As a dyslexic dyspraxic I struggled in school, especially with sport and English. It was an inspirational teacher of English that helped me see through the difficulties I faced, gave me strategies to cope and reach success. It is his imprint on me that led me to go to university and ultimately make a career in education.

My career journey

Having a life long passion for rocks and fossils (which is why ROC college appealed to me in more ways than one!) I achieved a Degree from Bristol University in Geology specialising in Palaeontology.

After briefly working in my dream job at the Natural History Museum I joined my family business selling fish caught from local boats from Newhaven and Hastings in East Sussex. I even worked in London’s famous Billingsgate Market for a time.

I changed tack to work for the Sussex Wildlife Trust setting up field work and a forest school for different groups from SEND to A level work. It was extremely fulfilling helping young people to access and understand the natural world around them. Through this I then trained as a Geography teacher and have taught Geography, Geology, History and Philosophy in mainstream schools.

My interest in teaching closely focused on pupils with SEND especially dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. I set up the school to be a CRESTEd school with teaching focused on the individuals and their outcomes. This led to an adaptive curriculum focusing on student success – a can do curriculum offering functional skills alongside BTecs, GCSE and A levels. Adaptive technology was introduced and bespoke to the individual requirements.  I have run both a senior school and a residential through school for pupils from the age of 3 to 18.

Moving to Cornwall

The move to Cornwall was due to my wife’s family coming from Cornwall and we always planned, once our children were grown and flown the nest, to live and work here.  United Response’s ROC College really closely aligned to my educational ideals as a headteacher. The highly individual bespoke nature of the education here can create a rich well rounded experience for our pupils and for them to achieve success in independence, education and work experience.

  • Justin Foster-Gandey is Headteacher at ROC College