Sam Smyth
Letchworth Garden City,Hertfordshire
Summary
Dedicated professional with extensive and varied customer service experience and a love for literature, especially children's books. Knowledgeable about creating engaging book displays and assisting customers in finding their next perfect read. Ready to use well-developed communication, organisational and problem-solving skills in contributing to the success of the bookselling team.
Overview
1
1
Certification
33
33
years of professional experience
Work history
English and MFL Subject Leader/Assistant Head
Royal Borough of Greenwich
Woolwich, London
2001.09 - 2024.08
- Worked as part of a subject leadership team to promote and embed a positive reading ethos throughout the school, through well-planned text-based learning.
- Cultivated and encouraged a love for books and reading amongst children through engaging cross-curricular schemes of work using quality texts.
- Coordinated school-wide reading events such as Book Weeks and author visits, fostering a culture of reading for pleasure.
- Acted as a role model to inspire colleagues by sharing the joy of reading and having a thorough knowledge of the potential of texts to excite and engage young readers.
- Led many staff training sessions to upskill colleagues.
- Managed day-to-day organisation of school and class libraries, ensuring quality and variety of texts relevant to students' interests and needs.
- Created termly displays to stimulate interest in and celebrate children's engagement with class texts.
- Prior to retirement, had begun work on increasing diversity and representation within the school's book inventory, to reflect the multicultural community.
English coordinator
London Borough of Merton
Morden, Surrey
1992.01 - 2001.08
- Developed creative plans and resources for the teaching and promotion of reading.
- Compiled recommended reading lists for each year group, to guide parent and child choices.
- Contributed to Parent Teacher Association meetings and activities.
- Organised a calendar of whole-school events, to engage children and parents with books, reading and poetry.
- Updated the school's book stock, forging relationships with local suppliers.
- Regularly sought out opportunities for personal CPD to keep up to date with developments in the teaching of reading and writing.
Education
Bachelor of Education - Education and Drama
Roehampton Institute of Higher Education
City of LondonSkills
- Customer service and engagement
- Effective collaboration, communication and teamwork
- Professional integrity and reliability
- Promotional display creation
- Literary events coordination
- Familiarity with children's literature
- Flexibility
- Quick learner
Certification
- Current First Aid at Work certificate
- Current DBS
- Sighted guide training certificate
Affiliations
- Aside from reading, which I am looking forward to getting back to, I enjoy travel, photography, live music and rooting around in charity shops.
References
References available upon request.
Volunteering
- Volunteer reader, midday supervisor and first aider at most recent school.
- Park Champion (information point and mobility assistance) Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
- Open House London steward
- Spectator Services events volunteer (London 2012 Olympics, Glasgow 2014/2026 Commonwealth Games and others)
Timeline
English and MFL Subject Leader/Assistant Head
Royal Borough of Greenwich
2001.09 - 2024.08
English coordinator
London Borough of Merton
1992.01 - 2001.08
Bachelor of Education - Education and Drama
Roehampton Institute of Higher Education