How do you feel the PGCE has helped you develop as a teacher?
It’s just been amazing really. Next week I am going to be reciting a poem in front of a room full of teachers and it doesn’t faze me at all. If you had said to me at the start of the course that I would be doing that, I wouldn’t have believed you. I think self-confidence and standing up in front of a class has empowered me.
Why did you choose Homerton College for your PGCE?
I attended a ‘train to teach’ course 8 years ago and so Homerton was always in the back of my mind. I was a teaching assistant for 8 years and watched the teachers doing CPD and I thought it was fascinating and wanted to be doing what they were doing. The school where I worked encouraged me to do the School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) and I had a place on that course, but students I spoke to who were coming out of the PGCE training urged me to consider the PGCE instead. I had a lot of support from the training department in the school. There was lots of positivity.
What, or who, inspired you to pursue a career in Education?
My biology A-level teacher was amazing, and my parents had met as teachers training college and my grandmother was a primary school teacher. For our last biology lesson before our exams, my A-level biology teacher told us to down pens and bring boots, and she took us out to a local nature reserve and said this is what biology is all about, just enjoy it never lose your focus on nature.
What is the one thing you think we should be talking about in Education now?
There is a lot of politics now, it will be a moral dilemma for me as to what the right thing to do will be regarding teaching conditions and pay. There is a general feeling of negativity about teaching in the press, and an unhelpful attitude towards teachers, but that is not really about teachers or the children. Covid has really affected children, current year 8 were very impacted and it seems to have affected their ability to interact with their peers, which is more about socialisation rather than learning, but it affects their learning.
Tell us about your favourite place at Homerton?
The grounds are gorgeous, and the gardeners are wonderful, and they clearly love their job. I like to occasionally talk to the gardeners and tell them how much I appreciate what they do. We had an online day and I had to come in because I just wanted to be on site; I sat upstairs and the Buttery and enjoyed the atmosphere.
