In 2021 Carl was seconded to Northumbria University from a local primary school in the Northumbria ITT partnership. Carl was a class teacher, curriculum leader, Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT) fellow and Specialist Leader of Education for the Ouseburn Learning Trust. Carl now lectures across the undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes at Northumbria University and has a keen interest in primary science, computing, and the preparedness of early career teachers.  Carl completed his MEd and PGCE at Northumbria University. In recent years, he has worked in partnership with schools in Wuhan, China, to evaluate and develop curriculum design, assessment, and teaching strategies.

Carl had a keen interest in simulation-based learning and has recently co-developed Coach Lane Primary School (simulation of a mainstream primary classroom). The Coach Lane Primary School was created to give context to difficult to teach concepts. Having a detailed understanding of the same class allows staff and students to have meaningful and insightful discussions about potential barriers to, and opportunities for, learning, teaching and assessment. Throughout their programme, primary education students will become familiar with the class contextualisation and gain an understanding of assessment, SEND and barriers to learning. Coach Lane Primary School allows staff to challenge misconceptions and allows students to think carefully about how good assessment helps teachers avoid being over-influenced by potentially misleading factors.