Matt Cusack

Background

About Matt Cusack

I have always been extremely passionate about sport and grew up playing both cricket and football. Sport has shaped my drive and determination to succeed and achieve as highly as possible. I played junior cricket at county level for Devon and football at senior level for Cornwall as well as semi-professional football representing Torpoint Athletic, Millbrook, Liskeard, Falmouth Town, Plymouth Parkway and Saltash United. Since retiring from the game I have gone into football management and coaching at a senior level. I managed Saltash United's first team from 2015-2020, was Head Coach at Plymouth Parkway from 2020-2022, and since July 2022 I have been the Manager of Helston Athletic First Team. Education has always been important to me and I managed to balance educational and sporting commitments achieving 10 GCSE's, 3 A-levels, and a 2:1 classification degree. A module on pedagogy in practice during my university studies provided a burning ambition to go into Physical Education teaching In October 2023, I completed a Master's degree in High Performance Coaching. I achieved Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in 2005 and secured my first teaching post at Hele's School. In my earlier years, I taught Physical Education and Information Communication Technology (ICT). In 2009 I was promoted to Deputy Head of Physical Education and in 2014 I took on an additional responsibility as the Initial Teacher Training Coordinator for the school giving me whole school experience. In 2017 I was promoted to Head of PE a role that includes leading the core PE curriculum, academic PE curriculum, and extra-curricular activities. Part of my role in PE involves mentoring trainee teachers and this is something I have done for 13 years. In 2014, I achieved Plymouth Lead Educator status enabling me to work with other hub leaders and trainees following the Schools Direct Programme. In 2016, I gained Senior Lead Educator status and occupied the hub leader status for Physical Education within the Plymouth Schools Trust Alliance. I believe work-life balance is essential and I enjoy family time with my fiancee and children, managing my football team, and working on fitness in my spare time. I enjoy calisthenics training and became a Progressive Calisthenics Certified instructor in April 2016.