Hester Binge is the Education Guru. She cut her teeth in the primary classroom, notching up nearly 15 years teaching in schools. She taught science to all year groups, took on the role of Science Subject Leader and soon found herself as a Science Consultant working with both local authorities (LA) and Science Learning Centres to develop materials and training to support teachers in primary science. She has also worked as an independent Science Consultant.
This has given her a wide range of experience, from creating bespoke support for schools to writing and delivering courses for teachers’ continuing professional development. She has also written and run workshops for children and teachers, worked with LAs to support teachers’ science knowledge, organised science conferences and delivered courses in Science Learning Centres across the UK. In a nutshell, she’s very good at showing people how to teach science that engages, excites and challenges.
Hester passionately believes that science is one of the best ways to engage children in learning. Her approach is to relate science to everyday life and she’s developed strategies, ideas and tools to encourage kids to ‘Work Scientifically’. She also believes that science should be enjoyable. She uses interactive games, imaginative role plays and creative projects to inject a big dose of fun into her training and gives teachers the skills and tools to do the same in their classrooms. If you’re on one of Hester’s courses, you might find yourself role playing evolution or building a flower out of junk! She is adamant that there really is no such thing as a “stupid question”, and her training style is open, relaxed and approachable as some recent feedback shows:
We had the best afternoon with you! We came away from it with so many ideas and spent that night looking at ideas and trying to work out what we can do. Thank you so much for all the ideas, you really sparked our creativity and we've never been as excited to plan and teach Science!
Hopefully, we'll see you again someday.
KS1 team
Throughout her teaching career, Hester has had an interest in wellbeing and mindfulness to reduce stress, anxiety and other mental health issues that are barriers to teaching and learning. She’s been involved in the design and delivery of a number of wellbeing programmes in schools and behavioural units. As a Behaviour manager, she has used techniques such as guided meditations and breathing to successfully help children cope.
Having experienced the power of Positive Intelligence herself, Hester became a coach in this revolutionary tool. She hopes to share with as many people as possible, the science and practice of developing powerful mental muscles to enable you to respond to life’s challenges with a positive rather than negative mindset, ultimately helping you to thrive in life.
Hester is an active member of the Association of Science Education and a member of the National Advisors and Inspectors Group for Science. She’s also animal-mad, so when she not teaching and training, you’ll most likely find her out riding her horse.