Ever since I started Primary School, I looked up to my teachers. I loved the way that they taught and how lovely they were to me. Ever since then it’s all I’ve worked towards during my time in school. I chose subjects which would help me get into uni to study education.

In my 3rd year at school I chose to go to a local Primary school for work experience. I was lucky enough to change classes every day to witness every year group. I loved watching children begin to understand what they were learning. After this week, I decided that my favorite year group was Primary 3, 4 and 5. I think this was down to the children in the class. I helped the children with their maths and story writing. I liked the level they were working at and found that what they were writing was so imaginative!

Following on from this, I volunteered at a local Primary school on Thursday afternoons while in Sixth year. This was the time of week I looked forward to the most. I helped around different classes, so I got an insight into different classes again. All the teaching staff were so helpful and gave me all the advice I’d ever need to becoming a teacher.

When doing my higher exams I worked hard to achieve what I needed to get into uni, but unfortunately didn’t achieve the grade I needed in English to get in. This meant I had to do a year at college to get in. Although this was not part of my plan, college was one of the best experiences. I think by going to college, it will help me at uni because I have a sound knowledge of working with children. During my placement at college, I learned more that I ever thought possible in a year. I learned so much about children and what goes on within a nursery. I was included in meetings about what was going on within the nursery. Before I started at placement, I had never heard of GIRFEC, but after being in the nursery, I knew all about it. The school I was placed in, was within a disadvantaged which had children with many issues within the home. I was included in meetings where these children were discussed and found out a lot about the steps taken when things go wrong at home or when a child discloses something to you. I feel this gave a huge insight into what to expect when I start in my own class.

This all helped to confirm my choice of doing Primary Education at university and I’m so excited to continue in my journey to achieving this.