by LOUISE SCHENK-COOPER

WHEN it comes to career changes, it's hard to imagine a more dramatic leap than the one taken by Lance Halliwell.

The 44-year-old, now a popular and respected teacher, has swiftly climbed the ladder to become assistant principal at Colchester Academy.

However, it is a far cry from his former life as a soldier, serving for more than two decades and touring both Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Lance has seamlessly moved from the battleground to the playground and is enjoying every second of his new career, while remaining fiercely proud of his roots.

He said: "I served as a para, commando and physical training instructor, touring Afghanistan twice and Kosovo.

"I ended up as a regimental sergeant major and served as a colour sergeant at the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst.

"When I was completing my training at Sandhurst, both princes, Harry and William, were there and I also taught the Prince of Bahrain!

"It was an amazing time but, after 22 years in the army, I made the decision to enter a completely different profession and went into teaching when I was 40.

"My ambition was to transfer my leadership skills from one profession to another."

Lance has worked hard to get where he is now and did not have a GCSE until 2010.

He completed all his academic courses back-to-back and it took him seven years, including studying for an A Level while in Afghanistan.

His connection to north Essex started when he was first posted in Colchester in 2004.

He "fell in love with the place" and duly decided to start his journey with North Essex Teacher Training (NETT).

It lasted a year and was split between classroom-based learning and teaching placements within NETT partnership schools, throughout Colchester and Tendring.

Within two and a half years of qualifying, he went from being healthy living representative to being a raising standards leader to head of year before assuming the role of assistant principal at Colchester Academy.

He also previously spent three and a half years at Philip Morant School.

Career change - Lance Halliwell

Career change - Lance Halliwell

“Importantly, I learned that your status and reputation in a school is always forged in the classroom," said the dad of two, who lives in Mile End.

"My instructors impressed that if you want to get ahead quickly, you set the bar in the classroom as high as you can.

“My training also impressed on me that if you want to move up the ladder, you need to be that teacher that other teachers professionally admire.

"I can personally testify that as an ‘inexperienced teacher’, if you want to set the standard, and be noticed, you really do have to dedicate yourself to the profession.”

While moving from the military to the classroom represents a big change, Lance says his grounding stood him in good stead when it came to swapping careers.

It meant he came armed with a wide range of skills - leadership, determination and resilience, for instance - which were readily transferable to his new job.

And he says those traits proved invaluable during his training with NETT.

“During my training year, NETT placed me in a range of schools, including one that was quite challenging," he said.

"The experience of working with challenging groups gave me a different perspective of how to conduct myself.

"I realised that in schools which contain ‘challenging behaviour’, it’s important that your attitude to behaviour is constantly high, in and out of the classroom.

“Probably the best advice I received was not to adapt a responsive manner.

"Keeping a calm head when others can't or don't demonstrates to senior leadership teams that you're ready for that middle-management appointment.

"If you embrace the training you'll be given opportunities to develop your career."

Anyone interested in a teaching career you can find out more at the NETT information webinar at 10am on February 26.

Find out more by visiting www.nett.org.uk

Register for your place by emailing teach@nett.org.uk or calling 01255 431949.

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