Teacher to climb Kilimanjaro on career break

A Hertfordshire woman is taking a short career break to climb Africa's tallest mountain on the kind of gap year adventure usually associated with students rather than teachers.

Joanna Laszczyk, 36, from Radlett, will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Radlett Lodge School, where she specialises in teaching young people with autism, the Watford Observer reports.

She told the newspaper that the "challenging" nature of her job makes it very rewarding. Money raised on her career break will hopefully provide new gym equipment and iPads for the school.

"Autistic children are very visual so interactive whiteboards and iPads are so important. The children understand much more when seeing pictures," Ms Laszczyk explained.

Planning a gap year or taking a career break to travel the world is a great opportunity for people who find themselves stressed out at work to relax by doing something different for a while.

A recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that work-related stress is now the leading cause of long-term sickness absence in Britain.

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