My Burford Damian Warren Head of Year 10

My Burford Damian Warren Head of Year 10, Teacher of Drama and DofE Manager

I first joined Burford in 2013, originally on a maternity cover in the Drama department — and I’ve never left! I came down from Worcestershire, where I’d been teaching after training at Birmingham City University. My degree was in Drama, and it was through my dissertation, working with school groups on performance workshops, that I realised I wanted to teach. That spark of seeing young people grow in confidence through drama has stayed with me ever since.

Not long after arriving, I began working in Boarding as well, and it quickly became another part of school life that I loved — the sense of community, the laughter, and the everyday energy of the house.

In 2020, I became Head of Year, stepping into the role just before lockdown. It was a strange time to start; my first few months were spent online and on the phone, helping students navigate remote learning and the challenges of that period. Coming back into school afterwards felt amazing — you realise how much the day-to-day contact means.

As Head of Year, I lead Year 10 through to Year 11. It’s always rewarding to watch them progress from wide-eyed Year 10s to confident young adults ready for Sixth Form or the next step. One of my proudest moments was making sure my year group had their prom after COVID. It became my personal mission — they’d missed out on so much, and I was determined they wouldn’t miss this milestone, too. Even with restrictions still in place, we found a way. We weren’t allowed to dance indoors, so we brought in a live band and the students danced outside under the summer sky. Seeing their smiles that evening made every bit of effort worthwhile.

Teaching Drama is a privilege. I’ve never been one for desks and chairs — I’d much rather see students moving, experimenting and expressing themselves. There’s a set exam specification, of course, but there’s still so much freedom in how we approach it: the choice of texts, the creativity of devising, the sheer variety of stories they tell. The best bit is watching them grow in confidence, both on stage and off. Whether it’s through productions like Dracula or Monster Under the Stairs, or through Duke of Edinburgh expeditions in the pouring rain, it’s all about resilience, teamwork and pride in what they achieve.

Outside the classroom, I’m the DofE Manager, which brings a completely different kind of adventure. There’s nothing quite like seeing a group who wanted to give up halfway through an expedition come back at the end, exhausted but grinning, realising what they’ve accomplished. The Award teaches self-belief and independence — qualities that carry far beyond school.

When I’m not teaching, I like to get outdoors myself. Over the summer, I climbed Carrauntoohil, marking my final highest peak of all five countries in Great Britain — a personal goal that was equal parts challenge and therapy! And when I do switch off properly, it’s usually with a good series on Netflix — recently A Thousand Blows by Steven Knight — or just catching up with friends around Witney, which I now call home.

If my colleagues were to describe me in three words, I think they’d probably say bonkers, fair and loyal — and they’d be right. Burford has a way of getting under your skin; it’s more than a workplace, it’s a community. But ultimately, it’s the students who make it what it is — their energy, creativity and determination are what make every day worthwhile.