Staff spotlight: Mrs Carey, Head of Lower School

This article is the second in our new ‘Staff spotlight’ series, shining a light on the amazing people who make Trinity special.

Introducing Mrs Hannah Carey, who joined Trinity in 2010 from Caterham School. Alongside teaching Religious Studies, she helped found the school’s Malawi Project and established Trinity’s Sixth Form mentoring programme. Having previously served as Head of Third Year and Head of Personal Development, Mrs Carey has been in post as Head of Lower School since 2018, acting as a key point of contact for new and existing students. We sat down with her to discuss her Trinity career so far.

1. You’re now in your 15th year as a teacher at Trinity. What first attracted you to the school, and what has kept you here since then? 

Trinity is a really special school, and the years have flown by.  

I first moved to Trinity because I wanted to concentrate even more on teaching my subject. It’s a real privilege just to be able to sit down and share ideas about Philosophy with a group of students, whether that be quarrelsome questions with my JBugs or debating a scholar with my A Level classes, teaching in the classroom is still a highlight of my week. 

Since I’ve been at Trinity, it’s the opportunities and variety that keep me excited to come to work each day. Anything that I have wanted to do I’ve been able to try, whether that be scuba diving in the Trinity pool or jumping into a waterfall in Wales on a Lower School residential, it always feels an adventure. 

I’ve grown so much since I’ve been at the school and so has my family. Two maternity leaves and two young children later I now have even more understanding of what matters and what’s kept me here.  

2. Developing values and character traits are clearly important aspects of your educational philosophy. What advice would you give to a new student looking for ways to get the most out of Trinity life?  

Throw yourself in, you never know where the journey will take you. The Lower School students continually amaze me with how quickly their first acts of bravery grow into incredible experiences. That first audition to the choir could lead to you performing on a world class stage at Glyndebourne, or trying out for a sports team or drama production could form a bond and friendship for life.  

3. What drew you to teaching as a career? 

I love to travel and experience the world.  

I feel like philosophy is time travel in the classroom. Just because something is not valued now, doesn’t mean it has no value at all, and it’s exciting to look at ideas from history again.  

Being in a school also allows me to constantly keep looking outwards. I have had incredible experiences on our school trips, whether that be in Rome with RS students or Malmo chaperoning an opera. There is also a real depth of culture and experience right here, expressed in our clubs every week. It’s a privilege to go dip into societies such as African Caribbean Society, Literary Society or ThinkSoc (RS society) and hear new ideas. What’s not to love? 

4. What’s your best memory as a teacher? 

I am most proud of our commitment to Chipwepwete school in Malawi, where the Trinity community has funded a free school lunch for every child since 2015.  

I’ve been lucky enough to visit three times and be part of opening a library, a new classroom block and see a bridge built over the local river. Each year we have taught lessons in the school with our Sixth Form and sat down with teachers to share ideas. My most special and humbling moment was being given a gift of a live chicken in front of all the school to thank us for our trip. It was funny to try to hold it flapping away (and wondering about its fate) but also tear jerking to look out at a sea of faces and realise the friendships we had made and irreplaceable lessons we had all learned.  

5. The first girls will join Trinity’s Lower School in September 2027. How are you and your team preparing for this exciting change? 

What is most exciting is that our first girls, and the boys who will work alongside them, have a unique opportunity to shape our school for the future. The new Lower School will genuinely be something that we will build together, and so we are preparing by speaking to as many people as possible and really listening.  

It has been wonderful to start meeting girls on our recent tours and talk about what matters to them. Equally, our school councils already have some brilliant ideas of how to welcome them. We are creating new spaces, planning clubs and house competitions, talking about residentials and break times and small things that matter. I want all students to feel they have someone they can relate to and talk to, as well as inspire them to learn. It is clear to me that anything we do for the girls will also benefit our boys hugely.  

I was also lucky enough to be here when our Sixth Form went co-ed in 2011, and I can see just how much value that has brought. So, I am looking forward to having a fresh look at everything we do, and I want us to be really ambitious about what we can do together. 

Quick fire questions: 

1. What’s your go-to Friday night meal? Curry – we live near Tooting, which is home to some of the best curries in London. 

2. What’s your all-time favourite holiday? Travelling from Rwanda all the way down to Botswana and Namibia; I’ll never forget the landscapes and animals along the way. 

3. If you were a philosopher or theologian, who would you be? Søren Kierkegaard – I just think as an early existentialist he was very cool. 

4. What would you be doing if you hadn’t become a teacher? A scientist – I have a Natural Sciences degree and loved astrophysics as well as philosophy 

5. Can you describe yourself in three words? Caring, supportive, and encouraging – I asked my husband for this one!