Our Staff | e@Keats

Meet our staff

Director- Tom Wiles

My experience of education has been shaped by 11 years working within an outstanding school in York. The schools progress 8 performance at the time was almost four times the local average and the three-year trend of excellent performance placed the school's outcomes in the top 4% nationally. In the last 8 years of my mainstream education career, I worked in management roles as a Head of Department and Head of Year. My classes at A-Level consistently scored between the 90th and 99th percentile and in my final year of teaching in 2019 my validated GCSE value added score was 1.08.

Since then, I have taken on the role of Director of Education for an Independent Training Provider where we delivered apprenticeships, traineeships and study programmes. This has led me to create Keats Engineering and Education alongside my business partner Trevor Waddington.

In the next 10 years my vision is to help drive a more balanced inclusive curriculum for all learners, incorporating their different passions and skills. Ultimately allowing learners to thrive. Currently education favours learners who excel in reading and writing. This leads to valid questions such as where and how do the visual, audio and kinaesthetic learners reach their full potential? Have we failed a generation of these learners who may be in low paid service industries?

The biggest social and demographic barrier to equality in education is apathy. Many learners do not think they can, so they do not. We need to find a way to encourage a can-do attitude so they believe they can and will. With the right support and guidance to enable them to find their passion and skill set. Keats Engineering and Education is achieving this by putting the learner at the centre of everything we do, providing a personalised hands-on approach that is led by industry experts.

Director- Trevor Waddington

I started work at the early age of 14 years old. Whilst going to school I had numerous part time jobs, paper rounds and milk rounds etc. It was obvious early on that I was not the typical classroom learner as I only liked practical lessons. One exception to this was technical drawing as I received very good grades in this subject alone. Alas if only Geology was taught in my day as it is now because over the years it has become my passion.

At 16 years old I headed off underground to work down the pit. I enjoyed the comradery and surroundings and learnt a lot about life. From the age of 16 I have solely worked in the minerals processing industry following my strong interest in this area of work. My biggest fear is to work somewhere and not truly enjoy my day.

Leaving the NCB I trained as a fabricator welding engineer and quickly passed all my practical courses and started my own business. “Keats”. I then progressed to design and fabricate machines and equipment for many minerals processing operators. This included going back to make items and full plants for the mining industries, power stations and many recycling companies. Many of which we still manufacture for today.

In the limited spare time I have, I help run a football club with over 50 teams catering for all abilities in Pontefract. I coach football to boys, girls and adults with mental illnesses and learning disabilities and currently work with Special Olympics Great Britain as a head football coach. I am also an assistant head coach for the British Mencap European squad.

Another passion of mine is working with mainstream and disadvantaged children and adults to provide them with opportunities to work on projects where we can facilitate signpost and educate the 16+ into the workplace. We have created a company to do this in more depth and we offer children who need it a different way of learning until they find their ideal pathway and career.

Head of Pastoral Support & SENCo- Tina Connell

With nearly three decades of experience in education, I have dedicated my career to supporting the learning, welfare, and emotional development of children and young people. My journey began in 1995 when I studied English and Education at Trinity and All Saints University College, setting the foundation for a rich and varied career in teaching and pastoral care.

After qualifying, I worked as a classroom teacher, quickly progressing into curriculum leadership and then into the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). My passion for supporting students with additional needs led me to the Educational Psychology Service, where I spent three years as an Area SENCo and Advisory Teacher. I then returned to schools in senior leadership roles, culminating in ten years as a Head Teacher across three different settings.

Through various training opportunities, I developed a deep interest in the social and emotional development of children, particularly in understanding how trauma impacts brain development. This passion led me to study as a counsellor, building on my earlier studies in Psychology at Wakefield College. I will qualify as a certified Level 5 counsellor this November, further enhancing my ability to support young people in meaningful ways.

At Keats, where I work part-time as Pastoral Lead, I am privileged to apply my counselling skills and experience to help students navigate their challenges. This role is the most rewarding of my career, as it allows me to offer targeted emotional support, fostering resilience and wellbeing in young people.

Beyond my professional life, I invest in my mental and physical wellbeing, with a daily commitment to maintaining balance through practices such as Pilates and lovely, long walks with my dogs.

Football Coach & Lead Tutor- Gavin Rothery

I have 14 years of experience in teaching and managing a variety of sports programmes in further education, helping learners of all academic levels and backgrounds to achieve their potential and prepare them for their next chapter in life. This is the main reason I decided to pursue a career in teaching as I wanted to help and inspire young people and see their progress at first hand which I feel is the most rewarding aspect of my role.

I am also extremely passionate about sports and enjoy passing on my knowledge, in particular football; being an ex-professional footballer playing for Leeds United, Carlisle and York City. I am proud to have represented my country earning 4 caps for England at U19 level playing alongside and against some top professional players.

I have a wealth of experience in semi-professional football over the last 10 years playing for several clubs including Guiseley, Gainsborough Trinity, Bradford Park Avenue, Shaw Lane and Hyde United.

Alongside this I have coached in various roles in the community whilst working at The Leeds United Foundation ranging from schools, grassroots clubs, and development centres. I have also worked with the Leeds United Academy and alongside some of the 1st team players whilst in the process of completing my UEFA B license which I am currently awaiting assessment for. I have played for the Pontefract Collieries 1st team over the last few seasons and recently combined this with the role of 1st team coach. I believe this will be a great link between the academy and the 1st team as I will be working closely with both and it gives the opportunity for more academy players to progress and test themselves at a higher level of football.

Over the last two years I have enjoyed taking on more responsibility overseeing a range of education programmes including apprenticeships, traineeships, and study programmes to ensure they meet the needs of the learners and give them every chance to succeed in their chosen studies and training. I am really looking forward to continuing this with Keats and working with the great team of staff we have moulded together who share my passion, drive and enthusiasm for making a real difference in people’s lives.

Head of Community, Deputy DSL & TA- Tina Goodworth

My background is in financial services, having spent several years either in banking, investment administration or collections. All these roles have involved education and training. I invariably found the people side of these jobs the most interesting and rewarding. I always take great pride in my work. The progress of those that I have helped to train and educate gives me a real sense of achievement.

When I was asked to become involved with the education programme, I jumped at the chance. I believe that every child deserves the chance to be the best they can be. It is our job to find the best way to help them do this. We place the learner at the centre of everything we do tailoring our approach to each individual child. I am delighted to have joined a team that are committed to doing this and wanting each child to achieve their full potential.