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 for all students is almost four times the local average and the three-year trend of excellent performance places 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 will achieve 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 20 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 will ultimately look to offer children who need it a different way of learning until they find their ideal pathway and career.

Head of Academy & Tutor- Lee Kelsey

I am a UEFA B licensed football coach and hold the UEFA B Goalkeeping License and the Youth Module Level 3 Award. In my Academic studies I hold a Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching and an Honours Degree in Sports Performance as well as being a PGCE holder.

I played football to a fairly high level when I was younger, and this led to me training and playing for the youth team at Leeds United at 17 years of age. Since then, I played semi-professional football for several clubs including Garforth Town, Selby Town, Tadcaster Albion, Nostell Miners Welfare and Pontefract Collieries.

My focus has been on coaching as opposed to playing and I have held positions within the Academy structure at Bradford City as well as spending over a decade with Leeds United coaching the goalkeepers there from their pre-elite goalkeepers right through to the Under 21 team. I have been very fortunate that my coaching roles have given me the opportunity to work in several different countries including Ireland, Norway, and Poland.

My other working focus has been my teaching. For the last 8 years I have held positions as a Lecturer in Sport at 3 different organisations. I have a real passion for developing young people not only on the football field but also in the classroom and hope to push people onto their Academic potential. I have been involved in many success stories in both football and education terms over the years and have a huge desire to continue this with Pontefract Collieries.

I see my role as an exciting opportunity with a progressive club who are and will continue to be the centre of the local community. With so many passionate and forward-thinking people with the club at heart, we can only go from strength to strength both on and off the field. I want to give local youngsters the chance to progress on the football pitch and place them as high as they can possibly go on the football pyramid but also make them well rounded individuals who can progress into Higher Education or into the workplace.

The team we have delivering on all aspects at the club is one I am proud to be a part of and I cannot wait to continue the amazing work that is already happening.

Football Coach & Tutor- Gavin Rothery

I have 10 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.