As I'm at the end of my time at university, I thought I'd reflect on the past three years of my life - the highs and lows of BA Primary Education. It's been a rollercoaster of a ride and I'm pretty sure I've felt every emotion that exists. For all the bad times, I have so many good memories that I will treasure forever.
Thank you to Lauren for the advice and the push to get this written.
High: Independence
As someone who is very close to her family, I didn't want to go to a university that was too far from home as I knew I wanted to move out. I managed to find a university that was the perfect balance of family time and independence. My mam always says I was an annoyingly independent child and university gave me the chance to live on my own (kinda). I was able to decide what to have for tea, what films to watch on a night and how I decorated my living space. Though living alone does come with a lot of responsibilities (and washing up), it has been such a good experience and has definitely done me a world of good.
I had some difficulties living in student halls - it's hard living with a group of strangers while juggling university and placement. But I am so happy with my living situation this year and I am glad that I moved out. I'm glad I got to experience what living alone was like. It has made me appreciate my family so much more and become much closer to them. I am so excited every time I go home and spend time with them.
Tip: Try and keep your living space as clean as possible - it's hard but worth it.
Low: Loneliness
Even though I am glad I moved out, no one prepares you for how lonely university can really be. All of the adverts show the fun side of independence - the partying, living with friend and no parents telling you no. But that is not always the case. It wasn't the case for me. All of the friends I made on my course lived at home while I lived in student halls. All of my friends from sixth form went to different universities across the country and moved away from home. It was lonely living in a flat with strangers. I felt alone in a big city.
I know now that I was not alone. I simply had to reach out. My friends would come visit if I needed them. My family would come if I needed them. I was never alone. But I felt it.
Tip: Reach out to your loved ones. I promise you are not annoying them.
High: Friends
Starting at a university with none of my friends from home was terrifying. If anyone knows me, they know that it takes me a while to open up and make friends. However, something was different at university. I made friends for life on the first day. As my time at university continued, I made more and more. Friends who are teachers, friends who are volunteers, friends who are students.
It's so important that the people you surround yourself with are supportive, kind and generous people. I am so lucky to have my group of friends - they're my support network in a career that is constantly being observed and judged. I honestly don't know how I'd have made it through three years of university without them.
Tip: Join societies, talk to people and expand your horizons!
Low: The Deep End
My second year placement was probably the hardest of all three years. I went from supporting the class teacher and running small group interventions to teaching 50% of the class' timetable. This jump into the deep end was terrifying and I stressed almost every day. I thought I couldn't do it. I thought I didn't know how to plan. I thought the class would run wild. I thought the children wouldn't learn anything. But I was wrong.
Even though I was thrown into the deep end, I made it through. I made it to third year and now I've graduated. I learned in the moment and, while it was scary, I hope it made me a better teacher. I got to see what worked and what didn't. I got to see myself as a 'proper' teacher. I got to see that I can do this.
Tip: Try and get as much experience as you can in your non-assessed placements - team teach an activity to begin with!
High: Laughs
I often joke to my friends that we have the weirdest course at university. My timetable over the past three years has been full of lectures and workshops covering everything you need to know about primary education. We often have to pretend to be the children when participating in workshops and this has resulted in some of my favourite memories.
A list of my favourite (and weirdest) university lectures and workshops:
Dramatic re-enactment of Jonah living inside the whale (from Jonah and the Whale)
Creating a mud pie dinner based around toad in the hole
Blindfolded Domes and Dishes
Pretending to read 'as a child' and purposefully making errors
Pond dipping
Blindfolded senses scavenger hunt
Creating a car powered by a balloon
Dropping an egg from the fire escape in a parachute I created
Finding out my fingerprints as a detective
Making my own lava lamp
Tip: Take as many photos as you can. Not only is it a great way to look back on your time at university, it might count towards your QTS standards.
Low: Deadlines
Deadlines. Need I explain more? As a procrastinator, nothing motivated me more than a deadline. There was also nothing I hated more than a deadline. Deadlines, assignments and exams are a compulsory part of university that we can't ignore. However, we can make them a little bit easier.
Create a timeline of what you want to have completed and by when. I found this the easiest way to prioritise my deadlines, especially when I had multiples ones due.
Leave time between finishing an assignment and proof-reading it. Your brain will not pick up on any errors you made if you read it as soon as you finish writing it.
Write your references as you go. This saves time at the end and you don't have to worry about missing a reference.
Read a range of text types. Try to include books and TED Talks in your assignments as well as journal articles.
Don't be too strict with yourself. Achieved your daily goal? Reward yourself! Got a good grade? Reward yourself!
Tip: Don't use a thesaurus for every word or your argument will lose its strength.
High: Proud Moments
I am so proud of myself for completing my degree. Becoming a teacher is something that I have wanted since I was in Reception myself. Now, I am one step closer to that dream becoming a reality. But I'm not just proud of myself - I am proud of every single person on my course for overcoming the barriers and graduating. This has been the most stressful years of my life but we did it.
As a student teacher, I have experienced amazingly proud moments in school too! Every single day a child will surprise me in ways that make me glad to be a teacher. This really is such a rewarding profession. Every day I come home happy that I have made a difference in at least one child's life. Even when the work is stressful, the children in my class make everything worth it.
Tip: Keep a happiness journal and write down all the positive things about the day - it is so easy to just forget the positives and focus on the negatives.
Low: Observations
Nobody likes to be observed and judged. However, it is a key part of being a teacher. We are constantly being observed. By other staff. By the Senior Management Team. By Ofsted. It's a horrible but unavoidable part of the job. My mentor in my final placement was so supportive every time she observed me. There would be a good balance of positives and targets. I never felt judged. But they still caused me so much stress every time I knew one was on the horizon, looming.
Observations are just a reflection of one lesson - they are not a reflection of you as a person.
Don't be so hard on yourself. Teaching is a learning process even after graduation. You do not need to know how to be a perfect teacher.
Create SMART targets that you can work on between observations. Be proud of your achievements, even the small steps make a difference.
Take on the constructive criticism and use it to improve your teaching.
Try to be observed by as many different people as possible to gain a wide range of support. On placement, I was observed by the head teacher and it was helpful to hear his insight.
Tip: Have an open mind and try different approaches. If it doesn't work for your class, that's fine - at least you tried it.
High: Placement
Of course placement had to make it's way on to the list! Placement was my favourite part of university and one of the reasons I chose Northumbria specifically, as it provided more opportunities to be on placement or work with schools than other universities I looked at. I have had such amazing, positive placement experiences and each one has been so different from the last. I am so fortunate to have these experiences and hopefully they support me in getting a job for my NQT year.
School experiences:
Private nursery for children aged 0-5
Inner-city primary school who are THRIVE recognised
Inner-city primary school where I delivered Boosting Reading at Primary interventions
Rural Catholic forest primary school
Private primary school
Tip: Involve yourself fully in the school ethos and participate!
Low: Leaving Placement
Leaving placement was never easy for me. Over my time in school, I had grown familiar with the routine and developed a relationship with the children and staff. I have a folder of leaving cards, drawings and stories from the children I have taught that I regularly look through - it's called my 'Positivity Folder' and I saw the idea on Instagram.
I don't think this will ever get easier, to be honest, and I think I'm okay with that. Even now, I think back to my own primary school teachers and the impact they had on me - if I make a difference with even one child I teach, I will be happy. Still miss my placement classes, though.
Tip: If you're getting leaving presents for your classes and mentors, don't forget the teaching assistants who support you too!