ABOUT DRAGONFLY TRAINING
Dragonfly Training was founded in 1999 and since then has grown to become one of the market leaders in offering training courses for teachers and has established an excellent reputation nationally for providing inspiring, realistic and practical training.
We are committed to deliver training of the highest quality. All our courses come with comprehensive materials that can be used in the classroom the very next day. Our courses provide teachers with inspirational ideas, lesson plans, time saving information and tried and tested strategies for improving the quality of learning. We aim to spread best practice, stop re-inventing the wheel and offer excellent value for money.
Our fundamental principle is that all our courses are practical. We give our delegates hands-on experience of their chosen area of interest to engage, inspire and motivate; we practice what we preach.
Dragonfly Training employs only the best trainers. All our trainers are highly skilled and experienced in their particular field and they still teach in the classroom on either a full or part time basis. They are therefore practitioners rather than theorists whose knowledge of education is first hand and hence their ideas, lessons and techniques are entirely relevant and can be adopted by any teacher.
Dragonfly Training Team
Stephen Chapman
(Managing Director)
Stephen Chapman is the Managing Director of Dragonfly Training and has delivered training courses at hundreds of schools in the UK. He has studied in the universities of Liverpool and Cambridge and taught at schools in Kenya, the Caribbean, the USA and as Head of Department at a large London Comprehensive for several years. He was a specially selected member of the Richmond Borough School Improvement Task Force. He is starting to write his long awaited book on education and is well known for his practical and sometimes slightly controversial views. He ensures that he remains in touch with classroom practice by working in a local school.
Mary Elderkin
(Director)
Mary Elderkin is the other Managing Director of Dragonfly Training. Mary is not in the office as much as Steve Chapman as she continues to teach International Baccalaureate English at a local school, however she is involved with us on a regular basis working on advertisements, timetabling and ongoing ideas for future training. Mary used to be a French teacher but was lured to teaching English whilst teaching abroad. Mary is a calm resolute character who helps calm Steve down when he "goes off on one"!
Sara Lewis
(Operations Manager)
Sara joined Dragonfly in January 2009 following an 18 year career in headhunting lawyers. As Operations Manager she is responsible for the day to day running of the business and works closely with Steve on developing and implementing strategies for Dragonfly's continued growth and success.
Gail Millard
(Conference Manager)
Gail is our longest standing member of staff (please note I haven't said oldest!) and has been with us for six years. Not only does Gail have the unenviable job of juggling dates, courses and hotels but in between all that she ensures that everything runs smoothly in the office and manages her team. When she describes her day as 'extremely busy' Gail is not exaggerating. Fondly known as superwoman, Gail will see that the job gets done.
Sara Draper
(Customer Service Advisor)
Sara is our latest recruit and has had an interesting change of direction after training as a midwife and working at Cardiff's main hospital as an auxiliary nurse. Still it's reassuring to know that should someone go into early labour..Sara is working in the conference department answering calls, dealing with queries and inputting dozens of applications a day.
Gemma Chamerski
(Customer Service Advisor)
Gemma has been working at Dragonfly for the past three and a half years after having her first child. She enjoys the friendly and relaxed atmosphere of Dragonfly and after working for the much larger companies British Gas and Transco, she finds Dragonfly a bit more personable! She is Gail's second in command in the conference department.
Wendy Imperato
(Finance Assistant)
Wendy works in the finance department, invoicing schools and producing delegate lists. Although in her last office role for a clothes store she did enjoy the perk of cut priced designer clothing, she does value having time off during most of the school holidays - one of the main perks of working with Dragonfly Training!!
Tamara Grundy
(Marketing Manager)
Tamara's role over the past three and half years has changed enormously and she has adapted to suit the ever changing needs of the company. Now she works in advertising/marketing alongside Steve and does the payroll. Not surprisingly this keeps her busy but the office staff are always 'lovely' she says and so make the job a good deal more pleasant.
Carwyn Lewis
(Finance Manager)
Carwyn has worked in the Accounts Department for the past two years, originally joining on a temp contract but as the workload increased so have Carwyn's hours. This seems to be a typical pattern for him; after taking a degree in Physical Education, Carwyn worked for AA Insurance to earn some money for the Summer and ended up staying for the next 17 years! He now is in charge of the accounts department.
Tracey Cummings
(Finance Assistant)
I have been with Dragonfly for three years, starting in the conference department and now in the finance department dealing with invoices and chase ups and general day to day finance work. The days are very busy and having most of the school holidays off is definitely a great bonus as I get to spend time at home with my daughter.
