Life Before ITT - By Katie Buckingham

This week I have been asked to share my experience of working in schools and/or with young people before starting my initial teacher training. Initially I thought of sharing my time working in a high school in various job roles which I will get to later. However my passion for working with young people and engaging them in activities began when I worked overseas for a UK holiday company.  

I spent the entirety of my 20's travelling and working in a variety of holiday destinations running activities for families and performing each day. It was as an entertainer that my love for working with young people really began, cheering them on in sporting activities or teaching them routines to hosting and performing on stage. I found a passion in encouraging the development of young people. Though most of these encounters lasted between 7 and 14 days, the transferable knowledge of sharing skills, being a 'teacher' and being an inspiration to the young people stuck with me as I left the overseas bubble and returned to the UK in 2019. I would recommend working overseas to anybody, and to fully immerse yourself into another culture. 

This brings me to my experience of working in a high school for 5 years. Dec 2019 I began working as a level 1 teaching assistant within the SEN department. My first role was to support learners with additional needs. During this time I really became apart of the schools community, involving myself in extra curricular activities. Running a dance club and vocal group. Getting to know the learners and their way of working, sharing this with class teachers. Supporting these learners I got a real taste of life inside a classroom and began to build up supporting tools to enable all learners to access the curriculum.  Observing the different ways faculties taught their subjects, learning quickly when to scaffold learning and provide support to the learners, and when to take a back seat and allow them to thrive within education. March 2020 and the little experience I had changed dramatically as we went into a national lockdown. My fear of the learners I had supported being unable to access the online learning really worried me. I feel it was during lockdown that I knew that I wanted to continue a career in education.  

Fast forward to January 2022, after starting an online degree in the previous September, I began working as a numeracy tutor. Holding 1:1 and small group session to improve the basic numeracy skills of KS3 learners. Sourcing my own resources and putting together lesson plans, recording data gave me a small insight into life of a teacher, It was evident to see the impact the national lockdowns had on the education of vulnerable learners. Being able to play a small part in supporting them to make progress in their attainment fills me with pride, that I was able to make a difference.

February 2023 and my job role changed once more as I moved to join the pastoral team, becoming an assistant head of family. Within this role I got to see the school community outside of the classroom, supporting learners and families with pastoral needs. Being non teaching allowed me to be flexible with my time and be a key person for the more vulnerable learners. As a pastoral lead I also got to be apart of whole school celebrations such as attendance matters weeks, and achievement celebrations. Though this role could be difficult and heartbreaking through disclosures made by learners or knowing their backgrounds, it gave me more of a reason to want to help and support children and young people. Working with outside agencies, to provide the best we can for the most vulnerable learners. 

My last 6 months at the school I was fortunate enough to be teaching mathematics as an unqualified teacher, due to staff shortages. I would say all my previous job roles really helped with the classroom teaching, as I could apply the skills learnt, such as adaptive teaching for those with additional needs, behaviour management techniques when faced with challenges. The support and guidance of colleagues propelled me into knowing I made the right choice in pursuing a career in maths teaching.

Though across the 5 years  of working in a high school I gained a lot of experience for someone who had never worked within education before, this showed me one way of doing things. I have absorbed a lot of skills, techniques and teaching methods that I will take forward in my teaching career and I am excited to continue to learn and grow.

However you decided to get into teaching, from my experience it can be the most rewarding profession and a passion for supporting children and young people in developing their knowledge and skills is what drives me as a teacher. 

By Katie Buckingham 

You can follow Katie on Instagram here.

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