Rachel's class teacher has described her as 'one of the best trainee teachers she has ever had in school' and feels she is 'completely ready to have her own class'. Rachel's level of organisation and professionalism has been exemplary throughout. She has built wonderful working relationships with the children in her class, and has a calm, approachable manner. Well done Rachel - a fantastic achievement.
Dr Anna Mariguddi (Link Tutor)
Placement One - Initial
Year 2 (28 pupils)
Irlam | Paired Placement
10 days completed | Feb 24th - March 6th
This was my first experience on a professional placement and I am really grateful for the experience. There was a range of learning needs within the class, including pupils with SEN and EAL. This opened my eyes to the amount of differentiation needed to support all children. I worked closely with children of all abilities and got to observe lots of Maths lessons as the children were due to sit their SAT exams early. I also got the opportunity to teach mental maths, which worked wonders for my self-confidence. Unfortunately, this placement ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I feel as though I learnt a lot throughout the short period of time I was at the school.
Placement Two - Developmental
Year 5 (29 pupils)
Bootle | Paired Placement
40 days completed | Apr 19th - June 25th
My second-year placement felt like my first real experience as a teacher in a primary setting as I completed the full eight-week block and worked my way up to teaching 50% of the timetable. I gained invaluable experience of teaching some of the core and foundation subjects, with a specific focus on English and History as these are my specialisms. There was a range of learning needs within the classroom, ranging from pupils with SEN, EAL, Looked After Children as well as a large proportion of children accessing Pupil Premium. It was necessary to take all of these factors into consideration when planning for and teaching lessons during my placement. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were evident within the school, meaning that new routines had been introduced to ensure that the staff and children were learning in a safe environment, unfortunately, this meant that some trips and activities could not go ahead due to social distancing rules.
Placement Three - Consolidation
Reception + Year 1 (24 pupils)
Ormskirk | Solo Placement
55 days completed | Nov 22nd - Feb 25th
My third and final experience on professional practice was by far the most challenging in terms of workload and pupil behaviour. It was my longest placement block (eleven weeks) and my first experience teaching a mixed year group/key stage class. This had lots of implications with regards to planning, as I had to use Early Years documentation and the National Curriculum for key stage one to meet the needs of every pupil in the class. I got the opportunity to support the teaching of subjects I hadn't experienced, such as D&T and Art and Design. I also taught all of the core subjects and foundation subjects (including RE and PSHE), with the exception of Modern Foreign Languages, as this wasn't taught below key stage two. There was a range of needs within the class, with two pupils with EAL, six pupils with unidentified SEN/D and ten pupils accessing PP. This, coupled with the mixed curriculums, meant that planning was required lots of detail in order to effectively support the pupils in the class. Some of my proudest achievements from the placement are taking over an after-school club, supporting the school's Nativity production and taking part in a virtual Parents' Evening. I spent the majority of the placement teaching Year 1, however the last week of the placement was spent working closely with the Reception children in order to strengthen my understanding and experience of the EYFS.