Your full name:

Jamie Batchelor 

Where did you grow up?

Bristol.  

Education:

Undergraduate in PPE at Exeter University and PGCE at Cambridge University.  

Your previous role and place of work:

Religious Studies Teacher at a school in Hertfordshire.  

What are you most looking forward to about your new role and working at King’s Ely?

Sipping jasmine tea with Dr Tetley.  

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

A footballer, probably.  

Hobbies/interests outside of school:

Football, yoga, walking, learning French and Italian, philosophy, and Zen Buddhist meditation.

Any pets?

My family have two rather spoiled cats, Monty and Mabel.  

What is your favourite meal/food?

Pasta in all its wonderful variations.  

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Time travel, but only into the past… I would rather not know what is in store for the future. 

Who is your hero?

I do not have one particular hero, but I am a big fan of Ralph Waldo Emerson.  

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Umm, probably getting through a recent week-long meditation retreat in France unscathed.  

What was the last book you read?

Montaigne’s Essays.  

What song are you most likely to sing at a karaoke?

Non, je ne regrette rien by Edith Piaf (a good opportunity to practise my broken French). 

What is your favourite film?

The Big Lebowski.  

Do you have any phobias or fears?

It would have to be death.  

If you could share a meal with any four individuals, living or dead, who would they be?

R.W. Emerson, The Buddha, Alan Watts, Virginia Woolf.  

Name three things you would want with you if stranded on a desert island for a week: 

A copy of the Upanishads, a football, and a sufficient supply of chocolate.