Introducing Charlotte

Hello everyone! I'm Charlotte Marr, although most people know me as Charley, and I'm really excited to be joining the Reception team at The Villa.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself, tell you a little about my background and share why I'm so looking forward to becoming part of The Villa community.

I've worked in education for around 12 years, and much of my career has been spent teaching Reception children. It's an age group I absolutely love working with. There's something incredibly rewarding about helping children take those first big steps in their education, watching their confidence grow, their personalities shine and their curiosity about the world develop.

I studied Psychology at the University of Exeter before completing my teacher training through Teach First at the Institute of Education, UCL.

I started my teaching career at Fryent Primary School in West London, where I taught Reception and eventually became Reception Year Lead, supporting and mentoring other teachers alongside my own classroom responsibilities.

After moving to South East London, I joined Tidemill Academy Primary School, where I spent five years teaching Reception and leading the Early Years team across both Reception and Nursery.

Those experiences gave me a real appreciation of just how important these early years are, not only for developing the foundations of reading, writing and maths, but also for helping children become happy, independent and confident little people.

One of my particular passions is early literacy. I love helping children discover the joy of reading and writing, from those first phonics sounds to the excitement of putting their own ideas and stories onto paper.

More recently, after taking some time away from full-time teaching to have my own children, I've been working as a private tutor, supporting children from Reception through to Year 2, particularly with their writing and handwriting.

It's been lovely to work so closely with individual children and their families, but I've really missed being part of a school community, which is one of the reasons I'm so excited about joining The Villa.

A little bit about me outside the classroom...

I'm a mum myself, so much of my time outside school is spent enjoying family life and everything London has to offer.

We're a fairly active family and you'll often find us taking part in our local Parkrun on a Saturday morning. I also enjoy going to the gym and used to play quite a bit of tennis, although these days I'm more likely to be cheering my children on from the sidelines at their tennis and football!

What I'm looking forward to at The Villa

For me, one of the most important parts of working with young children is getting to know them as individuals.

Every child has their own personality, interests, strengths and little quirks, and I love finding ways to help them feel comfortable, encouraged and excited about learning.

I also know, both as a teacher and as a parent, how important the relationship between home and school can be. I'm really looking forward to getting to know the families at The Villa and working alongside such a dedicated team.

Most of all, I can't wait to meet the children, get involved in their learning and become part of their everyday adventures.

I'm very much looking forward to this next chapter, and hope to meet many of you very soon!

Charley