My placement at Glencairn Primary School was such a memorable experience for me.  I was very nervous at first as I knew how important first impressions were but once I met a few members of staff my nerves settled and I was able to just enjoy it.

On the Monday morning the deputy head informed me that I would be assisting the teacher in Primary 2y and then took my partner and I on a tour of the school.  The school, in my opinion, was quite modern and I really liked how organised and easy to get around it was.  Also, all the staff were so welcoming and had no problem answering any questions I asked them.  They were all great role-models to me.

I mostly worked my way around the class helping the pupils with any work that they had as well as taking out small groups of children in different levels to help them with their reading or maths.  Although it was nice to see children understanding their work and being successful all the time, I think I enjoyed teaching the less able groups the most as I was actually able to teach them something they didn’t quite understand and I loved seeing them progress with their work and getting just a few more questions right each week.

A strength that I have realised I have is my communication skills and professionalism.  I was able to speak to groups of children in a professional and respectful way, explaining tasks and speaking to them generally around the school.  I was also able to speak to other members of staff in the staffroom and in front of the pupils.

The most important thing that I have learned is that, fro some children, their teacher is the most approachable and caring role-model that they have and some become very attached to them, I realised this first hand on my last day, and so it is important to show every child a considerable amount of respect each day and help them to enjoy their time at school.