Karen Rhys Jones

Before joining Wrexham, Karen was a secondary school teacher and progress manager with pastoral responsibilities. This contributed to her recognising the importance of wellbeing in relation to learning and the multi-disciplinary nature of wellbeing.

At Wrexham, Karen is a principal lecturer and the Initial Teacher Education Lead; she leads the PGCE Primary Education Programme with QTS and is subject leader for physical education. Karen was instrumental in securing the franchised, outstanding Primary Education QTS programmes from St Mary’s, Twickenham and continues to enjoy working with cohorts of trainee teachers.

Karen has taught on many Education and Sport and Exercise Science modules, contributing to both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Karen is a Physical Literacy Consultant for Sport Wales and Public Health Wales contributing to projects around wellbeing and physical literacy which support teachers and practitioners (within education and beyond) to develop individuals’ motivation, confidence, skills and knowledge to value, enjoy and take responsibility for physical activity. She is currently the Education and Training lead for the International Physical Literacy Association.

Karen is currently studying for her Professional Doctorate. Her research allows her to keep abreast of contemporary and current issues, deepen her understanding of the concept of physical literacy and support teaching and student learning. Karen is an active member of Wrexham University's Research group working on a range of collaborative research projects and initiatives.

Karen lives locally with her husband, three children and three dogs. She enjoys being outside and has introduced walking workshops into department meetings and walking personal tutorials for students.