Life at Tring School
Mr James Stirling | House Leader for Halton
I attended Tring School as a student from 2006 to 2013, where my own teachers inspired me to pursue a career in education. After completing A Levels in Geography, Maths, Biology, and Chemistry, I earned an MSci in Geography with an International Year at the University of Birmingham. Following a gap year of travel, I completed my PGCE at University College London. I loved teaching from day one, throwing myself into school life through departmental work and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. In 2023, I was delighted to return to Tring School as Assistant Subject Leader for Geography. Tring offers exceptional CPD, which supported me in completing my NPQ. The entire staff team at Tring is warm and welcoming, creating a genuinely friendly and supportive atmosphere. This year, I am excited to step into the role of House Leader for Halton and look forward to the new challenges ahead.
Life at Tring School
Miss Anna Bayles | House Leader for Waddesdon
I have recently become a teacher and have had the amazing opportunity of starting my career at Tring School. The staff are incredibly supportive and the student body is friendly and welcoming. I have grown up locally and attended nearby schools, before attending Lancaster University where I earned a BA in Geography and Politics. My initial interest in these subjects was driven by the wonderful teachers I was lucky to have. Whilst choosing my GCSEs, I felt unsure and overwhelmed by the choices I had to make. My geography teacher at the time sat with me to help me decide, pushing me to pick geography, which turned out to be a fantastic decision! I then continued onto A Levels, where geography had become a firm favourite, alongside politics, psychology and French. Throughout my A Levels, the incredible support I received from my teachers drove me to pursue the career myself, seeing the real difference they made to my own life. I received my PGCE in secondary geography from the University of Hertfordshire and have been at Tring School since. The staff at Tring school have truly welcomed me and encouraged me to continually improve. This year I am delighted to be the new House Leader for Waddesdon. I look forward to working closely with the other House Leaders to plan some fantastic events and competitions to further our school community.
Life at Tring School
Archie | Class of '25
What have you been doing since leaving Tring school, and what made you choose this path? I now live in Manchester and am a second year English Literature student at University of Manchester. I have two jobs: I am a freelance journalist and also work behind the bar at a music venue. For fun, I edit my university’s newspaper, play 5 aside football badly, and make music. I enjoyed my time at Tring but never loved living in a small town, so it was a no-brainer to go to university in a city. My teachers at A Level were amazing and really taught me to think outside the box about a range of issues, though. I decided to study English because of my English teachers, and my teachers in Media, Music, and EPQ have given me skills that are relevant in my work, academic, and creative lives. At Manchester you have the option to do free choice modules - I do 2 Music modules a year and 4 Literature ones - and the range of subjects and super-curriculars I discovered at A Level through Tring definitely help me with interdisciplinary study. I’ve since written for newspapers and magazines like The Guardian and The Face and released songs on Spotify that have done over 800,000 streams. The extracurricular opportunities at Tring, like Stag Mag and Swing Band, were invaluable to me, and continue to influence me outside academics. What is a typical day or week like for you now? I don’t have too many contact hours for my degree so I spend most of my time at gigs, writing, or at work. A typical week usually involves travel - I recently went to Leeds to cover the festival. My bar job is very flexible, but I usually work 2 nights a week. I keep an active social life and can be found in the pub a few times in the week/after work with friends. Manchester is a great city for nightlife, too, and I make the most of that. What career path do you want to pursue when you graduate? I don't really know my career path yet. I reckon it’ll be something journalism/creative industries related. I am kind of doing what I wanted to do already with the journalism, and didn’t really wait around for uni to help me with that - it’s probably more the opportunities afforded by the place I’m in that have really helped. I know that’s not the same for everyone - my path is definitely more restricted to humanities students. I’m not really bothered about a masters’ degree unless I can get it fully funded through a scholarship or something because the debt feels a bit crazy, but I would like to do a 2 year postgrad/contract qualification with a newspaper. If not, there’s a 2 year Erasmus scheme masters that has scholarship spaces – which would mean I could spend time in a different country. What skills or experiences did you gain at Tring school that have been most useful to you since leaving? Academic curiosity for sure - I remember Miss O’Callaghan, who taught me Hamlet, would manage to link the most wild and left-field concepts to the play - from scrying to the vikings to transcendentalism - which really opened my eyes to a lot and prepared me for university study. As I mentioned before, Stag Mag and Swing Band taught me how to be part of a team and work together with people to reach a goal, which was definitely very formative. My A Level classes were quite small, which gave me the opportunity to speak a lot about my subjects, which is very useful in seminars. What advice would you give to a student who is currently thinking about what to do after school? Decide with integrity and think with your heart as much as your head. Don’t let friends, parents, or even teachers make your decision for you - if you don’t fancy uni you don’t fancy uni! Post-18 study (or outside of study) is very freeing and formative, and it’s up to you to make the most of your life and push yourself in the right direction. I was quite academic I’d say, but if I got a staff job writing somewhere I would probably not finish my degree, so you can’t predict anything. For university, depending on what you want to do, I’d also say that sense of place can be more important than prestige – consider that.
Life at Tring School
Bella | Class of ‘25
What have you been doing since leaving Tring school, and what made you choose this path? I left Tring Sixth Form in June 2025 and, rather than heading off to uni, I spent the year building my knowledge, gaining experience and developing my portfolio. I have always had an interest in both fashion and marketing, so I decided to take a one-year Level 4 course in Digital Marketing for Fashion at the Fashion Retail Academy. During this time, I also completed a four-week internship at a beauty PR agency in London, where I dived into the world of events, influencers and lots of freebies! After that, I completed my Level 4 Diploma with a distinction and was invited back to work at the PR agency, this time as a freelance Marketing Assistant. Throughout the year, I never stopped looking for what was next. This attitude, along with the time and effort I put in, is what led me to secure my Brand Marketing Degree Apprenticeship. What is a typical day or week like for you now? One month in, my typical day is starting to look a lot clearer. Each week I spend 2 days working from home, 2 days in the office and 1 day at London Southbank uni where my lectures are from 9am - 5pm. I spend a lot of time assisting my team with projects and taking the lead on tasks where I’ve been given the responsibility to do so. I’m also focusing on learning my way around the business processes, the websites and platforms the team uses, and even Henkel-specific terminology. As I’m only one month in, this will naturally change as my understanding grows and my capacity increases. What skills or experiences did you gain at Tring school that have been most useful to you since leaving? What I call my ‘lightbulb moment’ was my Year 12 work experience at Tring. We were lucky enough to spend a week at VML, Coca-Cola’s marketing agency, where we were given a live brief to work on and present at the end of the week. For me, this was the stepping stone into marketing. I felt so motivated and inspired by the experience, and I knew it was the path I wanted to pursue! What advice would you give to a student who is currently thinking about what to do after school? Keep all your options open. Just because university wasn’t for me, that doesn’t mean it isn’t right for you. However, if you’re someone who wants to earn while you learn and get a head start in your chosen industry at a young age, I would definitely consider an apprenticeship. It’s not always as common or as straightforward as some other routes, but hard work really does pay off!!!
Celebrating success
Grades 9-5 in English
Key Stage 4
Grades 9-5 in Maths
Key Stage 4
Grades A*-B
Key Stage 5
Grades A*-C
Key Stage 5
Dist*-Merit
Key Stage 5
Dist*-Pass
Key Stage 5
