How do you envisage the Maths Scholarship supporting you through your initial teacher training?
I started my journey back in December when I was looking on the government's Get into Teaching website, to see what opportunities were out there for trainee teachers. I was initially attracted to becoming a Scholar due to the extra resources that are accessible for free to scholars, alongside the extra funding and CPD opportunities.
After speaking to friends who have completed ITT courses and are now teachers, they had said that the majority of their time had been spent planning lessons and activities for the pupils to complete and so I felt that having access to the teaching resources would reduce my workload and make planning easier. I have already been able to use some of the resources and information provided to help me look at lesson ideas, such as the information provided in the webinar about NRICH and have been coming up with ideas as to how to use these in lessons.
I will be able to use the further maths resources, such as Integral, to improve my own knowledge as a teacher and, as a result, this will help me to meet the teachers’ standards for subject knowledge and make me a better teacher. I am sure that the free memberships to the professional bodies and organisations will be invaluable when researching and writing my assignments. I am also completing an SKE and so the resources should be able to help me with this.
Before applying I had read some of the blogs from previous year scholars and the trip to Bletchley Park sounds extremely interesting and I am really hoping we are able to do that again this year. These events were also talked about in my interview where I was made to feel warm and welcome, this really convinced me that the scholarship program was a community that I wanted to be a part of.
Since becoming a Scholar, I have also found that my confidence has increased, I was unsure that I would qualify for the scholarship after reading the requirements and doing my interview and so was pleasantly surprised when I was accepted. It has made me feel a part of another community and knowing that there is extra support available to me is of great comfort. I know that when this year is over, I will have an advantage in job applications by being able to say I was a Maths Scholar, and hopefully this will help make me stand out from other applicants. I therefore feel really honoured to have this opportunity and look forward to sharing my training year with all the other Scholars.
By Rachael Shepherd