At Havant & South Downs College, we have a number of highly skilled, dedicated and passionate teaching staff. These lecturers go above and beyond to help our students reach their full potential.
We want to shout about these integral members of our HSDC community, so every month we will be finding out about the people behind our teaching excellence with our ‘Staff in the Spotlight’ feature.
Here is Buttercup.
Name
Buttercup
Position at HSDC
Director of Cluckriculum
How long have you worked at the College?
I can’t even remember how long, I’m no spring chicken!
What are your main responsibilities at the College?
I look after an eggstremely varied range of vocational cluckriculum areas, including Animal Care, Drama and Outdoor Adventure.
Why did you choose the subject that you teach?
I don’t like to be cooped up for too long, so the subject areas I look after are upbeat and are taught outside a traditional classroom environment. I’m passionate about inspiring the nest generation, helping students achieve their full potential.
What was your journey/training before coming to HSDC?
I was formerly a student here at HSDC and I found the teaching, learning and eggceptional support the College offers helped me to come out of my shell. Because chickens can’t fly, I originally wanted to get into Travel and Tourism, giving people the chance to do more than just ‘cross the road’.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach the overhead lockers so my plans were fried. My thoughts about my future were quite scrambled, so I booked an appointment with the Careers & Employability Team who helped me see that education was the right path for this chicken.
Do you practice the subject you teach outside of work? Any subject-related interests? e.g Music lecturers performing in their own band etc.
I dabble in a few acting jobs outside of teaching, such as being an eggstra in a number of TV shows. It is fun because sometimes the people starring in the shows are alumni of HSDC. I also do a bit of stand-up comedy, I have a number of favourite yolks that always get a laugh!
What is the highlight of your role at HSDC?
I love helping out with the Be Eggstraordinary programme – it is great to see students from across both campuses taking part in eggstra-cluckricular activities, including the Combined Cadet Force (CCF).
What kind of careers have your students gone on to do?
A lot of my students have been poached for block buster hits such as Chicken Run, Chicken Little and the most recent Peter Rabbit movie.
What is something about your job that people don’t know about?
My job isn’t just 9-5, sometimes it feels like I’m working around the cluck to deliver the best possible eggsperience for my students.
What kind of opportunities are students offered on your course?
Students have a free range of progression opportunities in all my cluckriculum areas. They can move onto Apprenticeships, HE at university or at HSDC. One of my students even took a gap year to Turkey!
What three words would your students use to describe you?
She’s a chicken.