October 2021

I trained to teach as a History teacher at Harris Battersea on the Harris School Direct Programme. I loved the structure of the course and the opportunity to put Thursday training sessions into practice back in school on a Friday. I had a wonderful mentor and loved getting better at teaching every single lesson I taught. This year, I also teach Politics A-Level which wasn’t offered at Battersea before but is something I have a lot of knowledge of from my previous career.  

After my NQT year, I applied for an LPd role supporting the ITE trainee teachers. My main motivation for applying for this role was that I had been through the SD programme comparatively recently and understood the balance that needs to be struck between teaching and completing the training course. Last year was a very challenging year for us all so it was vital that the trainees were supported in both a personal and professional sense. This year I have taken the lead with the ITE trainees – supporting mentors in writing reports as well as trainees with evidence bundles and eventually their QTS presentations at the end of the year. I love being in lessons in subjects across the school and having more of an idea of the experience of students across their lessons.  

My favourite part of the role is running HABS ITE CPD once a week. We do a lot of role play CPD at Battersea and the trainees are enthusiastic in practicing routines and using those scripts in their lessons. Its hugely rewarding to see the strategies that I pass on being used when I observe trainee lessons to the benefit of the students they teach. However, my favourite CPD session is when we ‘undo’ all the work done on behaviour and introduce the idea that a well planned and pacey lesson actually comes first, meaning that students ‘forget’ to misbehave! My role ensures that I stay up to date with research surrounding pedagogy and I use this in my planning of the sessions – which in turn benefits my teaching too! 

I’m really looking forward to another successful year – our trainee cohort this year are fantastic and will go on to be wonderful teachers thanks to our brilliant mentor team.  

Teacher Tips:

1. Observe as much as you can! Go and watch someone else teach at least once a week – I guarantee you will gain something, even if you’re only there for 10 minutes.  

2. Find your teacher joy. In every CPD I run, I always try and point out a way to improve wellbeing – even if it’s just enjoying students all enthusiastically writing in silence something that you’ve taught them! Our job is amazing, and those moments of joy make any tough times so worth it.