I studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, gained a PGCE in Secondary Music from the Institute of Education and taught for several years in secondary schools. I then became an advisory music teacher in Leicestershire, supporting primary class teachers.  I joined the Orff Society UK in 1991 at the time when I started working in teacher education at the University of Exeter. I have found the Orff Approach a great source of inspiration, and affirmation of the creative, inclusive principles I have always tried to work with. I spent 25 years at Exeter training specialists and generalists for primary music teaching and in that time have published books, research articles and chapters mainly focused on the challenge of building teacher’s confidence, putting creativity at the heart of music teaching, and the work of professional musicians in schools. I have evaluated the education work of many professional organisations including the LSO, OAE, Royal Opera House, and recently Cheltenham Music Festivals. I co-led government funded initiatives to improve teacher training for primary music and chaired the expert panel for music set up by the DfE in 2012. I have also been actively involved with national and international organisations for music education (ISM, EAS and ISME), and am currently an elected board member of the International Orff Schulwerk Forum Salzburg.