Meet John Dench, the new Director of Studies at Beet, UK

As I sit here at my desk, it strikes me just how lucky I am to have landed here at BEET. I arrived two months ago feeling excited but also nervous at the prospect of working here with so many highly qualified colleagues. I needn’t have worried as everyone has been so welcoming, helpful and understanding.

My job is not an easy one and every day presents new challenges to overcome and learn from. That’s what makes it so enjoyable, that and the students and staff. I look forward to many years working with the team to make this school even better than it already is.

Having graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in Archaeology and Ancient History, I spent three years working in local government before realising that what I really wanted to do was teach English and see the archaeological sites of the world. So in 1998 I retrained and embarked on a little globe-trotting. By 2002 I had ticked off Peru, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Spain and started dipping my toe into academic management. At that point I decided to enhance my skills with a Diploma. Then it was off to China for four years before finally returning to settle in Bournemouth. Here I worked in a couple of start-up schools as well as two well established ones. I also took on the challenge of being a Cambridge open centre exams manager before finally welcoming the opportunity to work here at BEET