What do you enjoy about your job?

I love it if a pupil says: “You know that word you taught us? I heard it on television and knew what it meant!”

What do people not know about your job that they should?

English teachers aren’t the language police! Please don’t feel self-conscious about your spelling, grammar or punctuation.

What else do you read regularly?

American fiction, Scottish poetry, BBC Radio Orkney’s Facebook page, The Shetland Times and the John O’Groat Journal.

What would you be excited to see on the front page?

Child poverty eradicated.

What do you see as the big issue for Scottish education?

To raise a generation that can make the transition from hydrocarbons to renewables, compete with the emergent economic superpowers and have a great time along the way.