Staff

Mrs. J. Strong, Director of the Language College

Mrs.Strong studied French and Italian at the University of Wales, spending a year in Paris and five months in Perugia. She spent the next three years in Leeds doing her PGCE and her first teaching job. She then lived in Lincoln for 10 years before moving to Saffron Walden. She worked part-time at the Boys’ High School, then came to NFGS in 1989. In 1992 she started teaching Italian in Year 7 and set up the Italian exchange in 1993. In 1993 she also became Deputy Head of Sixth form and in 1995 Head of Year 8. She has been Director of the Language College since the school’s successful application for Specialist status in 2003. She is responsible for Key Stages 4 and 5, teaches French and Italian to all key stages and also teaches French to Year 6 at Rickling Primary School

Mrs Strong is responsible for coordinating the French exchange to Lyon.

Four times a year she lectures on the teaching of Italian at the Dept. of Education at Homerton College, Cambridge.

Mrs C. Dolia

Mrs Dolia studied Philosophy, History and Italian Literature at the University of Cagliari, Italy.
After coming to the UK, she worked for the Italian Consulate as a teacher of Italian in schools in Peterborough, Bedforshire and Hertfordshire. While working, she completed a MA degree in Linguistics at Birkbeck College, University of London and took the Institute of Linguists French exams.
After completing a PGCE in French with Italian, Mrs Dolia took employment at Newport in 2002, where she teaches French, Latin and Italian

Mrs. H. Ludden

Mrs Ludden spent her childhood in France and has a Joint Honours Degree in French and Spanish from Bristol University. She worked in the city for a financial information company in sales and training using her languages. After living in Sweden for three years where she taught English with Berlitz, she worked voluntarily in local primary schools teaching French. She gained a PGCE with the OU and started working at Newport in September 2006.
Mrs Ludden teaches French and German in KS3 and French to four Primary Schools and has just begun a GCSE Spanish course with Year 12 students. She is currently responsible for coordinating French in the Primary Feeder schools.

Mrs M Watson

Mrs Watson has a joint honours degree in French and German and a PGCE both from the University of Hull. She began her teaching career in a large comprehensive school in the city and taught languages there for several years, before moving to Essex for family reasons in 1991. Her first teaching post in this part of the country was in a comprehensive school in the west of the county. She taught French and German here for seven years. Mrs Watson then spent several years teaching French to adults, teaching English as a foreign language and working as a supply teacher.
Since January 2003, Mrs Watson has taught languages at NFGS. She teaches French to GCSE and German to A2. She also coordinates the adult language classes in the school.