Tess
Kaunhoven was born in 1967 at Odstock hospital, the second of six
children in her family. She has very fond memories of primary school
and to this day keeps in touch with the primary school teacher who
introduced her to Marie Curie, the recorder and food from other cultures.
Following a family move, her secondary school years were spent in
Cornwall, a short trek from Bodmin Moor and a long bus ride from the
bright lights of Plymouth.
A
love of languages and politics led her, in1985, to Staffordshire Polytechnic,
where she met her future husband and also, via a one year teaching
assistantship in Hamburg, had her first taste of teaching English.
Having completed her first degree, she initially allowed herself to
be tempted by life in the civil service, before realising (oh so swiftly)
that this was not the path for her! Following a further spell of English
teaching abroad and volunteering in primary schools in Cornwall, she
trained, in 1992, as a primary school teacher at St Luke's, Exeter.
Her
first primary teaching post brought her to Horsington, Somerset, where
she stayed for six years, becoming fully involved in school life:
literacy, music and geography co-ordinator, teacher-governor and,
for the final two years, senior teacher.
Taking
time out from teaching to pursue her lifelong interest in all things
linguistic, she studied, at Exeter, for an MA in Lexicography and
worked as a lexicographer for Cambridge University Press. Writing
dictionary definitions was a great intellectual indulgence, but she
missed the thrills and spills of the classroom. And so it was that
she came to St Aldhelm's in January 2003, initially as 'maternity
cover' for Mrs Cann, then job-share with Miss Bishop and Mrs Cann,
and finally as full-time class teacher and Senior Teacher (Curriculum).
Hobbies
and passions? When time allows, she loves cooking, reading 'trash'
fiction (especially written in the first person) and watching cult
/ sci-fi tv. Weather permitting, riding her Vespa scooter - locally,
to national rallies or for summer holiday tours of Europe - remains
her number one choice of relaxation.