Richard Stimpson

Mr Stimpson has taught in Independent and International Schools in the UK, Switzerland and Portugal, leading departments in both Primary and Secondary schools holding a number of roles including Director of Sport, Head of PE, Rugby Development Officer and Performance Pathway Co-Ordinator.

Mr Stimpson has been a keen sportsman from a young age, playing age grade Country Cricket in the UK and Regional Rugby in France which further developed his love for sport. He went on to play Rugby in the National Leagues in England, Switzerland and Portugal, coaching Girls Football to National success in Switzerland and has worked for Sport Federations such as the RFU and UEFA, helping to implement grassroots pathway systems which link school sport to national and international set ups.

Mr Stimpson is looking forward to bringing his energy and passion to Arcadia, and help inspire the students to develop a lifelong love for Sport. I am sure you will be hearing his loud booming voice around the school very soon.

Oliver Fenton

Head of Football and PE Teacher

I take a keen interest in all sports and I am a very competitive person in sport and in life, which I put down to having three brothers who are all equally as competitive as I am. I take pride in teaching as I get to develop the next generation of learners and I am given the opportunity to share my passion and knowledge with the Arcadia family on a daily basis. Physical Education is extremely important to me as I have grown up all my life being shown how important sport and exercise is for our body and mind, everyday I get to teach children something new about their potential in sport and help them discover their own skills and interests in the world of Physical Education.

Joanna Pruett

Head of Girl Games

At aged 15 Joanna Pruett represented Great Britain in her first International, a Triathlon in Romania, and from there onwards as part of the World Class Perfomance Programme she continued to travel the globe representing her country. Joanna won medals at European and World championship competitions, travelling to the Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games, after qualifying in the Modern Pentathlon by winning a World Cup Silver medal in Brazil and Team Gold at the World Championships in Moscow. Whilst training at this high level, Joanna kept up her studies completing a degree in Sporting Performance and Excellence at the University of Bath.

Louise Hamilton

PE Teacher and Year 7 Form Tutor

From a young age Louise Hamilton has been a competitive swimmer, specialising in all three Butterfly disciplines. Training intensely with her local club and the Glasgow School of Sport for a period of time, Louise was regularly selected for Scottish Silver Squad training weekends and competed at several National and County events in her home country of Scotland.

At 19 years old Louise moved away from home to complete a Sport and Exercise Science degree at the University of Abertay, Dundee and continued to compete, this time for the University swim team where she competed at the British University and college sport competitions. Alongside her degree, Louise worked part time as a swim teacher, teaching the learn to swim programme with children and adults in her local community and assisted with the elite squad training program. In 2015 Louise then went onto complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Edinburgh and then began her teaching career by completing her NQT year in Scotland followed by a 2 year stint in Qatar before making the move to the United Arab Emirates, where she has worked for the past two years.

Louise is also an avid games player and plays recreational Netball and Gaelic Football and has an interest in Crossfit and Fitness. She is Swimming, Netball and Trampoline coaching qualified and enjoys teaching and coaching a variety of different sports. She is looking forward to working with all students at Arcadia from August 2021 and, can't wait to start working with the Arcadia swim team.

Dan Lewis-Williams

Head of Boy Games

Daniel’s multi-sporting experience started at the renowned Millfield School where he attended from nursery through to sixth form. During his school years he played age-group county cricket, hockey and tennis, representing Somerset. He also won the IAPS Tennis Singles and Doubles, as well as winning the Millfield Prep U13 team golf competition. For Daniel, these achievements marked the start of his exciting sporting journey.

In 2009, Daniel earned his first age-group international cap, representing Wales in hockey. He played at both U16 and U18 level before deciding that his main focus was to be cricket; his First XI cricket career saw him win the National T20 Championships in 2012 with Millfield, and he played a pivotal role in this team for the four years that he was a part of it. Daniel progressed his cricket, going on to play for Glamorgan Seconds and Wales Minor Counties. Whilst training full time with Cardiff MCCU, he made his First-Class debut against Glamorgan in 2015, alongside perusing his academics; studying a degree in Business and Events Management at Cardiff Metropolitan University, of which he obtained a First-Class Honours Degree.

Sport has aided Daniel’s love of travelling, presenting itself as an enabling factor which has granted him the opportunities to visit many new places. In fact, one of his most memorable experiences occurred through being a member of the MCC when, in 2019, he was invited to tour with the team to Costa Rica and Mexico where he played in the Central American Cricket Championship.

A Gap Year in 2013 saw the beginning of Daniel’s journey into education, having worked at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, Australia in 2013 where he coached the First XI cricket team. Then, five years on, Daniel joined the successful, co-educational independent day school, The Cathedral School Llandaff. Progression within the establishment took him from PE teacher/Sports Coach to Head of Junior Boys' Sport, at the same time, completing his PGCE in Physical Education. Daniel also holds coaching qualifications in rugby and cricket and is currently undertaking his ECB Advanced Cricket Coaching Programme (Level 3).

Both coaching and teaching enable Daniel to remain engaged in sport, but the main attraction is seeing the sense of achievement on pupils’ faces when they reach their personal and team goals. Having been described by many as a people’s person, being involved in education is extremely fulfilling for him. Daniel is really looking forward to working alongside an experienced department and is excited by the opportunity to learn from the expertise of his colleagues.

Alistair Munro

Head of PE - Primary

Mr Munro studied PE teaching at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with an undergraduate and masters degree. He has taught in independent and international schools in Edinburgh, Valencia and Dubai, teaching holistically across both primary and secondary schools and has since held a number of roles such as; Head of PE, Gifted and Talented Coordinator and GCSE PE examiner.

Mr Munro has been a keen sportsman from an early age, spending all of his spare time playing cricket, football, hockey and rugby when growing up. At the age of 16 he was selected to play in the U19 Cricket World Cup and upon return from this, started his journey into hockey, representing his country internationally and later in life holding coaching posts within the Scottish and Spanish junior international teams. He has also been involved in national league volleyball and county athletics. In Dubai, Mr Munro is involved in coaching football and rugby teams in the junior leagues in Dubai. In his spare time he likes taking part in amateur triathlons and can often be found losing balls on the golf course.

Mr Munro is a firm believer in PE and sport for all and you can expect him to encourage your children to be involved in as many sports based extra curricular clubs as possible at Arcadia.

Charlotte Corkhill

Primary PE Teacher and Head of House

Miss Charlotte Corkhill graduated from the University of Cumbria with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Primary Education QTS with the specialism of Science. Since university, she was teaching at a local school in Blackpool, UK. Miss Charlotte Corkhill has a passion for sport, playing hockey at the international level. Throughout her school and university career, she had the opportunity to play hockey for her country, travelling to many places around the world to compete.

As a teacher, Miss Charlotte Corkhill describes herself as creative, encouraging and dedicated; having always encouraged children to take pride in their achievements, both by the way she responds to their work and the way it is displayed in a classroom. She sees this as a delicate balance; ensuring children celebrate their success and have a sense of pride in their work while giving them constructive feedback for improvement. Miss Charlotte Corkhill believes that every child, whatever their ability, should feel they have achieved at the end of each lesson.

Miss Charlotte Corkhill designs and delivers learning programmes that motivate, excite and challenge children. She feels Arcadia encapsulates her philosophy of being a teacher ensuring lessons are meaningful and targeted; ensuring each child develops a lasting desire to continually learn, grow and develop.

Breanna Close

Head of Aquatics

Coming from Manchester (England, UK), sport has always been a huge part of mine and my family’s life. I was raised playing a wide range of sports and went onto compete to a regional level across netball, gymnastics, aquathlon and cross country, however nothing ever quite compared to my ability in and love for swimming.

While studying through school and throughout my Psychology degree at Loughborough University, I trained up to 30+ hours a week and swam semi professionally, competing internationally for Great Britain and England in butterfly and freestyle events. With my main event being 200m butterfly, some of my proudest achievements have to be; consistently being ranked UK top 10 in multiple disciplines, being consecutive national champion and medalist from the age of 11, swimming in the finals at the 2012/2016 Olympic Trials (London and Rio) and 2014/2018 Commonwealth Games Trails (Glasgow and Gold Coast), and also getting a Gold Medal at World School Games in Brazil in 2014. Since leaving the sport competitively, my passion for swimming has naturally flowed into my passion for teaching and coaching over the past 6 years - now there is nothing more valuable than sharing my knowledge and experience with younger generations.

PERSONAL:
Since moving to Dubai in Aug 2020 I have loved having the opportunity to not only travel this side of the world independently, but also fully immerse myself in the wider sporting community. In my spare time I love to train and compete in CrossFit, however I also enjoy going hiking, rollerblading and also have a huge passion for baking. This year I would also like to hopefully take part in more netball, softball and tag rugby fixtures as I love new challenges and being part of a team.

BEST MOMENT IN TEACHING
My best moments as a swimming coach always seem to be the non tangible achievements. The majority of my most rewarding moments seem to be centered around helping children of all ages either fall in love with the water, achieve things they never thought possible or overcome deep rooted fears and/or technical challenges. I also love coaching swimmers to be technically better and as a result faster; this makes attending competitions both individually and as a team super rewarding and extremely exciting! I'm excited to create more memories like this at Arcadia.

Amelia Stanford

PE Teacher

Miss Stanford has recently graduated with a First Class Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Cardiff Metropolitan University as well as completing her PGCE at The University of Exeter also in Physical Education.

Miss Stanford has a passion for all things sport and Physical Education, she grew up involved in multiple sports but her sporting specialism is Netball where she has played up to National standard through the England performance pathway and is now playing in Dubai. She is also a Level 1 netball coach and ready to share her expertise with the Arcadia students.