Meet Our Team
Sarah Bacon
Sarah says she’s been lucky enough to be involved in international education since applying for a teaching position in Algeria straight after university. From there she travelled enjoying a diverse and interesting career across three continents in colleges, universities and the British Council. Following this, Sarah branched out into teacher training, setting up schools and teaching departments in the UK and overseas, as well as spending many happy years as Vice Principal and Director of Academic Development at Kings Education.
Sarah’s journeying had to stop but not before meeting her husband, Kevin, in Cuba. Now twenty years later from the heart of England, Sarah’s focus is on bringing quality education, advice and care to international students, as well as enjoying her family and dogs.
With involvement in education outside and inside the UK Sarah’s gathered a wealth of experience and an in depth understanding of the cultural differences and educational approaches of other countries which inspired her to set up Wendover Education, Wendover Online School and Oxford Guardians.
Sarah Thomas
Sarah has over 25 years’ experience in education, working both in the UK and at international schools in Turkey, Vietnam and Ukraine. Her skills as a teacher, teacher trainer, exams officer, inspector and experienced head teacher are perfectly suited to her role at Wendover Online School.
“I have two passions, the first of which is developing students’ critical thinking skills,” says Sarah. “By nurturing our students to be their best selves, we give them the confidence to tackle challenges throughout their lives – which helps them to succeed.”
Most recently, Sarah was head teacher at the British International School Ukraine in Kyiv. Managing all aspects of this school for over 700 students aged 3-18 for five years, which included the global pandemic and the ongoing Russian attacks, gave her lasting insights into the importance of looking after the whole child.
“My second passion is school improvement,” declares Sarah. “No matter how good it already seems, I relish the challenge to make a school better – I really enjoy ensuring that a school’s systems, processes and policies work together to give children an excellent education in a supportive and caring environment.” As part of this process, Sarah is working to achieve the new Ofsted accreditation for online schooling at Wendover Online School, to help demonstrate our high standards to parents.
Based in Newcastle, Sarah has numerous interests outside education, including playing the guitar and ukulele, and singing as often as possible. She loves cycling, travelling and camping, and winning at Boggle.
Liz Carter
With a career rich in teaching and helping students to achieve academic success, Liz is a huge force of knowledge and strength on our counselling team and bubbles with enthusiasm for what she does! After three stints at Oxford University from where Liz gained her two degrees and teaching qualification she variously taught a range of science subjects, counselled students for university and assumed the headship of a leading UK independent college.
After an early retirement in 2014, she has taken on a consultancy role supporting students in Wendover Education. Liz manages to balance a life of educational interests with family, tortoises, community, friends and The Lake District.
Why is Liz so passionate about education – ‘ I want to make a difference to young people and to give back to education because I and my family got so much out of it. I’ve been very lucky.’
Emma Lindsay
‘I love working with international students as it’s great to be able to support them coming to the UK to follow their educational aspirations and help them to gain new experiences and opportunities. It is also very interesting to get to know them and find out more about their culture.’
When Emma isn’t working hard to support students, she’ll probably be doing something in the art world. Graduating with a degree in Fine Art, Emma has been involved in Art-related work and education for most of her life. Emma leads Saturday Art workshops where she encourages others to share her creative passions. She’s also worked in garden landscaping and as education curator in local museums, as well as in secondary and primary schools.
These credentials alongside her intuitive understanding of different cultures and the importance of education make her an ideal counsellor for our international students, guiding them very successfully onto the next stage of their educational journey.
Currently swimming for charity Emma always has things on the go…Spending time with her family and her lively dog Lucy in the Lake District or nearer to home visiting the new exhibits at galleries in London!
Sue Bonell
Sue has been involved in education for many years and taught a variety of subjects whilst serving in the Royal Air Force. She was the first Head of the Defence School of Personnel Administration and is a dedicated and enthusiastic administrator with a passion for accounts and Excel spreadsheets!
Sue was the Bursar of an independent day and boarding school in East Sussex for over 11 years and greatly enjoyed the challenges of working in a multi-cultural setting and introducing online education which provides the opportunity for independent learning for children of all ages, helping them achieve their full potential. Sue is also a Compliance Inspector with the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
Working as part of the Wendover Education was a natural move following retirement from her Bursar’s role and provides the opportunity to continue in the education sector with a company that is leading the way in online education. In her spare time, Sue enjoys spending time with her family and dogs and is a Guardian to several international students studying in Sussex.
Rachel Smith
Rachel’s teaching career began in France assisting pupils learning English! Thanks to her diverse and extensive teaching experience and wide-ranging professional training, Rachel is perfect for co-ordinating our programmes for young learners. As a secondary French teacher, then as Head of Department, Rachel led and nurtured a team of teachers who forged strong links between mainstream lessons and students with Special Educational Needs. Rachel is a creative teacher and has a passionate drive to help all students access education even outside of the school environment. This has led Rachel to setting up her own charity to support pupils and parents gain access to learning.
Incredibly, along side all of this, Rachel found time not just to establish her own successful clothing business, she has also designed and produced intricate wedding dresses for her clients. Rachel’s creativity doesn’t stop there, she is also a talented flautist and regularly plays in concerts.
In her free time, Rachel manages to make the most of the great outdoors and enjoys accompanying Duke of Edinburgh participants on expeditions.
Jude Richardson
Graduating from Aberdeen University with a Masters in English in 1996 and completing her teacher training qualifications, Jude travelled to Italy. From there she found her love of teaching which took her to other countries before returning to the UK. A teacher, teacher trainer, language specialist and former school Principal, Jude has since 2016 focussed increasingly on online teaching and learning. With this great background Jude leads our very gifted and experienced team of teachers.
Jude has a strong interest in IELTS teaching, and with examining experience as well as running many IELTS workshops and training over the years, Jude has a very strong set of IELTS teaching and training skills. Settled near Manchester with her creative husband James she balances teaching, Wendover and her family with good humour and an unparalleled sense of purpose. The Wendover vision and GoToIELTS comes in large part from Jude’s inspirational personality.
