My first experience teaching in a school

Amy Russell is a first-year student teacher studying our Primary Education (5–11 years) BA(Hons) with QTS degree. As part of the course, and in the first semester, all student teachers will attend a two-week placement in a school setting of their choice.

We caught up with Amy recently, to hear more about how the course is going so far, and her first experience of being in a classroom.

“I have found the first semester to be extremely informative and hands-on, all our seminar leaders are more than willing to provide help and point us in the right direction. The PowerPoints and roadmaps are always available which is a huge help in clarifying our key knowledge and pedagogy.  We have consistently engaged with practical experiences that we will be encountering in the classroom, always having portions of seminars to use a form of a practical object helps to clarify understanding of how to both use and teach using the materials available.

“We had multiple sessions and PowerPoints to complete and observe before our two-week immersion. These helped to showcase the key elements we would be observing when in school. Looking at the National Curriculum in seminars allowed us to prepare our knowledge of what was expected within our year groups.

“Our lecturers are always ready to answer our questions and emails to help with clarity of learning. If students are ever struggling with an aspect, our seminar leaders are always finding different ways to help them understand. During our two-week immersion, our mentors answered our questions during our weekly mentor meetings, and our class teachers were more than happy to share experiences and advice.

“For my two-week immersion, I was in a year three class, with a high amount of SEND children. Within two weeks I took the register, acted as a TA and was placed on a specific table to aid a child who struggled to focus and stay on task consistently. I also helped to teach a music lesson with my other student teacher.

“We took an hour a day to complete our reflective notebook, which allowed for reflection of our days while having a focus on the Core Content Framework.

 “I gained a lot more confidence during my two-week immersion, being paired up helped considerably. Understanding the key principles of teaching became clearer, and different teaching approaches became explicit. Strategies for adaptation within the classroom when disruption occurs were showcased, and having the opportunity to reflect on these every day helped me to thoroughly dissect the reasoning behind these strategies, deciding what works well and what doesn’t.”

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