Staff Spotlight: Miss Griffiths

⭐ Staff Spotlight: Miss Griffiths — Find Your Spark

Since joining King Henry VIII School in 2015, Miss Griffiths has been a passionate and committed member of our Geography Department, inspiring pupils to explore, question and understand the world around them. Joining Henry’s from Stratford‑upon‑Avon Girls’ Grammar School, she has built a reputation for engaging lessons, strong relationships and a genuine love of learning, qualities that have recently been recognised on an international stage.

Miss Griffiths has been nominated and shortlisted for the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award, a prestigious accolade celebrating teachers who make an outstanding difference to their pupils’ lives. This recognition highlights the lasting impact she has on her pupils, both inside and beyond the classroom.

⭐ Finding Her Spark

Miss Griffiths’ journey into teaching began with something wonderfully simple — she loved being at school. As a child, school was a place of enjoyment, curiosity and belonging, and she knew she wanted to recreate that experience for others.

Teaching gave her the opportunity to help people, share knowledge and develop young minds, all within a setting she had always felt at home in. Geography, with its real‑world relevance and global perspective, became the perfect subject through which to inspire pupils and encourage them to see the bigger picture.

⭐ Favourite Topics to Teach

Miss Griffiths’ favourite topics include volcanoes and earthquakes, followed closely by cartography (map making).

She loves these areas because they sit at the heart of Geography — helping pupils understand how physical processes shape landscapes and how humans interact with, adapt to and represent the world around them. From tectonic forces to map skills, her lessons show pupils how Geography underpins both physical and human environments.

⭐ Geography: Skills for Life

Miss Griffiths is a firm believer that Geography is everywhere. Through her subject, pupils develop essential, transferable skills that support them far beyond the classroom, including:

• Map reading and spatial awareness
• Graph and data analysis
• Understanding globalisation
• Fieldwork skills
• Environmental awareness
• No matter what career students pursue in the future, the skills taught in Geography help them navigate the world, interpret information and make informed decisions — all while developing a lasting appreciation for our planet.

⭐ A Cambridge Dedicated Teacher

Being shortlisted for the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher Award is a testament to Miss Griffiths’ unwavering commitment to her pupils. The award celebrates teachers who inspire, support and truly change lives — something that Miss Griffiths does every day through her enthusiasm, care and dedication.

Her nomination reflects the strong relationships she builds with students, the passion she brings to her teaching, and the positive learning environment she creates — one where pupils feel supported, motivated and encouraged to succeed.

⭐ What Makes King Henry’s Special?

For Miss Griffiths, the heart of Henry’s lies firmly in the people. She values the strong partnership between students, parents and staff, all working together to achieve great things — from plays and concerts to sports fixtures and school trips. This shared sense of community and collaboration makes Henry’s a place where pupils can thrive academically, socially and personally.

⭐ Miss Griffiths: Helping Pupils Find Their Spark

Through her passion for Geography, love of learning and dedication to helping young people succeed, Miss Griffiths truly embodies what it means to ‘Find Your Spark’. Her recent recognition by Cambridge is not only a personal achievement, but a reflection of the inspirational teaching that happens every day at King Henry VIII School.