Whilst studying in Hull for my undergraduate degree in Spanish with Business, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in teaching Spanish. Having completed a four-year language degree, the Wigan and West Lancashire Catholic School Direct appealed to me as I was keen to get hands on experience of life in multiple schools. As an ex-pupil of one of the partnership schools I always knew that I wanted to return to the catholic education system for my teacher training and the CCRS modules added value to the course and the experience.
At my home placement I was immediately made to feel like a member of the team and a member of staff at the school. I received guidance from my mentor and head of Department and quickly became comfortable with school life having arrived with little previous professional school experience. The support and culture within the team helped me to quickly grow in confidence and after some weeks of observation I began teaching my own classes with support and feedback from all members of the MFL team helping me to improve my teaching and subject knowledge.
During my training year I applied for a position at St Mary’s to teach Spanish and was appointed as teacher of Spanish and business studies. Without doubt the amount of time spent in schools during my training year put me in a fantastic position for my NQT year. I felt like I had hit the ground running and was able to continue to develop myself and make progress from early on.
By the end of my first year, I was appointed Head of House with responsibilities to work with disadvantaged pupils and engage in active mentoring with these pupils. This role also helped me to develop my leadership skills with whole responsibility.
After spending some time as lead teacher and Head of Department in different MFL departments the opportunity arose at St Mary’s to apply for an Acting Assistant Headteacher role responsible for Teaching and learning for two terms. Despite it being relatively early on in my career I felt that I was prepared to use my experience and work ethic to be successful in the role.
During my time as Acting Assistant Headteacher I interviewed and was appointed Acting Senior Assistant Headteacher for a further year, taking responsibility for whole school Teaching and learning, as part of this role I have been fortunate enough to take on the role of professional mentor within the WWLCSD programme giving me the pleasure of working with the trainees from the current cohort and ensuring that they thrive during their time with us.
From the very start the WWLCSD programme prepared me for the reality of the teaching profession and put me in the best possible position to continuously develop myself as a teacher and as a leader. Without doubt teaching is the best profession in the world. I often personally recommend the WWLCSD programme as a rigorous, supportive and effective training programme for aspiring teachers.
