#TeamNorthMid blogs

Rhian Chitambo shares her remarkable journey in her flourishing career at North Mid .

My name is Rhian Chitambo, and I am the Learning and Engagement Lead.

My parents are originally from Jamaica, and they came to London in the 1970’s. I am the youngest of three children, and I was born in North Middlesex Hospital in 1991. I also lived in this area in my childhood, so working at North Mid is a full circle moment for me.

I enjoy swimming, even though I haven’t done it in a while, and I love my faith, so I spend a lot of time in my church doing various activities supporting Christianity.

I started off my career off as a qualified teacher in 2015. I didn’t have a career in mind I just knew that I wanted to make a difference to young people, I wanted them to understand and love Science just as much as I did.

It wasn’t the easiest of journeys for me because I was very timid especially in my teenage years.  My shyness became one of the biggest obstacles for me which came with a lot of challenges, but I faced my fears and was determined to overcome that trait.

I graduated from university with a Bio-Medical degree. Most of my friends secured graduate jobs or enrolled onto further education. I knew I had to do something, so I volunteered on to the youth outreach programme at my church. This was a big step in the right direction for my personal growth and career development. It forced me to be more sociable as I had to engage with staff and children frequently. I flourished, my confidence grew from strength to strength and slowly but surely the quiet little Rhian was no longer.

I went on to complete my postgraduate certificate in education and taught science to students from secondary to A-Level. I then became the Head of Biology, then the Lead Practitioner in Science Education, then the Deputy Head of Science and then Head of Science.

I am so proud of what I achieved in such a short amount of time. I secured positions where I was leading in learning, but I still missed the biomedical side of things, and I wanted to fulfil my goal of working in the healthcare sector.

I started to explore vacancies within the NHS, I never knew that the NHS offered job opportunities in learning and education, so applying for the role was a no brainer. I would get to work in healthcare l whilst leading in learning. It was perfect for me. I was overwhelmed with joy when I was offered the position.

My aspirations whilst working within the NHS is to become the Head of Education. I would like to oversee more opportunities for staff development, to create and provide more learning resources.