I began teaching as a secondary high school science (biology) teacher in the North West and during my fourteen years in school I was a head of lower school science and a school-industry liaison coordinator. I moved to Edge Hill in 1993 to act as Course Leader for the new PGCE Secondary Science course and in 1995 I coordinated the writing and validation of a new BSc Secondary Science ITT course and also became its Course Leader. In 2001 I was appointed Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) Secondary with QTS programme, with responsibility for the overall co-ordination of secondary undergraduate courses and from January 2007 to September 2009 I held the post of Research Development Coordinator in the Faculty initiating new and supporting existing developments in relation to research and scholarly activity. In 2002 I gained my Doctorate in Education with a thesis on mentoring in ITT. The focus of my current post as a Senior Lecturer in Science Education and University Teaching and Learning Fellow is the pursuit of research into mentoring in ITT, formative assessment, creativity in teaching and learning, supervision of PhD and MA students and teaching on PGCE Secondary and BSc Secondary QTS programmes.