As someone who has reaped the many rewards of effective, passionate and inspiring teachers; the challenge and nature of education made it an obvious career choice for me. My experience in working in a pupil referral unit meant that I was hyperaware of the tangible, everyday difference that a consistent and caring teacher can have in a young person’s life. Before I started my teacher training, I was the Sixth Form Learning Manager at St John Fisher School and I didn’t stay purely out of convenience! The nurturing environment, supportive staff and engaging students made my decision to stay an easy one.

I completed the School Direct Training Programme in April 2015 in English and psychology and am now in my NQT year. I have responsibility for mentoring a new trainee as well as continuing with my own professional development and have also facilitated training sessions to my peers. I see myself as progressing into a subject leader role for psychology in the very near future as this subject is my specialism. In the longer term, I see myself in a Senior Leadership role.

Since I started in January 2013, the school has trained me as a teacher which has obviously developed me professionally. However, within that year, I was able to attend external CPD sessions specifically geared towards my subject and proposed curriculum changes. In addition, the school provided an excellent in-house CPD programme for trainee teachers which focused on key aspects of pedagogy such as questioning, starters and differentiation. Moreover, the whole school CPD has provided insight into behaviour management, school policy and safeguarding. All of this, combined with the excellent mentoring process at St John Fisher School has left me feeling confident in my role, supported and most of all happy in my work.

My students love it when I take a topic that they are interested in and apply it to their learning. My year 8 English class have enjoyed writing informative newspaper articles about a dinosaur running for Prime Minister and my year 13s took great pride in creating a healthy eating plan aimed at my son (who is four!) when we were studying the psychology of eating behaviour. My students are engaged by anything that allows them to discuss, present and debate!

The students are by far the best part of teaching at St John Fisher School; they are insightful, enthusiastic and engaging. No two days are the same and that is why I love working at St John Fisher School, not only do I get to teach every day (which I love) but I get to learn something every day too.

I became a teacher because I wanted an exciting job that focussed on building relationships with people. Being a part of forming dynamic, intelligent, happy young people is a privilege. I wanted to teach at St John Fisher School as it is a school that works tirelessly for young people who come here.

I am currently in my second year of teaching, my NQT year. I am building on my training from last year and am focussing on becoming a well-skilled practitioner in the classroom. As I build my confidence of leading in the classroom I will look for leadership opportunities within education. I am particularly interested in the pastoral side of education as I believe building positive relationships with students is the most enjoyable and rewarding thing you can do.

St John Fisher places huge importance in mentoring of trainee teachers. Mentors themselves are well-trained to guide you through your training and work with you to set high targets to progress into an excellent teacher. There are whole-school continuing professional development sessions on Wednesdays which focuses on a particular area of teaching and learning; this is an opportunity to share knowledge and ideas. The school also runs training for teachers in their first and second years on Tuesday afternoons and this is designed to develop teachers new to the profession.

The best part about being a science teacher is guiding students to a discovery. I start by getting my students to question why things happen. We will then try to answers their questions through experiments or discussions. This discovery learning takes them on a journey and inspires them to ask more questions.

Once I had graduated university, I discovered the Teach First programme during a careers fair. Their vision, for no child to be limited by their socio-economic background, was one that resonated with me. Upon gaining a place on their Leadership Development Programme, I was placed in St. John Fisher to complete my PGCE and QTS qualifications.

I am currently completing my NQT year as a Mathematics teacher. My ambition is to become the Head of a Mathematics department, and potentially progress to an SLT role.

There is a rigorous ITT/NQT training programme that develops the key skills required to become an outstanding teacher. In addition to this, there are also whole school CPD sessions that focus on many important aspects of this profession.

Our students’ imaginations are captured by being enthusiastic and passionate. Linking learning to real-life situations is an essential life skill that our students need to carry them forward in to the community. The best thing about teaching in this school is observing students’ succeed despite many factors that may challenge this.

Resilience is key. Don’t be afraid to take risks and step outside of your comfort zone; the kids will love you for it!