Therese Comfort, Head of Primary Education

Therese Comfort worked for many years as a class teacher and Special Needs Coordinator in primary schools in Hertfordshire and North Yorkshire, teaching all age groups in Key Stage 2. In addition to teaching the full range of subjects in the primary curriculum, she has taught languages since the early nineties. 

In 1999 she was asked to be involved in the DfES Good Practice Project which was set up to find out about and disseminate best practice in planning, teaching and learning of languages in the primary school. In 2000 Therese became an Advanced Skills Teacher and worked to further support and develop languages in the City of York. Since 2003 she has worked for CILT, the National Centre for Languages and is Head of Primary.

Having been involved in primary languages since the early 1970s, Therese is delighted that learning a language is now a reality for so many primary school children.

Carmel O'Hagan, Head of Secondary Education

As well as being Head of Secondary Education at CILT, Carmel has been a Head of Languages and a Local Authority Languages Adviser.  She has experience as a teacher-trainer of specialist primary languages teachers and in addition to leading the secondary team at CILT in supporting KS3 and 14-19 initiatives and developments, including the Languages Diploma, she works closely with the primary team, particularly in supporting the KS2 Framework, transition and linguistic upskilling.

Ann Swarbrick, Head of Initial Teacher Training

As Head of ITT at CILT, The National Centre for Languages, Ann has responsibility for all projects relating to initial teacher education. This involves directing the only subject-specific national Graduate Teacher Programme, which trains native speakers of French, German and Spanish to teach in the UK.

Previously, as a Senior Lecturer in Education, Ann led the Open University PGCE for MFL – after a long career in schools. She has published extensively in the field of MFL education, and many of her works now feature on most MFL PGCE bibliographies.

Gill Beckett, Language Teaching Adviser 14-19

Before joining CILT, Gill taught in  secondary schools as an AST and  curriculum manager and  worked as a Local Authority Languages Adviser with a particular focus on KS4.  Gill is also a qualified bi-lingual secretary and before beginning her teaching career, she worked for Swiss and German companies and also as a freelance interpreter and translator. In addition, she has worked for awarding bodies as Chair of Examiners and materials writer and is a published author of several GCSE French textbooks. Gill is also a director of a charity dedicated to helping AIDs orphans in Zambia. 

As Language Teaching Adviser for 14-19, Gill is responsible for supporting teachers in this sector by disseminating good practice via the website and CPD events. She has a particular interest and expertise in applied language learning. 

Gill is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists in French and German and a has  Modern Languages PGCE. She also has a Masters Degree in Educational Effectiveness and School Improvement. 

Joe Brown, Language Teaching Adviser

Joe has worked in a range of contexts where languages have been
taught in primary schools. Before joining CILT-The National Centre for Languages, he worked in a number of London schools supporting classteachers and teacher trainees implementing the languages strategy as part of a secondment with the TDA. He has also worked across the primary age-range in schools in this country and abroad, including a state bilingual school in Germany.

Joe has a Masters in Comparative Education which focused on the role of language and languages in the curriculum in a range of different countries and contexts. Joe joined CILT in September 2006.

Sharon Czudak, Language Teaching Adviser 14-19 and Subject Specialist Adviser for the Diploma in Languages and International Communication

As Language Teaching Adviser for 14-19, Sharon is responsible for the dissemination of good practice within the 14-19 sector, including Further Education.  She has a specialism in teaching and developing applied language courses and is one of the authors of CILT’s Work Placement Toolkit and its 14-19 microsite, 'Reshaping languages'.  As Specialist Subject Adviser to the Diploma Development Partnership for the Diploma in Languages and International Communication, she plays a key role in the development of the new Diploma which will be ready for teaching from 2011.

Before working at CILT, Sharon worked for 11 years in Further and Adult Education as a teacher, curriculum manager and senior manager of languages, interpreting and sign language.  As part of these roles she developed vocationally-related language courses and public service interpreting courses.   

Sharon has a degree in French and German and a PGCE in Further Education.  She also has an OCR certificate for teaching learners with specific learning difficulties.

Claire Dugard, Language Teaching Adviser

Claire is based in the Midlands, working with teacher trainees as a tutor on CILT’s Graduate Teacher Programme at the University of Birmingham. A second responsibility is for community languages, including the Community Languages Bulletin, the Community Languages National Show, the National Community Languages Advisory Group convened by CILT and content on the CILT and Primary Languages websites. Claire also works closely with the primary and 14-19 teams to explore and disseminate good practice in community languages, as well as to promote understanding of the needs and potential of young speakers.

In an earlier role at CILT, Claire had responsibility for ICT in the teaching and learning of languages, managing a number of government-funded contracts and action research projects with schools and the development of the Languages ICT website. She was also an author of two CILT Pathfinder books, ‘Impact on learning – What ICT can bring at KS3’ and ‘Lights, camera, action – Digital video in the MFL classroom’.

Before joining CILT, Claire worked at the BBC on the BIMA award-winning website ‘Tobu: KS3 Japanese’ and at the Japan Foundation as an adviser, as well as teaching Japanese and French at secondary level in the UK and English in Japan and France. Claire holds a joint honours degree in French and Russian, a Masters in Advanced Japanese and Qualified Teacher Status for secondary languages.

Philip Harding, Programme Manager (Primary/Secondary)

Philip has been working for CILT since 2000 and in that time has been involved in many of the organisation’s projects including CILT courses & conferences, the CILT-NOF ICT training programme, CILT Direct, and the CILT’s regional Comenius Network until 2009. He is currently responsible for the management of the delivery of programmes in the primary and secondary teams with a particular responsibility for support for Local Authorities and related projects.

Philip was born and raised in Cambridge as a bilingual child and languages have always been a passion of his, studying French & Linguistics at St John’s College, Oxford and more recently qualifying as a translator (IoL diploma) at City University, London. He has also lived and worked in France, Germany and Gabon.

With languages becoming statutory in primary schools from 2010 and the increasing links being made between the primary and secondary languages worlds, these are very exciting times for languages in our schools and Philip is really looking forward to helping develop CILT’s crucial roles in supporting pedagogy, training, research, innovation, best practice and networks across the country.

Neil Hillman, Languages Teaching Adviser – Secondary/KS3

Neil has taught German, French and Spanish in comprehensive schools and FE colleges in North London and Hertfordshire.  Before joining CILT he was head of department at an upper school teaching across Key stages 3 to 5.  During his teaching career Neil has been at the forefront of several curriculum initiatives, including CPVE, TVEI, Curriculum 2000, AVCE, Diplomas and Asset languages.

In his current role Neil manages the CILT Key stage 3 Programme, disseminating good practice via the Strategic Learning Networks.  He is also the London Lead Tutor for the CILT GTP Programme, which trains native speakers of French, German and Spanish to teach languages in this country.

Michelle Judge, Head of Events and Onsite Services

Michelle has worked for the last 10 years in the charity/not for profit sector including time both at The Prince’s Trust and Comic Relief and more recently as Head of Events at Business in the Community.  She has managed a wide range of events including national conferences and award ceremonies, seminars, celebration and networking dinners and fundraising events.  She also has solid marketing and PR experience within the sector.  She looks forward to continue to develop CILT’s event programme within the education field.

Kati Szeless, Language Teaching Adviser

Kati has a background in primary education and taught in inner London and West Sussex schools as a primary languages coordinator. She was also a Lead Teacher for Literacy for twelve years, and has co-written both the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages and the new QCA schemes of work for KS2.

Kati works closely with the languages team at Brighton University on their 4-year primary teacher programme and leads the development and content of CILT’s primary languages website – the national gateway to advice, information and support for primary languages.