Meet the New Teacher: Lily Ingrey

Meet the New Teacher: Lily Ingrey

Lily Ingrey is the new Secondary English teacher, here until the end of Term 1.


Secondary English Teacher, Support Teacher

Lily Ingrey earned studied at the University of Aberdeen where she went on to earn a Master’s in English Literature. She worked in a rural school with students with special education needs before coming to Bangkok. She is on a maternity cover until the end of Term 1.

The Path to Teaching

“I did my Master’s at the University of Aberdeen but since I was undecided what career path I wanted to go on, I thought teaching English in South Korea would give me insights into whether or not I wanted to go into teaching. Once there, I found I really enjoyed it. It was wonderful seeing the progress in the students learning. Getting to know them and the Korean culture had its challenges but its rewards as well.”

“I returned to the UK where I did my PGCE and then worked in a small comprehensive school in a rural area- there was a section with special education needs.  I then received an offer to work in Bangkok at a bilingual school – the kids really stood out for me. It was predominantly Thai students – they can be quite shy and take a while to open up with you. You really have to work on your relations with them and your class environment and help them feel more comfortable in the classroom.”

Teaching at Bangkok Patana

“Working at Bangkok Patana is such an opportunity with such a focus on student well-being. I think it’s great that we think about what skills the students need to develop outside the classroom that they can use in life outside school.”

“It is really important that schools foster skills that students can use when they leave school. Bangkok Patana is such a well-resourced school that it can offer the students such important life skills. It’s such an opportunity to develop these young adults and that’s what really drew me to the school.”

“I am really looking forward to becoming involved in the wider school community, I have just started doing an elective for Year 10 that is a digital magazine. The kids have a lot of choice on what content they want to include and implementing that in the magazine. I also have a Year 7 elective enhancing English skills and am enjoying getting to know them in a different context.”

Staying Motivated and Engaged

“My main hobby is aerial hoop, a hoop suspended in the air. It is a mixture of gymnastics and aerobics. I was meant to enter the championships in South Korea in June but then COVID happened. You have to be resilient and committed –you get to a point where you feel it’s difficult and slow progress but then when you get through that barrier and you see yourself improving, that is the real reward. Its kind of obscure but I really enjoy it – even though the studio is quite far from school, I think it is worth it. I also do a lot of painting as well, landscapes in acrylic and oil but I want to really move on to portraits, I like to have the finished result.”

“I enjoy hiking as well; I hiked to Everest Base Camp in October. It was 11 days of hiking and it was difficult at times; the altitude and carrying all my luggage. I liked the sense of achievement of arriving at a new location. There were so many helicoptered out as they needed treatment. I learned that you really have to listen to your body and know what your limits are.”

The information in this post is valid for the date posted above. Our curriculum and policies are dynamic. For up-to-date information, please contact the school directly.