Sophie Hadaway
Sophie started her career as a primary and middle school teacher in London having gained her PGCE at the Institute of Education following a degree in the arts. She taught in London and West Wales before joining the education advisory team. Here her roles included Art and Design advisor and co-delivery of county wide developments such as the Assessment for Learning programme, the ACTS metacognition initiative and system leadership in curriculum development and innovation.
In 2012 Sophie became an external mentor on the Masters in Educational Practice in Wales, a Welsh Government funded Masters programme for early career teachers across Wales.
In 2015 Sophie became a Regional Lead, then in 2020 a Project Lead, for the Creative Learning programme at the Arts Council of Wales – a nationwide programme co-funded by the Welsh Government seeking to encourage teachers to explore creative approaches to teaching and learning, increase pupil engagement and deliver national education priorities. The scheme provides ongoing professional development in situ enabling schools to embrace whole school change. Her specialisms within the programme included developing leadership practice, co-designing an Early Years creative learning initiative and developing a programme for secondary teachers to collaboratively engage with their own professional practice.
Her areas of interest include professional development through reflective practice and honest dialogue, creative bravery, and the importance of talk to develop an environment for learning. Sophie is in the final stages of studying for an MPhil – her research is focused on creative practitioner dialogue and exploratory ways of learning.