•Sharon Cawley and Sarah Dunwood•Season 1•Episode 33
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Welcome to another Sliding Doors Stories bonus episode, where we celebrate the incredible transformations our guests have experienced since leaving the classroom.
In this episode, we hear from:
✨ Leanne Herring – from teacher to voice artist & content creator.
✨ Mark Thompson – from teacher to TV & film chaperone.
✨ Amy MacDonald – from teacher to forest school leader & content creator.
Each of these stories is a powerful reminder that life after teaching can be filled with joy, fulfillment, and unexpected opportunities.
☕ Support the podcast! If you love these stories, help keep them coming by buying us a coffee.
Loving the Pit Pony Podcast? We’d be so grateful for your support! We’ve set up a Buy Me a Coffee page where you can make a small donation to help keep the podcast running.
Hello, fellow pit ponies, and welcome to our special bonus episodes that we've put together for your pleasure, which capture those beautiful moments at the end of our episodes, in which our guests share with you the magical experiences they've enjoyed since leaving the classroom. We refer to them affectionately as the sliding door stories. The stories are different, unique and incredibly powerful, and serve as an inspiration to us all. So on behalf of myself and Sarah, enjoy. Leanne Herring, from the classroom to voice artist and content creator. Sliding door story. So this one, it's dedicated to my mum, actually, because she's been there. She's my biggest cheerleader. She's been there through everything. She's the one that took the photo when I was six. And I was living with her when I did my teacher training, because I had no money. And she would make my dinners, she'd do my washing, you know, when I was exhausted, I didn't have to worry about anything. So my mum looked after me. And she was there when I got my first job, you know, on the phone. And, you know, I owe her a lot. And she used to live down south. And then I moved to Essex to live with my husband. And she's from the northeast. So she then moved back up north. And last year, she lost her dad, my granddad, and she wasn't coping well with it at all. And I found out through one of her friends contacted me and said, your mum's not not coping very well. Is there any chance you can go and see her? So within hours, pack my laptop, pack my dog. And I did the five hour drive to the northeast to go and stay with my mum to look after her. Because I thought I owe you this, mum, you've been with me the whole journey. You've looked after me when I've been through highs and lows of teaching. She was there when I said, mum, I don't think I can do it anymore. You know, and she was like, go for it. I believe in you. Do what makes you happy. I know you'll make a success of it. So it was a full turnaround moment, really. So for all the years she looked after me, it was my chance to repay the favour, look after her. And I thought I couldn't have done that if I was in the classroom, I would have been allowed. Hello, loyal listeners. We're not going to go full on Bob Geldof during Live Aid. But if you could give us some of your money, even pennies, to help us fund the amazing Pit Pony podcast, the link is in the episode notes below. It's called Buy Us A Coffee. And we really do appreciate your contributions. Thank you. Mark Thompson. From the classroom to TV and film chaperone. Sliding Doors story. Just really recently, I kind of had that moment where I quite often do it actually. I was quad biking around Northumberland with some kids. I was looking around at the scenery and I took a good picture. And when I got back, getting changed, I opened my helmet, opened my overalls, sent that back to my partner and I just put like, work and a laughing crying face. Just not like work. Brief interlude, dear listener. A couple of questions. Are you a tutor or even a Pit Pony considering tutoring? And do you fancy getting in the room with myself and Sarah Dunwood learning about the wonderful world of tuition? Then why not join us at the National Tutors Conference, hosted by Conexus Tuition, on the 29th of July 2025. It's at Chesford Grange Kenilworth. Links to the tickets are in the show notes below. And we will both see you on the other side. Amy Macdonald, from the classroom to forest school leader and content creator. Sliding Doors story. Okay, so as I've mentioned, it took me a while to take the leap of faith and leave because of my husband's job. So he, he works in the art. I realised that this Sliding Doors moment made me realise that I didn't really talk to, even though I had lovely moments with the children I taught, I loved teaching. I loved having a relationship with my class. Because of the microaggressions that Sarah, you and Johnny were talking about and Sharon and that episode, the locks in the corridor, being, all being ignored, never knew which one it was going to be. The, the tone of the emails. I, I would come home and cry and have like whispered conversations, you know, with my husband, so my daughter couldn't hear. However, my Sliding Doors moment made me realise that I talked to my daughter about my job. I show her photos of, because I'm in three different nature reserves. One is a quarry and it's been rewilded. We have all types of native newts there, including the greater crested newts, toads, you know, and I come home and show my daughter photos of like the flora and fauna we found that day. One of them is a nature-friendly farm. I brought home owl pellets to dissect with her. And then my closest nature reserve is an estuary where I take her regularly. And I, you know, we find the, the things we find there are just incredible, like, um, you know, mermaid's purses, shark egg cases, and all sorts of fantastic things. And so my Sliding Doors moment was when I had, my husband and I went to a parents evening and at the end, a really good parents evening, and at the end, her teacher said to me that our daughter, so she said that, um, like, our daughter talks about me and my husband, like, all the time, and what we do for work, because we involve her in what we do. You know, she goes to my husband's shows and she's come along to all the nature reserves I work in, and as I say, I show her photos. Yeah, and it, that word proud, sorry, because I thought, um, you know, teaching, everyone says I'm a teacher with pride, don't they? And I think one of the things that stopped me leaving was not, not feeling that way anymore, but actually, I know that my daughter's proud of me, and of course I am of her, and I know that my parents are as well, even though they've got me through, you know, four years of teacher training, and actually, everything that I've gone through in school, or uni, and at school, it has prepared me for the roles that I'm doing now. And I'm like, you said about being, um, you kind of get unskilled in teaching, don't you? But I feel like the opposite is happening now, the opportunities and the training that I've done since leaving, but I know that I'm valued because I was a teacher, and a teacher for so long. Well, we hope you enjoyed the sliding door stories of our guests, and please remember to subscribe to our channels, and follow along for the magical Pit Pony moments that you will find at the end of our episodes every week. On behalf of myself and Sarah, see you on the other side.
