Mark Beedles – managing director of Connex Education

Where did you go to school?
South Wirral High School in Eastham on the Wirral
Who was your favourite teacher?
Miss Parker (always believed in me and pushed me to work hard)
What was your favourite subject at school?
Physics
Were you streetwise or a bit of a geek?
Bit of a geek
Who was your favourite childhood band/singer?
Genesis
What was your favourite extra-curricular activity?
Computer games (commodore 64 them were the days!!)
Do you remember your first school crush?
Yes a girl called Lesley her boyfriend wasn’t too happy!!
Did you love or loathe school dinners?
Loved them melting moments the best!!
What were your ambitions at school?
I wanted to be a stockbroker (well actually I wanted to be Charlie Sheen in Wall Street) Luckily got the chance to be one (stockbroker not Charlie Sheen!!) so proves hard work and effort can get you your ambitions!
If you could give your childhood self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Hard work will always pay dividends don’t give up (ever).
If you could change anything about the education system, what would it be?
The constant changing of direction whenever a new government comes along, we should have cross party agreement and a national education policy looking 10 – 20 years into the future and everyone agrees this is the way to go.
And finally, why do you think it’s important to celebrate educational achievements with awards like the Educate Awards?
Teachers put in a massive amount of effort and work and most of the time we just hear of the negatives I think it is very important to shout about the positives and the impact great teachers can have on kids.