Dani Hunter first female Stratford Mayor teaching at KES

Councillor Dani Hunter Breaks New Ground as Mayor of Stratford

Councillor Dani Hunter is redefining the image of the mayor of Stratford. She is the youngest mayor ever, appointed at 36 in May and now 37. She is also the first Irish female to hold this position.

Dani has achieved another milestone as the first female to teach at King Edward VII School (KES) while in office. There was a male mayor who taught at the grammar school long ago.

“I’ve been teaching chemistry to Year 9, 10, and 12,” said Dani, who is filling in for six weeks. She is also the development officer at KES, where she connects with alumni, raises funds, and manages the mentoring scheme.

It has been nine years since Dani last taught. She previously worked at Henley School and King’s High.

“It was nerve-wracking, but exciting,” Dani said about returning to teaching. “It was great to have the opportunity. I work in the school a couple of days a week anyway, so it wasn’t completely alien.”

Dani’s husband, James, has taught at KES for 11 years. The couple met while teaching at Salisbury grammar schools—James at the boys’ school and Dani at the girls’. They moved to Stratford after James became head of economics at KES.

The biggest change Dani noticed in the classroom is the reliance on digital tools. “Once I got back into the classroom, I got into the flow of it pretty quickly. But my goodness, has technology changed over the last decade,” she said.

“The sixth form used devices for all lessons—whether iPads, laptops, or tablets. It used to be ‘get your notebooks out and pens ready.’ Now, you send the teaching materials out beforehand so they have them to take notes. The younger years still use a traditional approach for now.”

She added, “There’s been a lot of learning for me, especially with the sixth form. It was interesting because I didn’t know what to expect. But it made the students more mature in how to deal with information. It gives them greater responsibility over the material and is much more university-style.”

Meanwhile, the mother of two has a busy mayoral schedule leading up to Christmas. “We’ve had many mayoral visits, including to the police and fire stations, care homes, and the Nicol Ward at Stratford Hospital. We also attended carols and church services, including a reading at Holy Trinity,” Dani said.

On Christmas Eve, she attended mass before preparing for Father Christmas’s arrival. What did her children, Alannah, six, and Simon, nine, receive for Christmas? “Santa was very generous. Alannah got a purple bike—it had to be purple—and Simon got a hoverboard and lots of books, which he absolutely loves,” she said.

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