then I've heard that in this country it's even worse, that you can't get really good Chinese. That's what I've heard. I'm not sure. Yeah, but let's switch it up a bit. You are into education, but if you could choose another job, what would that job be? Any job you want. Any job you want.

Speaker 3: 14:04

I'd be a professional golfer. Wow, I love golf. I absolutely love golf. I'm not bad, I'm not great, I'm not bad. I play off nine, which is a, which is a reasonable handicap, but certainly not amazing, but I just love it. I love golf. I mean I played sport.

Speaker 3: 14:24

I played sport to a really high level when I was younger and I'm not going to tell you the sport just yet, but I played sport sort of a Premier League level, played in national events and things, but golf was always the sport that I really, really enjoyed. You know, that's like where you're away, you're away, it's four hours, you're with your friends, you're having a bit of fun. And the other thing I really loved about golf or love when I get the chance to play golf is you can always improve at golf. You know you're never, you're never too far away from hitting a really bad shot.

Speaker 3: 15:03

And I think with golf, you know, I watched some of these players in the Ryder Cup starting tomorrow and I watched some of these players and I just think, how are you so consistent? Like this consistency and not the consistency and anything in life, I believe, but the consistency that these guys have over such a long period of time and around can take up to four or five hours, whereas you know football match can be 90 minutes or something like that. So have that consistency and that mindset where you never make a mistake. You know that for me is just mind blowing how, how incredible these people are. And also when you play golf. I don't know if you've noticed, but they follow the sun around the world.

Speaker 2: 15:43

So they never play in the brain very rarely.

Speaker 3: 15:46

Sorry, been a lot of lots of sport, lots of sport in this podcast so far. But yeah, I'd be a professional golfer.

Speaker 2: 15:54

Well, let's keep. Let's keep with the theme, then what's the most adventurous thing you've ever done?

Speaker 3: 16:00

Wow, the most adventurous thing I've ever done? That's a very good question. I'll go a little bit. This is a little bit more off-field, a little bit okay.

Speaker 3: 16:11

So when I was 20, I went to Romania, to Bucharest, after the fall of the Cecišcu regime and there was a military coup and I went there to do up Norfolk for the children who were living in poverty. At that time I went with a charity called To Romania with Aid and I went over there. So whether this is an adventurous question or not, it was certainly one of those things that will stay with me forever. And I went there and I really felt not I don't know what the right word would be, but I was. I hadn't really thought through what I might experience.

Speaker 3: 16:55

So there was a military curfew. So at nine o'clock, by eight o'clock, you had to be in off the streets because there were tanks going down the streets. You had one phone call a week where you would phone the operator and that you'd say to the operator the number that you were allowed to ring and then they would call that number on your behalf. And my time was 7pm on a Monday night. I got to call, make one phone call home and you would phone home and then they would connect you and they would listen to your call. So I would speak to my mum and I would say hi, mum, you know, and they would have a chat. They'd listen and they'd tell you 10 minutes and then, about nine minutes 40 seconds, they'd say you have 20 seconds left, please say goodbye, and then they cut you off.

Speaker 3: 17:36

So adventurous, in a way of incredible. And I have such an affinity for the Romanian people as well, so whenever I'm meeting a Romanian people, I always sort of say to them I came to your country in 1991. It was amazing. It was incredible. So, yeah, it was an adventure in a really good way, as far as being able to help these young children who are in orphanage, who obviously had just come out of a civil war, and that, for me, changed my life really a little bit, I think.

Speaker 3: 18:09

But when I experienced that, I went from being somebody who probably thought about themselves quite a lot, about what I can do, you know as far as how I could improve myself to actually thinking a lot about other people and how you know how it's important to always try and help when you can, if you can. That stayed with me massively. So, as a leader, I would like to think that I still sort of show that to my staff. You know I'm very supportive. I'd like to think of me being very supportive, putting Wellbeing at the front Wellbeing is number one on our school improvement plan and actually putting people before yourself, yeah, and that's something that I always do.

Speaker 2: 18:56

Yeah, no, it's not adventure the way we would describe it, but I think it is definitely an adventure because it took you out of your comfort zone, and I think that's what adventure does really, when you step out of what your normal is and go into something that challenges you in some way or the other Brilliant. So, in terms of travel, where have you been? That, you would say, has been the most impressive place that you have seen or traveled to Other than the UAE.

Speaker 3: 19:26

Other than where you currently live, because I would recommend the UAE to everybody. I really enjoyed America. I went to America. I've been to America about three, four times. I've loved America. I love the American people. They've got such a passion for their country and life and I think American people sometimes are a little bit chalk and cheese. I think some people might think they're a little bit overbearing. I love it, I join in, I absolutely love it. So I love the America. Other than that, where?

Speaker 2: 19:57

did you go in America?

Speaker 3: 19:58

Where in? Yeah, florida and New York separate different times, so both of those in their own way. I do really like to travel. My wife loves traveling, so she's probably watching this and she's like, oh, this is great. So Sri Lanka, I went to Thailand. I've been to all over Europe. I've been to most places in Europe not most places, but a lot of places in Europe. Yeah, obviously, romania was. Stay with me. I think we're outside.

Speaker 2: 20:33

But in terms of memory, you're thinking that your trip to America was your most memorable.

Speaker 3: 20:40

Do you know what? I think the reason why America was so special not the first time, because the first time I went to New York with friends and that was one trip but I think we went to America as a family and we had the best time as a family the four of us our children at that stage were around about 10, 11, 12, 13 years old and we went three years in a row and, honestly, I think as a family holiday that would be the one that I always remember is when we went to Florida and we did the Disney and we did the Universal stuff. I'm a huge theme park fan, I'm an annual pass to motion gate, I'm a big roller coaster guy. So, yeah, go in there and see all the theming around these films that I'd seen as a kid. You go and see these rides and things and Harry Potter World and the Disney things.

Speaker 3: 21:37

It was just phenomenal and, yeah, I think that was special for me as a family. And then, on top of that, you've got the American people who were like you know, you have a great day. I'm like, yeah, have a great day and it was like those sort of things.

Speaker 3: 21:51

So, yeah, that was really special for me and I went to the Maldives last year and that again was really, really special. That was just the two of us and absolutely stunning. And again, the people. I think people make places to be honest, and I think that's why I like the UAE so much.

Speaker 2: 22:09

Have you done the roller coaster here in Abu Dhabi? The roller coaster world.

Speaker 3: 22:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How was that? I haven't been to SeaWorld and haven't been to Warner Brothers, yet they're on the list.

Speaker 2: 22:22

Yeah, warner Brothers is. When you go to Warner Brothers, do the Tom and Jerry ride and then just email me and tell me what that was like. I do it all.

Speaker 3: 22:31

I do everything, I don't care what it is. I go to an emotion game and I go into Shrek and sit on the little thing.

Speaker 2: 22:38

Like there's a kid's ride. I love it, yeah, no, I'm forced to do that because my kids are still young, they're 10. So I'm forced to still do those types of things. But that Tom and Jerry ride is a major surprise. Like it starts off quite sedate so you're thinking, oh, this is lovely. And then it gets crazy like a cat and Maho's chase is crazy. You said you're an 80s kind of guy. What embarrassing fashion trend have you followed that you no longer do.

Speaker 3: 23:12

I had a mullet, sorry. Yeah, exactly, I had a mullet. So in the 80s I had a nice long hair sort of at the back and a nice big curtain haircut, and I know you won't believe it I'm looking at me and I thought I was cool. I was like, oh, I've got a mullet, this is great. So yeah, so I had a bit of long hair and again, it was the music scene that I was into at the time. So everybody had one. So yeah, and I mean, even now, probably if I could, I would.

Speaker 2: 23:48

Would you? But? Ok, then think of what is like something that you have in your wardrobe that you love to wear, that others around you, like your family, would find embarrassing, like your kids are like oh my God, dad, stop wearing this.

Speaker 3: 24:07

I mean, I've got a couple of, like you know, bound t-shirts, you know. So yeah, I like to sometimes wear that. But you know, they say to me you too old for that, you shouldn't be wearing that. So yeah, that sort of thing. I like to still dress pretty cool if I can you know, and yeah, I think, yeah, everybody's an individual. So you know, I think, if that person likes to wear that thing, or that person likes to dress a certain way, then hey, just go with it. You know.

Speaker 2: 24:39

How do you think your kids would describe you? What's one word they would use to describe you?

Speaker 3: 24:46

Uh-huh, uh, that's a very good question. I would like to think supportive, but also, at the same point, I encourage them to be driven to do their best. And I always say to people if you do your best, then nobody can argue with that. So I always say when I speak to them, I always say to them are you happy? Is everything okay? Make sure that's all fine. And then if they're doing a bit of work or they've done, was this your best, was this your absolute best? And they say they say yeah, it was, and that's fine with me If that's your best, so supportive is your word, I think, supportive and happy.

Speaker 3: 25:33

I think my main thing is in life, you know, I think being happy is key, because if you're not happy, then what's the point? You've got to be happy. So, change careers, change jobs. If you need to do whatever it takes to be happy, you've got to be happy. And we're in the last five in the little thing for which school advisor and schools from Peggs. We're in the last five of nominated schools for the happiest school in the UAE. So I'm really, I'm really thinking, I'm really hoping that we've got a chance of winning that, because I would be so that would make me so happy to win that you know more than anything, more than the highest achieving. You know the best for this, the best for that, but being happy. Nothing's more important than being happy.

Speaker 2: 26:20

What's what's what's given you that perspective? What's one difficult thing that's happened to you in life that's now giving you this perspective?

Speaker 3: 26:30

Do you know, I think? I think there's been lots of things over the years. I think everybody's probably got a story to tell of speed, bumps and peaks and trucks I think everyone has. But I think it's grasping those moments where you've done well and you succeeded, and knowing that you should celebrate those times. But also then, on the flip side of that is when something doesn't go well or you know, you feel that you haven't really done yourself justice or you may have missed out on something, or you might have failed or something it's to.

Speaker 3: 27:05

It's to learn to feel that disappointment but channel it into how you don't want to feel that again. So you know if you failed something or you didn't quite do, it is to really think about how you're feeling that disappointment but really learn from that process, because we learn more from our mistakes than we do as successes. So, and learn about that and think right, I'm not going to let this happen to me again. I'm going to do this, this, this and this and I'm going to make sure that I feel that when you do achieve something, you do do something really well. Do you know what it's like? You? Just, you just make you happy and and really channel that feeling and it's all. This is intrinsic. This isn't about rewards or anything else. This is about how you feel. You always say to people when you lie down in bed at night and you shut your eyes and you close, if you feel proud and you feel happy about how that day's gone, then actually that's not a bad day.

Speaker 2: 28:03

You know what, what, what aspect, because you seem like somebody who is constantly looking for ways to improve what area within yourself, so not not job, but within yourself. What area within yourself are you working on right now?

Speaker 3: 28:21

I'm trying to work on actually like giving myself a bit more time. So I've just recently, just recently kind of bought a couple of books about, obviously, well being and sort of meditation and that sort of thing, you know where you're you really giving yourself time, and I think I've only literally just started this and this might be used to like I made.

Speaker 3: 28:44

This is a bit too personal to share with everyone. But yeah, I, you know, I think when you first I don't know if you've done it, but when you first think you know I'm just going to give myself time and you're listening, so the meditation or whatever you kind of feel silly. You kind of think what am I doing? You know what am I doing, why? Why, you know what is this? I don't know if it really works and things like this, and but actually afterwards I felt really kind of like a piece and I felt really calm and I felt really balanced and actually so now, when I'm listening to music, if I'm working anything like that, I've got a meditation. I've got a meditation playlist that I put on in the background which just basically just plays very low, quiet, peaceful. It's not a song, really, it's just. It's just beautiful Noise, like it might be nature.

Speaker 3: 29:44

It might just be the sea, you know, it might be, it might be, and I have this and I keep that into it and I actually looked at it yesterday and it's 36 hours long now. It's because I keep that into it. So that's what I'm working on. I'm actually working on on like an inner peace, you know, and actually having time for myself. That would be it, and I think to be able to sort of share that with you is quite a personal thing.

Speaker 2: 30:09

So, yeah, we love vulnerability, steve, we think well. I think basically, and one of the reasons for doing behind the principles desk is that we want to humanize school leaders in a way that staff and parents can relate more easily to them and who they are inside, not just the man at the gate or the man who sits in the office or who wears the yellow tie on a Thursday, but basically the person who is actually in tuned with themselves. All right, we're wrapping up. What are your ambitions? Just approve, there you go. Wow, that's just Spotify. Guys, you have to watch this on YouTube. The majority of our listeners are on Apple Podcasts, but what are we now? All 13,000 something of you. Please go over to YouTube and watch this. You're not Spotify, you're not Spotify.

Speaker 2: 31:12

So our listenership, based on our statistics, the majority of them are on Apple Podcasts. I don't know why, but that's just how it's come off in the back end. But I'd love to drive them over to YouTube so you can see Steve's meditation playlist on Spotify. Yeah, it's good Listen. You're talking to someone who's into meditation and yoga a lot, so I can attest to the benefits of the practice. It is very, very calming, very centering. I think all leaders should take on some form of practice. Whether you're into spirituality or not. You should take on some practice that centers you and brings you back to yourself, because you can get busy.

Speaker 2: 32:01

I used to lead schools. I was in LA you didn't know that, steve. I was in Alfa, at Al Shaheen School. I was the academic principal for five years. So it is very, very good to do something like that. My last question where do you see yourself in your career or even in your personal life In the next? I hate this question, but I love to ask it anyway. In the next five, ten years, where's Steve going? What's he doing?

Speaker 3: 32:30

That's a really good question. I don't know, actually, the answer. I'm very happy where I am. I'm in a great group in a venture's education. I absolutely love my job as far as being a principal, because every day you get to be with young people, wherever that is in the world. That will never change, because you're with young people and their passion and lust for life and their enthusiasm is so infectious. And if ever I'm sat here and I'm writing a school improvement plan or doing something on the set, I think do you know what I need? Ten minutes in early years, that's what I need. So I'll go down to early years and then do you know what You've got? That incredible enthusiasm and passion.

Speaker 2: 33:14

So where I see myself in ten years.

Speaker 3: 33:15

I don't know the answer to that question and I'm going to sit on the fence as far as I see myself still in education. Absolutely, I think I've got a lot to give. Yeah, I like to think so. Anyway, people will have me, you know, and if they don't, and if it all ends one day, then I'm sure I'll find something else to follow on to.

Speaker 3: 33:38

But there's no plans to change just yet. I was a quantity surveyor before I got into education, so I've had a career in a different profession and I did that for around seven, eight years, but the passion was always education and it's funny enough.

Speaker 3: 33:57

They're very little story. The reason I then gave it all up was because one of my contracts where I was working the office where they put me in where we were doing we were doing about 100 houses in Cornwall, fonlinna, and the office was overlooking a school and I sat there and I was looking at the school and I was watching the teachers at break time and the children. I thought you know what? You've only got one life and you need to do something that you really want to do and you know you want to follow that pattern. And if you read all my school reports when I was a child, it was always perceived to become a teacher, perceived to become a teacher, and it was always the same thing because I really wanted to be a teacher. And I just sat there one day and I thought I'm going to go for it.

Speaker 2: 34:43

So I'm glad you did. I'm glad you did. I'm sure the people who work with you will be glad that you did that and not remain. You know counting blocks and bricks, but thank you so much, steve, for being a good sport and for you know giving us an insight into who you are and what drives you. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3: 35:10

There's a sky. There's a sky for us.

Speaker 2: 35:15

I got him to sing, guys. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 35:20

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