The First Week on my ITT Course

Chris SimpsonI came to teaching after twenty-four years in the Police Service and nine years in the Army, prior to that.  I remember when leaving the Army, I thought that I’d seen and done most things, equally that I’d experienced a good cross section of society and the types of people that make it up. My entry into the Police Service quickly changed that perspective, when I realised that there were huge swathes of society i.e. the criminal fraternity, about which I didn’t know a great deal.

Needless to say the learning curve was steep and is some cases eye opening, in others quite shocking. However, I completed my time and, on the whole, I enjoyed my service.  During these two careers I had been to numerous countries and even spent three years living in Islamabad, Pakistan. I decided to enter teaching as I’d always enjoyed maths and I felt that, historically, maybe I hadn’t been true to myself from an academic perspective.

So, I decided to apply for an ITT place and subsequently for an Maths Scholarship. I am very pleased to say that I was successful on both fronts and I completed my first week as a trainee teacher last week.  After a couple of days of theory, it was into the lion’s den, a day observing maths classes and then two days of shadowing a year 11 and a year 8 pupil respectively. This was an absolute marvellous insight into the school, how different teachers operated and indeed the impact of COVID 19. My week was as big a change as that from the Army to the Police Service, and I really enjoyed it! I met some great kids and some truly dedicated, inspirational teachers. I will never be short of a role model or ten! I look forward to carrying on my training over the coming months. It really is very special to be part of a great new career, and the teaching family.

By Chris Simpson