

This week our Sixth Form Students and Year 10 Teignmouth Scholars were treated to an engaging and aspirational talk by James Kidner, facilitated by speaker for schools.
James shared his story from growing up on Dartmoor in a farming background, to securing a place at Oxford University studying History. He then went onto a career in banking based in the city of London and India. When James quickly realised this wasn’t for him, he secured a role at the Foreign Office as a diplomat which spanned over three decades and has seen him travel to 93 different countries. Our students were in awe of his experiences especially when he went on, to describe his role working at Number 10 Downing Street as a private secretary for King Charles and the Prince of Wales. In this role he organised foreign tours abroad for the royal family!
James encouraged our students to aim high and take all the opportunities and experiences they are given. He spoke about desirable employability skills and stayed behind to chat to students personally at the end of his presentation.
We all left the presentation inspired, and well done to all our students who represented our school so well.