“Don't be afraid to say yes to the opportunities that come your way - you never know where they might take you!” – that’s the advice of former Primet student Chloe Bond who has taken all of the opportunities that have come her way, including studying at the University of Cambridge and the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Chloe, who attended Lord Street Primary School before joining Primet, felt like part of a family at Primet, building strong friendships and positive relationships with her teachers. She said:

“Although I might not have felt this way at the time, I can look back now and be grateful for how much my teachers pushed and supported me towards reaching my potential even when things got stressful during exam season. Mrs Leak, for instance, encouraging me to take Further Maths (even though I protested quite a bit in the beginning) massively boosted my confidence and showed me just how important it is to step outside of your comfort zone.”

Chloe graduated from the University of Cambridge in July 2022 with a First Class with Honours BA in Education and English, Drama and the Arts. She’s since completed an MA in Children's Literature at the University of British Columbia (UBC), moving over 4,500 miles from home to live in Vancouver for a year!

Her research focuses on an eclectic range of interests including new media for youth; representations of monstrosity in popular culture and YA literature; trauma theory; posthumanism; and exploring how fan communities can function as educational spaces. Most recently, she wrote a thesis exploring what fans’ responses to Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024) can tell us about young people’s understanding of what makes a ‘monster’. Her work has been published in two notable academic journals, Transformative Works and Cultures and Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures, and she’s presented at five competitively referred conferences in the UK, U.S. and Canada in the last year or so.

Alongside her studies, Chloe has worked as a mentor on UBC URO’s Research Experience

Programme (REX), supervising a trio of students in developing their own research project on the sociocultural impact of YA paranormal romance novels like Twilight. Last summer, she was a committee member for the Beyond Borders: Trends in World Children’s Literature & Children’s Literature in Translation conference hosted by her graduate programme - which involved reaching out to 100+ universities and academic organisations to advertise the Call for Papers & organising peer reviewers for incoming submissions.

Chloe is currently working remotely as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for UBC, with plans to purse a PhD and become a university lecturer in the future. She’ll also be returning to Primet this summer to support current Year 11 who are taking their GCSEs as an exam invigilator!

Speaking about her time at Primet, Chloe said: “Being in a place that was so community-driven really showed me the value of getting stuck into things. From being part of school productions (which probably also tie as some of my most treasured memories of being at Primet!) to giving speeches as Head Girl to participating in outreach projects like Building Bridges - all of that prepared me for taking on leadership roles after leaving school.

“At college, I was both a Student Governor and Student Ambassador, and then alongside my university studies I led a team of sub-editors for Varsity (Cambridge's biggest student newspaper) and also served as a mentor/tutor for prospective applicants through programmes such as the CAMbassador scheme, Slipstream Education and Unibuddy - especially those who are the first in their family to go to university like me!

“Going back to the idea of stepping outside of my comfort zone, I've also taken classes and passed my CULP Level 1 award in British Sign Language over the last few years - something I don't think I would've done if it hadn't been for my positive experience learning a language (GCSE French) at Primet.

“In terms of academics, I also credit my Year 9 English classes with Mr Curtis for being the thing that sparked my love of research, essay writing and literary analysis. Getting the opportunity to dive into more challenging classics like To Kill a Mockingbird at such an early stage of my academic career really helped me pinpoint my ambitions to go on to study at a prestigious university - and gave me the skills to get there!

“If I was to give any advice to current students, it would be to take advantage of the wonderful community around you both in and outside of school. The friendships and connections you make will help massively boost your confidence and support you in finding what it is you want to do in the future - even if that path ends up being something completely unexpected.”