Audit of Skills, Knowledge and Personal Attributes

1. I can communicate and report effectively, both orally and in writing
2. I am systematic, well-prepared, and capable of planning ahead.
3. I can develop and manage effective relationships with others in the school community.\
4. I demonstrate the capacity to work with and manage change by thinking on my feet.

Reflection on Experiences to Date

April/May 2017   Teaching Placement at St. Andrews RC Primary, Dundee

Over the course of 6 weeks I had varying amounts of responsibility for a calss of primary 5 pupils. During this I had to plan lessons and implement these to the class. I had to use various sanctions and behaviour management strategies in order to keep the class in order and to the standards of the school and class teacher. This was often difficult, and it took me a few weeks to ensure that the pupils respected me in a way that meant they would follow my instructions. I built a good relationship with my class and this meant that behaviour management became easier and lessons became very enjoyable to teach. I taught subjects across the Scottish curriculum, and found that I was most comfortable teaching English, Maths, P.E. and social subjects. I found that art and drama were my weaker teaching areas as I found it harder to control the class when using a more lenient teaching style. In order to better this, I made sure I was involved in the whole school show where I guided the children through making props and costumes and encouraged them to perform well and enjoy themselves whilst doing so. Doing this helped me to build a positive teacher to pupil relationship with my class and I felt the overall experience of my first-year placement was positive.

November 2015   Teaching Placement (work experience) at Corstorphine Primary School, Edinburgh

During my 6^th year at high school, I volunteered at my local primary school twice a week for around six months. I was placed into a primary 2 class, and I would usually help the teacher with art and writing classes. During this I was able to observe a range of different teaching strategies and learn how to plan and deliver lessons to suit early years pupils. I did not get much experience of controlling the class by myself or using behaviour management strategies, as this was the class teacher’s responsibility. Due to this, I felt that the children often saw me as a friend rather than another teacher in the school. I also felt that this could have been because I only went to the school twice a week. I was well integrated into the school over the 6 months and I worked well as part of the teaching team.

September 2014 – September 2017 as a Kids Coach at David Lloyd leisure, Edinburgh

Over my 3 years working at David Lloyd I learned what it meant to work effectively within a team. I became confident in leading activities classes to large groups of primary school aged children, and this definitely allowed me to have confidence when I entered the classroom. During my time at David Lloyd, I had to communicate a lot with parents and guardians and attend to any queries they may have had. Again, I felt this prepared me for school placements well. I found this part of the job relatively easy however there were often times that I had to deal with difficult situations and complaints. I also organised and delivered many birthday parties and holiday camps for members and non-members of the club, which I really enjoyed doing and again, felt that this enhanced my leadership skills.