Global oil explorer turned Norwich teacher hopes to inspire others into classroom

Chris Goode (right) in front of one of his ships while working in oil and gas exploration.He is now training to be a physics teacher in Norwich. Picture: Now Teach (Image: Now Teach)

Chris Goode, who spent more than 25 years managing a seismic exploration crew looking for oil and gas, is retraining as a physics teacher with Inspiration Trust in Norwich.

Following a successful pilot group in East Anglia last year, education charity Now Teach hopes to recruit 100 experienced people to teach in schools and is holding a drop-in advice session at The Forum in Norwich on Monday, February 24, 11am-5pm.

Education charity Teach Now is holding a Norwich event for professionals looking to swap careers for teaching in the classroom. Picture: Now Teach (Image: Archant)

Mr Goode said: "I had thought about becoming a teacher when I graduated but was offered a job travelling the world - how could I refuse! I was responsible for running a crew with up to 200 personnel and five ships.

"One of my roles which I enjoyed, was to deliver training to my crew and this made me think about teaching again. On reflection I realised I wanted to make more of a difference in my local community teaching science in an engaging way to the next generation. As soon as I started my first school placement I knew I'd made the right decision.

Chris Goode spent 25 years managing 200 personnel and five ships while working in oil and gas exploratio before deciding to train as a teacher in Norwich. Picture: Now Teach (Image: Archant)

"Finding out about Now Teach was really inspiring. I wanted to be with other people who were changing career and Now Teach have given me the support that has meant my training is going well."

Now Teach was co-founded by a former journalist, Lucy Kellaway, who at the age of 58 gave up her job at the Financial Times to retrain as a maths teacher.

Ms Kellaway said: "I decided to become a teacher at 58 because I realised I wasn't getting any better at my job. I setup Now Teach because there wasn't a straightforward way for experienced career-changers like me to get into teaching. Four years later, we've recruited over 200 people to retrain. That's over 1,800 years of experience.

"We're looking for people with a desire to teach young people who have significant experience at work. You've seen something of life and you want to share that with young people."