I decided teaching was for me when, as a second-year undergraduate, I walked into a Year 1 classroom to be greeted by a sea of eager faces waiting expectantly for an introduction. Within an hour, almost every child in the class had come over to tell me something about him or herself. And at the end of my 10-week student tutoring placement, I knew that no other job could ever give me the same fulfilment. Despite warnings of being undervalued and underpaid, I felt that the rewards of helping children achieve would far outweigh the disadvantages.

I’m halfway through my PGCE course, and disillusionment is already beginning to set in. The workload is a struggle - although eased by my flexible, modular course, which allows me to study from home. My local school lets me join classes as often as I can, and teach lessons when necessary. Support from the teachers has been invaluable and keeps me going when things get tough. I’m learning the importance of positive feedback to any student.

In a couple of weeks, I will start my first assessed teaching practice in inner London, and instead of worrying about lesson plans and teaching methods, I’m concerned about how I’m going to pay for the experience. Although the pound;6,000 training grant is welcome, it doesn’t offer as good a deal as it appears to. The initial grant is only pound;3,000, with the second pound;3,000 paid after the completion of one year’s teaching. I must live on this grant, supported by a student loan and earnings from waitressing, and from it must pay my household bills, for my computer, which I need to undertake the course, and for my accommodation while in London. So I have to do extra catering work, making it unlikely that I’ll complete the course in a year.

Still, I am starting to feel like a “proper” teacher - undervalued and underpaid, yet walking into school with a smile on my face, and leaving with an even bigger one.

Sarah Simnett is halfway through a modular distance learning PGCE at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne