The past 6 weeks have been the most incredible, humbling and educational weeks of my life. Throughout the 6 weeks of this placement I set out to complete my goals to the best of my ability. Here is what I think about how I have done;

I want to work with a different curriculum.

I have been really sucessful with this goal and can prove it with the many lessons I have taught. By teaching lessons, I have not only gained valuable teaching with the national curriculum but also have gained a great amount of experience as a student.

I want to learn about private boarding schools and government run schools and the difference between them (if there is one).

By being at Moulsford I have been lucky enough to have the full support from the school of going into a huge range of new expriences for like forest school and school trips (STOMP!, Harry Potter Studios and The Twelfth Night). Including this, I have also been lucky to have spent a huge amount of time with the boarding staff and children and written up about these experiences in my blog in section 2. I have really enjoyed it and as I have said already, this is an area I would like to work in, in the future. As for the private aspect, I think there are similarities but there are mainly differences, especially when it comes to sport, curriculum, working day and fees. A private school is able to give more opportunities to the boys thanks to the money the parents pay and also because of the length of the school day, the boys are able to learn more.

I want to learn about schools from all aspects from the kitchen to the classroom.

I have spoken to many different members of staff including teachers, heads of department, the matron, groundsmen and learning support. I can absoloutley say that this has been the part that has humbled me the most and also taught me to respect all areas of the school and respect the people that do these jobs, because they are difficult jjobs to do. Furthermore, I have spoken to the boys themsleves about being at a private school as a pupil and each time they expressed a lot of positivity. The boys enjoy being at Moulsford and I think this is down to the trust and respect everyone has for each other.

Before I arrived at Moulsford, although I was nervous, I was pretty confident in my teaching abilities and knew that I was a kind teacher who won’t take any messing. However, this placement has taught me that from a professional angle, in teaching you never stop learning. Additionally, Year 3 teachers have taught me that you can never be too organised and showed me many ways of organising my lessons in an easy quick way to save time in the future so that teaching doesn’t take over my life. They’ve also taught me that being crazy and fun in a lesson is ok! Additionally, Year 4 have taught me that sometimes the best thing that you can do for a child with additional support needs is to just sit with them, scribe and let their ideas flow. Children are so creative and just because they can’t write, doesn’t mean they can’t take part! The culture of Moulsford is incredible. The family feel is something I will never forget and constantly be searching for when I am in schools in the future. In regards to my professionalism, this has grown from strength to strength from talking to other members of staff to dressing appropriately.

Overall, for me personally the experience has been life-changing. It has made me consider where in education I would like to be and private education is absolutely the way forward from now. Furhtermore, this experience has taught me to be confident in my own teaching and that making friends in the staff room can make your job a whole lot easier! Moreover, I have gained once in a lifetime experiences, visiting Harry Potter Studios, meeting people I never in my life thought I would, going to the theatre and teaching in an outdoor classroom overlooking boys rowing on The River Thames. But most of all I will never forget the kindess of the staff (and pupils) in the school and the teaching teqniques they have taught me. I think one day I will definitely be back at Moulsford applying for a job… THANK YOU MOULSFORD!!

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