Highland Heroes 2025: Secondary teachers shortlist revealed – VOTE NOW!
VOTE for your secondary school teachers of the year by midnight on Monday, February 10!
Julie Valentine, Glen Urquhart High School
A Glen Urquhart High School teacher is celebrating 21 years in the job and a nomination for a Highland Heroes award in the secondary education category.
Music teacher Julie Valentine is described as “loved and respected by her students in equal measure” for the way she inspires, guides, and supports them, giving them “the confidence to sing and express themselves.”
Originally from the Black Isle, Julie faced a major challenge two years ago when she suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“I developed post-concussive syndrome, which meant my brain could no longer cope with the stimulus of music. I missed it terribly during the six months I was signed off, I’m very thankful that my recovery allowed me to return to teaching,” she said.
She added: “I’m only one half of the music department, my colleague is incredibly passionate, and this success is partly thanks to how well we support each other.”
Julie concluded: “Teaching is my happy place; the young people at our school are fabulous to work with, they really want to learn. When I joined the school 21 years ago, I knew in my first week I’d never want to leave.”
Chris Mounfield, Golspie High School
A maths teacher at Golspie High School says he’s shocked, gobsmacked, and blown away at being nominated for a Highland Heroes award.
Some of the praise heaped on Chris Mounfield includes: “He’s an amazing teacher. I was terrible at maths and hated it with a burning passion, but now I feel really confident because he’s changed my whole experience of the subject. He pushes us to be the best we can possibly be no matter what level we are at to start with.”
Chris, originally from Hull, said: “I am genuinely humbled and feel so lucky to be thought of in this way. A lot of students start off maths-phobic and I have focused on finding ways to help them consistently improve. I try to teach in a way that students can take a bigger lesson and apply it to the rest of life.
For example, if they were once ‘bad’ at maths and now find they can get good at it, I want them to remember that principle and apply it when they face something challenging in the wider world.”
Rachel Cavellini, Culloden Academy
Adapting her teaching style and going the extra mile to make her classes as inclusive as possible has brought a Culloden Academy teacher into the limelight.
On hearing of her nomination, religious, moral and philosophical studies teacher Rachel Cavellini said: “These are lovely words but being the centre of attention is my idea of a nightmare so there’s a lesson in here for me too! Growing up my teachers were some of the most influential people in my life and I decided that if I was going to teach, I wanted to be like them.”
She continued: “A parent told me that their child found my classroom to be a safe space, and I love and take pride in being able to provide a classroom where pupils want to be fully themselves and express who they are; if I can have a hand in creating that for a moment, a day, or longer term, then I'm delighted.”
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Rachel uses her free time to jointly run (with teacher Flo Skinner) the Rights and Equalities Group, which welcomes a diverse range of pupils to work together to make their school community an accessible and inclusive place to learn.
Barratt and David Wilson Homes North Scotland is sponsoring the award for secondary school teacher of the year.
Construction director, Kevin Urquhart, said: “As the UK’s leading sustainable housebuilder, we are always incredibly proud to support the future generation’s success. We are supporting the secondary teacher category for the third year in a row to highlight the incredible work carried out each day by teachers in Inverness and the Highlands. It is their inspiration that drives confidence in young professionals onto their next stage of skills development, higher education or their first steps into a new career. With the skills and knowledge supplied by those dedicated to secondary education, we can see the positive impact this has on our very own new homes business and wider industry.
“This year we continue to grow the industry, particularly with an interest in the north of Scotland, with the employment of more trade apprentices in the area to strengthen our site teams, as well as growing our graduate, office and site management teams who continually win Pride in the Job awards year after year – none of which would be achieved without the commitment and pride of teachers in the first stage of building young adults’ career prospects.
“We saw last year the incredible amount of extracurricular efforts that secondary teachers put in to support young adults in Inverness and the surrounding Highlands, and so we’re delighted to support the Highland Heroes again. We strongly encourage readers to vote for their local heroes so we can raise awareness of those who are truly deserving of such recognition.”