Vicki Stokes

I am Head of the School of Education. I lead a team of dedicated academic staff across three areas of provision in ‘Childhood and Primary Education’, ‘Secondary and Further Education and Skills Education’ and ‘Professional Development and International Education’. As a whole school team, we are passionate about education and training the next generation of teachers; locally, nationally and internationally, through our wide range of courses and delivery methods.

Prior to this role, I was the Associate Head of School for Primary Education and Initial Teacher Training, which included the following provision: BA (Hons) Primary Education with (QTS), BA (Hons) Primary and SEND Education (with QTS), BA (Hons) Education Studies and our wide range of PGCE Primary Education (with QTS) courses (including on campus, school-based, part-time distance learning and apprentices).

My experience in higher education started in 2013 when I joined the University as a Lecturer for Primary Education – Science. I led science across our primary provision, developing the curriculum and providing engaging sessions which developed the subject knowledge and pedagogical approaches of our trainees. My leadership role has developed over my time at the University, and I have been Programme Leader for both the PGCE Primary and BA Primary courses. During my years leading these courses, we saw a huge rise in student numbers and student satisfaction.

Prior to joining the University, I had 16 years of successful teaching experience in primary schools. During this time, I was History and Science subject coordinator before moving into Senior Leadership. My leadership role was that of Pastoral Support for pupils and staff, including mentoring student teachers and those new to the profession and undertaking their probation year. I was also a staff governor for over ten years.