Alumni

Moira Ann Harker

Attended Noadswood: 1989-1994

Currently: Mental Health - Positive and Safety Coordinator

Bio:

Moira explains that during her time at Noadswood she did not get A Stars in her GCSEs and  had to work hard to get to where she is today overcoming her own mental health problems. Due to being diagnosed with anxiety and depression, she did not go to university but got a job in care before working with the Autism services. It was within this role that Moira felt she was able to be caring and empathetic towards those in her care. This spurred her on to go to college where eventually she did a foundation degree working with children.

For the past 7 Years Moira has worked in the NHS Adolescent Mental Team, firstly, as a health care support worker and now as a positive care and safety coordinator. In Moira’s words ‘I’m the voice to the unheard patient. I’m their helping hand when this gets too much, I’m their cheerleader and guess what? I am still that person with anxiety but I’m not letting that get the better of me.’

Luke Hannam

Attended Noadswood: 2009-2014

Currently: Cabin Crew for British Airways

Bio:

Luke left Noadswood and went on to study Travel and Tourism for 2 years. Whilst travelling to New York on holiday he started talking to the cabin crew and this inspired him to apply for the job. Following the application process and the intensive training Luke got the job as cabin crew for BA. He has travelled the world going to 27 countries on 51 different routes. He has climbed mountain in South Africa, gone on safari, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as seeing many famous landmarks to name but a few. Luke said “It’s been one of the best decisions I ever made being able to get paid to travel, it is hard work at times, my body clock is all over the place but once I get to all the amazing places and get to spend time there it makes it all so worth it.”

Peter Loader

Attended Noadswood: 2005-2010

Currently: Architect

Bio:

Peter had the time of his life doing a BA in architecture in Canterbury. He said that skills from product design / DT and art class of course were perfect for this course and he has fond memories of Art and History lessons at Noadswood. Peter went on to work for Hampshire councils’ in-house architects in Winchester. Which he said were ‘really good for socially minded, local projects, ‘ and he was able to work on the new cafe/visitor centre at Lepe Beach, which he said ‘was amazing to be able to have a positive impact’ on somewhere he grew up. After two years at work on the cafe and various Hampshire schools Peter went back to university to get his Masters, this time at Glasgow school of art and is now working in London.

Seb Miller

Attended Noadswood: 2008-2013

Currently: Research and Development - AI

Bio:

During his time at Noadswood Seb wanted to be a doctor. Following on from his work experience placement he decided he didn’t want to go into medical field as such but it did reaffirm his love for science. Following Noadswood Seb went onto Brockenhurst College and took A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics. Seb went along to the Oxbridge outreach events and applied to do Maths at Trinity College, Cambridge. He exceeded the entry requirements and went on to do Maths. During his time in Cambridge, Seb got involved in running the Oxbridge outreach events that he had benefited from a few years ago, and ended up personally sitting down to talk to around 2000 students over the three years to help them with applications, A level choices, etc. He even ended up on Channel 4 talking to Professor Green (the rapper) about white working-class students in Cambridge. 

Unsure of what career he wanted, Seb was recruited to join a research and development team doing AI research and he loves it. “As it turns out, deep down all of AI is just a big set of geometry problems, and I love shapes.” Seb works on Computer Vision, similar techniques that make iPhone face unlock work, or things that make portrait mode on your new Google pixel look so nice. His dream is to end up at Google/Facebook/Microsoft to make progress within the field. 

Thomas Smith

Attended Noadswood: 2006-2011

Currently: Architect

Bio:

We actually won the big Australian museum competition which I worked on. This is the link to an article about it: https://www.archdaily.com/930445/moreau-kusunoki-and-genton-design-a-new-hyper-platform-for-sydney

Sarah Goulding

Attended Noadswood: 2012-2017

Currently: Dairy Farmer, New Zealand

Bio:

“I am hoping to show anyone struggling with thinking about their next steps after school, that it really is possible to go anywhere in the world with a bit of resilience and will to work.” Sarah really enjoyed her time at Noadswood, channelling a lot of effort and energy into sports clubs and teams. She was very proud to represent the school in various events, and found it was a great release during her final year studying for exams. Sarah was fortunate to pick GCSE subjects she enjoyed, worked hard in and had the advantage of knowing what she wanted to do in the future. Sarah said that “the path I have taken is definitely very different to the rest of my year group and peers, but being at Noadswood really helped me put into perspective that you don’t have to follow the same route as everyone else.”

Following Noadswood, Sarah went onto to Sparsholt College to study agriculture. This opened lots of farming contacts and provided her first job on a dairy farm. During her second year of college she worked at Nunton Farm and her boss encouraged her to apply for a scholarship that would give her the opportunity to work on a dairy farm in New Zealand. Sarah succeeded in her application and her dream to learn from the best became a reality. So now, Sarah is 5 months in working on an excellent 600 cow farm and loving every second and her biggest message to all is this, “Follow your heart, and never give up trying to achieve your goal, yes it will be hard – nothing worth it is ever handed to you on a plate, so keep going.”

Hannah Pitman

Attended Noadswood: 2005-2010

Currently: Teacher

Bio:

When I left Noadswood in 2010 I went to Brockenhurst college for two years and struggled with the transition to A Levels and also felt like I'd become a small fish in a big pond as Brock is such a large sixth form! I came away with no A Levels (only AS maths, psychology and French) due to these struggles as well as a lack of ambition. I became an administrator in a local estate agency and absolutely hated it! I missed learning and found the working environment dull. After a year I returned to college, Totton college this time, to complete an Access to Higher Education course in Sciences and applied to Universities to study Neuroscience. I chose to study Neuroscience at The University of Bristol and had a whale of a time! It felt like the right decision to return to education; I felt challenged in the best way again! After four years I completed my degree and achieved a 2:2 which I was very happy with (the degree was HARD!!) During my studies I had done a lot of outreach with one of my lecturers at local schools and found it to be the most enjoyable aspect. I even based my final year dissertation on sixth formers using technology to study and how this was affecting their attention and sleep (how blue light affects melanin levels). This lead me to apply to study a PGCE course at Bristol uni and I got a place! After a year of teacher training, I am now a science NQT at an Outstanding local secondary school and absolutely love it! 

Eric Hounslow QFSM

Attended Noadswood: 1959-1963

Currently: Retired (formally Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Hampshire)

Bio:

“My Noadswood years were very happy and in so many ways, set my course for life and instilled traditional values which have endured. Among a host of memories and on a lighter note is having a set of shoes kept at the school - for it was forbidden to wear outdoor shoes in the school for fear of marking the new flooring!”

In 1963, aged 16, Eric successfully applied to be come a Cadet with the Hampshire Fire Service. After a series of accelerated promotion courses and College Training he eventually secured his ‘dream job’ as Area Commander for Southampton and the New Forest. He retired after 35 years’ service as the Assistant Chief Fire Officer. He has also served as a Regional Advisor to the BBC, Chairman of the BBC Radio Solent Council, member of the BBC TV Board and as a Regional assessor for the Children in Need awards. In 1993 he was awarded the Queens Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Service in the New Year’s Honours list and went on to travel the world following his retirement in 1996.