Prior to the learning from life placement I have had one professional practice placement. This took place in a Scottish primary school. I was in my first year of the MA (Hons) Education course and it was my first experience of teaching in a Scottish primary school. I had the best experience on my first professional placement. It was this that confirmed I was in the correct field and teaching was my passion.

Over the six weeks that I was in the primary school I became more confident in my teaching ability as well as in my organisation and behaviour management skills. I was at a challenging school in a deprived area ad I couldn’t believe how rewarding it was working with the children in primary 5/6. I taught various lessons in all subject areas during my time in school and worked up to having three full days of responsibility. This was a great achievement as it proved that I was capable of taking control of a classroom. I built great relationships with both my host teacher and the pupils and I believe that this was one of the reasons I had such a successful placement. In the class there were some children that had additional support needs as well as behaviour problems. This was something I had never experienced before, and I learned a lot about both autism and ADHD. I had to ensure that I researched these conditions and altered my teaching strategies to ensure that all of the children were learning in the way that was best for them.

I believe that since I had such a good experience during my first placement I will go into my placement in France both prepared and enthusiastic. I have had experience working with challenging children, pupils with additional support needs as well as a large classroom. I believe I can take this experience and progress further during the learning from life placement as I will still be in a school environment. I will be able to reflect upon the differences between the Scottish and French education system as well as the difference between the very different classrooms.