Subject Upper primary PGCE

Came to teaching from?

Working in publishing. I got sick of sitting in an office all day, running from the photocopier to the coffee machine just to get away from my desk.

It wasn’t me, I felt stifled and needed a more active job with room for creativity.

What made you want to teach?

It’s something I’ve thought about, but when I graduated I felt too young to stand in front of a class of children. I’ve become more comfortable with myself as I’ve got older.

Best lecture so far?

History - every lecture I attend seems to inspire me.

Been a waste of time?

A video on sex education. I just thought - honestly, I’m 34! I can see the point of having sex education in schools but the video wasn’t really appropriate. It was a bit in-depth and I feel that it’s often just better to talk about things generally. It was a long, tiring day and we got a bit giggly and silly towards the end of it.

Inspired by?

My old teacher Mr Calvert, now a headteacher.

Most absurd piece of educational jargon heard so far?

Zones of Proximal Development. Something to do with psychology. I’m hoping once I’m actually a teacher to be able to leave some of the duller theory like this behind!

Can’t wait to..?

Instil fun into my own classroom. I think development of humour is important and not just talking at your pupils. I was taught in a traditional way, lots of monotonous copying down from the board. I want a more open environment in my own classroom.

What have you done about job hunting?

I’ve looked through ‘The TES’ and the ‘Guardian’ jobs pages as well as on the Secturi website but unfortunately there seem to be few opportunities at the moment.