Fiona is Irish and moved to the UK after completing her degree in Civil Engineering. She worked as an engineer designing roads and bridges for 10 years but changed career after the birth of her three children to work from home. She worked as a data analyst for a marketing company whose clients included Coca-Cola, British Airways, L’Oreal and many government departments. 

Working with students started as she had a friend who was a homestay TEFL teacher and this sparked an interest. Fiona has always liked English as a subject and gets on very well with children. Since completing her CELTA in Oxford in 2017 she has been teaching and hosting guardianship students. Fiona mostly hosts and teaches teenagers over the summer months and hosts boarding school students during term time for their half-term breaks and free weekends. Fiona gets to know the students very well and feels it’s much more personal than dealing with a large group of children.

She continues to be amazed at how well international students seem to cope with new schools in a new country. She feels regular homestay students like the feeling of familiarity when they stay with her as it becomes a ‘home from home’.

Fiona has also helped local schools with reading programmes, craft clubs, road safety and cycling training. She also ran a roller-skating club in the village hall for 10 years and now helps to run the local youth theatre for 8-18-year-old children.

Fiona’s family enjoy music, theatre, films and board games.  Her husband and son both play in several orchestras and students may attend several concerts, especially in July. She also likes to sew, bake and decorate novelty cakes and biscuits. Spending time with her family makes her happy and they all have similar interests. On the rare occasions when she has hosted students over the Christmas or Easter holidays they were quickly adopted by her own children as they spend a lot of time together.