Seraphina Simmons-Bah

Seraphina Simmons-Bah BA, MA, QTS, RPA, SFHEA

Senior Teaching Fellow in Primary Education

Seraphina Simmons-Bah is a Senior Teaching Fellow in Primary Education. She is currently the Faculty Lead and Rep for EDI (FEHHS) and the Co-Chair of the Faculty BAME Awarding Gap (FEHHS) and School of Education EDI & Wellbeing Sub-Groups. Previously, she has been the programme leader for the BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS and the Co-Chair of the School of Education EDI Steering Group. Seraphina teaches across the Primary Education with QTS, Primary Education Studies, and Primary PGCE programmes.

After working as a teaching assistant in the Early Years, Seraphina completed a BA in Primary Education with QTS at the University of Greenwich. She then worked as a class teacher, gaining experience of teaching across the primary phase, from Nursery to Year 6. Within this time, she held the responsibility of School Mental Health Lead.

Whilst working as a teacher, Seraphina completed the MA Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. Seraphina is currently studying for a PhD with Goldsmiths and her research focus is ‘How can teachers use literature-based research to develop a critical understanding of racialised issues in the primary classroom?

Posts held previously

Bertrum House School, September 2012-April 2013
  • Gap Year Assistant: Pre-Reception
Brindishe Green Primary School, September 2013-August 2014
  • Teaching Assistant: Reception
Faith Montessori Nursery, August 2012-August 2016
  • Classroom Assistant: 0-4 Years
  • Volunteer: 0-4 Years
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, August 2015-September 2017
St. George’s CE Primary School, April 2017-August 2018
  • Class Teacher: Reception, Year 5
Kelvin Grove Primary School, September 2018-August 2020
  • Class Teacher: Year 5, Year 6
Co-Lead for Mental Health & Wellbeing
George Tomlinson Primary School via Philosophy Education, September 2020-July 2021
  • Teacher: Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2

Teacher training

Responsibilities within the university
  • Faculty EDI Lead and Representative (FEHHS), January 2026-present
  • Co-Chair of the School of Education EDI & Wellbeing Subgroup, January 2026-present
  • Co-Chair of the Faculty BAME Awarding Gap/Difference Subgroup, June 2025-present

Awards
  • Outstanding Part-Time Officer (for service as elected Avery Hill Campus Officer), Students’ Union University of Greenwich (SUUG), May 2016
  • Outstanding Personal Tutor Award (Faculty of Education, Health and Human Sciences), Greenwich Students’ Union (GSU), May 2022
  • Recognised Practitioner in Advising (RPA), UKAT, June 2024
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), AdvanceHE via GOLD (University of Greenwich), October 2025

Recognition

Anglia Ruskin University, September 2025-Present

  • External Examiner: BEd Primary Education with QTS

Meridian Primary School and Robert Owen Nursery School, September 2025-Present

  • Governor, Co-opted Board of Governors

Research / Scholarly interests

English and children’s literary criticism are her subject specialisms, with children’s literature and diversity, equity, and representation being her main areas of interest. Her research and knowledge exchange activity focuses on developing equitable approaches to policy, curriculum, and teaching and learning in educational settings across Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Further Education, and Special provision.

Key funded projects

Departmental Bursary from the Department of Educational Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London

Media activity

Seraphina Simmons-Bah, National Association for Primary Education, Exploring the limits of representative literature in the primary classroom – NAPE 062 [podcast], National Association for Primary Education, Hubhopper - Robust and Easy to Create and Distribute Podcasts, Date accessed: 17th February 2026

Recent publications

Simmons-Bah, S. (2025), ‘Using Critical Race Theory to Explore the Potential of Children’s Texts as Counternarratives’ in Corbett, E., Lindahl-Wise, M., Macleroy, V., and Oulton, H. (Eds.), Inside the Gingerbread House: Reading Children’s Fairytales, Abingdon: Routledge

Simmons-Bah, S. (2020), ‘Exploring the limits of representative literature in the primary classroom’, Primary First, Issue 29, pp. 24-27.

Presentations

Seraphina Simmons-Bah & Roger McDonald, ‘Implementing Change for Race Equity in Partnership: Co-creating a Culture of Inquiry between Initial Teacher Educators and Early Years Educators’, November 2025, UCET National Conference 2025

Seraphina Simmons-Bah, Iain Kitchener & Samina Qureshi, ‘‘The Power of Lived Experience’: The Development of an EDI Steering Group through Active Engagement with the Experiences of Women from Racially Marginalised Groups’, April 2025, Advance HE EDI Conference 2025

Seraphina Simmons-Bah, ‘Exploring Race In and Through Children’s Literature’, March 2024, University of Greenwich and SEGI Colleges Malaysia: Joint Online Event 3rd Annual Research Discussion Panel

Seraphina Simmons-Bah, ‘The Potential in Children’s Literature as a Tool for Subversion’, March 2023, NAPE Primary Education Summit: Visions for the Future