Having completed my first school placement experience, I feel I can now reflect on my time in school.
Although I have previously volunteered within a primary school, I feel I have gained far more insight into the daily routine of school life being there on a formal capacity.
I thoroughly enjoyed my whole time on placement and loved working with and interacting with the pupils. I had the opportunity to support pupils with literacy, numeracy, PE and outdoor learning. I had the chance to experience a learning support lesson which is something I have a great interest in and felt I benefited from seeing this different style of support. Outdoor learning is probably an area I haven’t given much thought to before but after just one session I can see the many benefits. Many lessons can be given, drawing on the different experiences of the session. For example we went on a woodland walk. Pupils walked for approx 40 minutes in each direction incorporating health and wellbeing, we were identifying leaves found in the area which could then be returned to class to incorporate data analysis, an art class can also be based on the outdoor learning. I also found that when the barriers of a classroom environment are taken away you have the opportunity to learn so much from the children.
The school I visited uses the “Big Maths” teaching programme. This style of teaching maths brings an element of fun and variety into lessons. There can be 3 stations set up all relating to the task but each covering it in a different aspect. An example of this could be learning through play, the children are free to play with toys in the class but are being asked questions relating back to the lesson. This also shows how maths can be used in context eg placing a toy to the left of another for directional language.
I welcomed the fact that I was not alone on placement and had the support of a fellow student, especially in those first few days. This also meant is was relatively simple for us to carry out our peer evaluation tasks and support each other for our 8 observation tasks.
All members of staff on placement made me feel welcome and gave great advice and help for my future learning and career. They were willing to share resources and answer any questions that I had. I felt the staff room was a welcoming environment for students and visitors and all staff included me in their conversations.
Although I didn’t feel particularly anxious about starting placement I think my body language was maybe saying something else in the first few days! This is an area I will work on and be mindful of for future placements. I felt my confidence grew immensely over the 2 weeks I spent on placement and was sad when it was time to say goodbye.
