Val Richards is a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University. She is a member of the Education Studies department and currently leads and teaches modules on Health, Education & Behaviour, Adolescent Development, and Learning. Her main discipline is psychology, specialising in developmental psychology, adolescence, health psychology and teaching and learning. She has also taught Food and Nutrition and Childhood Studies at both Higher Education and secondary school level and was subject leader for Studies of Childhood at Bath Spa University. Her research has focused on gender-related behaviour and attitudes and, more recently, issues concerning transitions from primary to secondary school. She has recently co-edited a book on Bridging the Transition from Primary to Secondary School.