Becky Shaw Simms

When I was little we didn’t have the internet or Google Maps, but I used to sit with my grandad’s big old atlas on my lap, tracing the routes of rivers and roads, marvelling at mountains, cities and countries, and being fascinated by the facts and figures about them. Geography was always my favourite subject at school, and despite coming from a deprived socio-economic background and being the first person from my family to get any academic qualifications, I won a place to study the subject at the University of Oxford, graduating at the end of the last century!

Over the past twenty years I have taught geography in schools and at revision courses, and I now tutor students online from all around the world. And yes, although technology and computers are still a really important part of our learning lives, I still have that atlas!

I live in Gloucestershire with my husband and two cats. In my spare time I enjoy baking, hiking, visiting museums, and watching David Attenborough’s nature documentaries.