Coming to the end of teacher training, graduating and supply teaching

Hello lovely people, welcome back to The Blushing Giraffe. I almost cannot believe I'm finally writing this post, as it is one that has been in the works for a while, but also a topic I (sometimes) felt just wouldn't arrive - teacher training is finally over! And I don't want to say that in an ungrateful way in the slightest, because it has been an amazing journey. However, when they say it is tough - they are not kidding.

Teacher training has been the most gruelling year of my life and I felt just as proud graduating as a qualified teacher, as a I did last year when I actually donned the cap and gown and walked across a stage for my Psychology degree. In many ways I have grown this year, mentally I feel like I am so much more capable of taking on challenges, emotionally I am able to deal with my stress and high pressure environments 20X better than I could at the start of September and lets be really honest - I've grown outwards too. I have definitely put on a couple of KG and I'm struggling with how to even feel about it, perhaps thats for another blog post though.

I kind of covered this in my last update post, so in order to make this a little more useful, I wanted to give you 3 tips if you're coming to the end of your course too. Who knows, reading this now before you start the course could help, but this is more of a post to come back to in around 9 months,  so perhaps book mark it ;D

3 tips for the end of teacher training

1. Don't stress the small stuff
At this point in your training, you will be teaching around the equivalent of an NQT and although it will have been built up it is still a shock to the system. You will be on the go from the start of the day, till that sigh of relief when the last child has met their parent and left the building! But don't let this fool you, because then you have to mark the work from today (sometimes 4 or 5 lessons worthy woopy!), check over plans for the rest of the week and plan resources, tidy up the classroom before the cleaner comes around and do other general paperwork. So YES. There is a lot to do and the days feel very long, especially when it is so hot in the classroom and the kids are getting irritable too! Point being, don't stress the small things, don't worry about the bits that won't matter if you look at the bigger picture. By this point you have to remember that you will have proven a LOT of what you have needed to do to your mentor and in official observations, you just have to keep up the highest standard that you can - without worrying about those tiny niggly things that (don't actually matter too much).

2. Behaviour in the classroom will dip and this is okay
I remember something that was really disheartening for me in the final few weeks, was the behaviour of the children in the class I had worked in for most of the year, really flipped around. Children who were on their best behaviour on the whole, started being silly and making the wrong choices and as for the characters in the class, my goodness it was tough lesson by lesson on some days. Part of this point is the fact that I was training in Year 6 and they get endoftermitus real quick, feeling super excited for Year 7 and just a little bit too big for their boots! However this is a common theme across the school, children are tired and irritable and actually routines completely change because it is all about assemblies, performances and winding down. So despite you working hard on getting the behaviour techniques down and building bonds with the children they will misbehave and it will be frustrating, disappointing and quite overwhelming. It is normal and its the same for all teacher, those who have 1 year of experience and those who have 40+. Whilst getting routines down is excellent, at the end of the day they are children and therefore they sometimes make more mistakes than the average adult! Stay calm, but remain resilient with the way you handle behaviour, sometimes upping it a notch if need be. For example I would start my 'time wasting minutes timer' as soon as they didn't respond to the shaker to stop, therefore they would end up missing part of their break even with a couple of weeks till the end of term.

3. Spend the weekends doing Quam paperwork as often as possible
They may not always be called QUAM, but whatever your teacher training course calls it, that final assessment of you where they see lots of evidence towards the teacher standards, is the most important and it's similar to the dissertation of your degree. It is partly your chance to show off your fantastic achievements throughout the year, but also the time when you have to prove that you are able to meet the standards to a good degree. I think the trickiest part about it is only wanting to show the best of the best, which in some cases hasn't even happened yet, so knowing when to gather the evidence is crucial. I recommend you get a notebook and list out every single teacher standard with the substandards and then leave a box next to it for 'obtained' another space to write what the evidence is and also a box for 'complete'. This is something I wish I had done a lot earlier on, for previous QUAMs because it helped me to be a lot more organised and calm! I hope the quick snapshot below makes things clearer as to what I mean ^_^ Once you've done this, or devised your own similar system, dedicate a good 3-4 hours per weekend going over this because trust me, snapping a photo of some marking you've responded to, or screenshotting your assessment records is the easy bit. Your next job is to explain what the evidence is, how it has impacted the children and how it will impact your future practice. This needs to be done for every single sub-standard at least once, preferably more - don't under-estimate how long it actually takes!


Graduation
We had a small graduation ceremony to mark becoming qualified teachers and it was such a lovely evening, because our mentors and families were all present. Unfortunately by this point I had started supply teaching, so I almost forgot about the ceremony that evening, got ready in a rush and forgot my lipstick D: Which wasn't a great look - ohhhh first world problems, I know! But I'm sure my makeup lovers can relate haha. Aside from being lipstick-less though, it was lovely to finally be able to say 'I'm officially a qualified teacher and all that hard work has paid off!'. It was also so nice seeing the rest of the cohort walk the stage too, especially some of the really sweet ladies who were like our course mums and sisters, always there was an extra sheet and a hug when you felt like it was all getting too much!


Supply Teaching
I made the decision to apply for supply teaching in the May half term, because a teacher who was also working in Year 6 recommended it. As we qualified three weeks before the end of term, it made sense to then start working a little before the summer - both for the experience and for the money! I wasn't sure what it would be like, but phoning the company and setting up a meeting was easy. They asked me to send over a C.V, so I pretty much googled teaching C.V and wrote one up using the application form for my new school to help me. Although getting all the paperwork sorted whilst preparing for QUAM was a bit of a struggle, I'm so glad I did it, because once I was on the system I was sorted for post-grad. Literally the week before I graduated I was offered a school for the whole 3 weeks, which at first wasn't what I was hoping for as I did want to experience different schools and year groups. However my time in Year 2 at this school was so lovely and I have to say it was a big relief to be able to do that because I became familiar with the school within 3 days and got to know the kids pretty well! It was a really interesting experience being in KS1, since I've spent the majority of the year in Year 6 and although there wasn't a LOT of proper learning going on, it still tested my knowledge of phonics as I was doing that daily for two weeks. It was so heartwarmingly adorable to see how quickly 7-year-olds get attached to teachers, despite only being there for 3 weeks, on the last day I got four gifts and numerous cards - including one which said 'I'll kip you in my hart foreva even thoh I'm moving on to big skool' 😭 SOOOO CUTE!

I loved getting paid again after a looooong time and I mostly loved experiencing a different school, key stage and class - seriously I recommend supply teaching to all of you teacher to be, in the final few weeks. An excellent experience for more ways than one. Also I didn't think I would enjoy supplying so much - it's definitely a possible career move for my future now ^_^

By the way, if you ARE about to start your training this September, check out this post here which has three tips for beginners!

I hope you enjoyed this post and mostly found it helpful!

link for lashes here

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Coming to the end of teacher training, graduating and supply teaching

Hello lovely people, welcome back to The Blushing Giraffe. I almost cannot believe I'm finally writing this post, as it is one that has been in the works for a while, but also a topic I (sometimes) felt just wouldn't arrive - teacher training is finally over! And I don't want to say that in an ungrateful way in the slightest, because it has been an amazing journey. However, when they say it is tough - they are not kidding.

Back from my blogging hiatus & a heart to heart

Well hello hello, it has been a VERY long time since I have sat down to properly blog and my what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks it has been! It has almost been over 2 months, which is the longest time I have ever not blogged. And its about time I changed that.

The end of teacher training + supply work

So yes, regular readers of my blog will know that I have come to the end of my course and that is mainly what my time has ben consumed with for the last few weeks. The children in my class had their SATs which is as stressful a time for the staff involved, as it is for the pupils themselves and completely exhausting. Our school then began a surge of big writing and that was tough, especially as my ‘teaching practice’ increased a lot from post Easter. I am planning on doing a whole detailed post to complete my teacher training series with a Q&A section too, but essentially my career and everything that comes with it is why I HAD to take a blogging hiatus. I did once or twice try to blog, but found myself too tired and overwhelmed to produce any quality content and that just stressed me out even more. So yes, the person typing this right now is officially a qualified teacher (or NQT to be precise!) and also a PGCE holder, Alhamdulillah! This means I can God willing teach abroad in the future, which has honestly been a dream of mine for years. It also means that I am currently about to earn some decent mullah as a supply teacher!! Which is awesome. I mean my student job, which was 48-64 hours a month earned me slightly less than 3 days of supply work (equivalent to 22.5 hours). I KNOW. I AM IN SHOCK TOO. Haha. Not to say that being a tutor didn't have its benefits, but to finally be qualified and earning a decent wage from it....well it feels flipping fantastic!


The plan from now and heart to heart
I have to be really honest and say that I am finding it soooo difficult to blog, and for once it's not because I don't have the time. I think partly its cause I am so out of habit, but also I find the blogging world difficult to get back into because the quality of everyone's content it just unattainable! Or at least it feels that way. I kinda feel a bit like a youtuber when i say, I miss the good old days where I could write from the soul and not have to put too much time and effort into the photography for my work to get a decent amount of readers. Again, the blogosphere has become hugely over saturated and perhaps it is only pressure I am putting on myself, but I really hate it. And to be honest, a part of me feels like I've gone through enough pressure and ish with my course and this blog is meant to be my hobby for goodness sakes! So do I need to be adding extra strain onto my plate? No, no I really don't.

I also think, being completely honest, I always used to feel like my content wasn't quite good enough and thats part of being a very imperfect perfectionist! I am going to try my best to just post as and when I can and not worry too much about the aesthetics, with the hope that my loyal readers will continue to support my work. I literally make about £10-£20 from my blog a month, so for me its not ever been about the money LOOL. Ultimately right now I am living my dream life career wise, or at least I'm a couple of weeks away from it and of course my career will always come first cause it means a lot to me. However, I don't for a second underestimate the powerful impact running the blushing giraffe has had for me and the beautiful people I've been able to 'meet', who have made my life better in so many ways. That's the main reason why I still want to keep this minuscule corner of the net alive, I'm not doing it for the numbers, fame and certainly not the money - I just love beauty and I love connecting with genuine and like-minded people. 💖

Now over to YOU, how have you been doing lately?  

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Back from my blogging hiatus & a heart to heart

Well hello hello, it has been a VERY long time since I have sat down to properly blog and my what a whirlwind of a couple of weeks it has been! It has almost been over 2 months, which is the longest time I have ever not blogged. And its about time I changed that.

Teacher Training | 6 Months In!

Hello hello, I hope you're all doing well. Since it's been a whole 6 months since I began my teacher training journey, I thought it was appropriate to write a little update post for you all. Although I rarely get comments under these posts, the amount of feedback I get from you guys on social media makes me so happy! I'm glad these can be helpful in someway, especially if you are considering teacher training yourself. I have now also added a link in my sidebar, which has all my TT related posts if you're curious. OH! And, some exciting news, I am going to be featured on the UCAS teacher training blog!! It's safe to say I'm just a LIL bit chuffed about this 😝.

Anyway, I cannot believe that I am just short four months away from obtaining my PGCE. In some ways this course has been a bit of a blur, but the hard work that has been required has pushed me beyond belief.

Three things I've found challenging...

1. The lack of sleep
You never appreciate the amount of sleep and flexible hours you get whilst being a Uni student, until you become a trainee teacher. Or enlist on any kind of route which involves working a full time job AND studying too. So many times I've had to get by on 3-5 hours of sleep and it is absolutely exhausting! Somehow though the time spent teaching kinda makes up for it, and although I have mini break downs every 3 weeks or so, I'm still going haha. I think eventually I will get the balance right, and I'll figure out how to get 7 hours of sleep on a regular basis, but till then I'll be snacking and sipping caffeine every few hours!

2. The endless to-do list
I will NEVER truly be done with my to-do list. If there isn't lesson planning/evaluations to be working on, then theres marking to catch up on, there are also resources to prepare and pupil progress to look over, OH and lets not forget all the objectives set by the teacher training school to meet on time. Plus since it is a PGCE year, there are also two heavy assignments (although admittedly these are quite a minor part of the course in the grand scheme of things). I'm also attempting to maintain my friendships lol, as well as my blog. You do have to accept that this will be the case, perhaps for the whole career (this remains to be seen obviously!) but at least for the TT and NQT year.

3. Behaviour management
Working with children always requires a good balance of caring, humour, patience and fairness. However the behaviour management side of things is tough, especially when you're a trainee in year 6! It has been a steep learning curve thats for sure, but since completing my cross phase in year 1 I have approached it differently now. There is definitely a fine line between being too soft and being overly strict and I am still trying to find that balance.




                         Three things I've learnt...


1. What YOU think teachers do, only scratches the surface!
After working in two different schools, in two different key stages and in two totally opposite year groups (I went from year 6 to year 1!), I have experienced a lot in a pretty short space of time. The main thing I continue to be shocked by, is just how much hard work teachers put into the job. It really irks me when I hear 'oh but teachers, they get sooooooo many holidays! Can't be that hard really!' and I challenge anyone with this attitude to spend one week in a school, because they will soon be changing their tune! Despite being in education pretty much my whole life, I still had no idea about the extent of hard work teachers put in, the amount of extra hours and often a large proportion of their weekends too. The assessment and data handling is a whole new ball game, which I don't know too much about right now, but it's mind blowing how many hours have to be spent looking at levels for each child, working out X,Y and Z, submitting this and attending that. I feel like the role of one teacher, really contains the workload of about three average human beings and IT IS REAL TOUGH. Whilst working a regular 9-5 might be challenging, try an 8-6/7, with work to do at home too - now that is really hard.


2. It is also the most rewarding job in the world, despite the lack of pay:hard work
It's a cheesy thing to say, but I can't lie teaching really is such a rewarding job. Working with children and seeing them develop and go from strength to strength, teaching them how to write direct speech and seeing them remember the steps properly in their assessment, encouraging them to have a go and seeing the pride on their faces when they do well. It's all just a really great feeling and to be frank, this is the MAIN reason why most teachers stay in a job that is hugely underpaid for the amount of hours and hard work that goes into it. Building bonds and being a big part of a whole class of children's lives is what makes us get out of bed in the morning and face a long and exhausting day. I have met some incredible teachers and teaching assistants in my short 6 months and I am so inspired by them all. Their enthusiasm, knowledge, drive, determination and supportive natures really play a big part in wanting to continue too. Having a team of truly respectful caring people around helps more than I can express, it really does. After working in this environment, I am going to be very picky when it comes to finding a job, because I know that without that the job would be a whole lot harder.


3. That I am capable of more than I give myself credit for
Probably the most important one of the lot, is that I have really seen how much I am capable of and I'm so proud of myself. Allow me a moment to blow my own trumpet here, it doesn't happen too often! But in the last 6 months I have gone from being a slightly unsure, meek, hopeful young adult, to becoming a woman who knows she can do well and more importantly knows she WILL do well. The feedback from mentors has been amazing and although the course is gruelling, with lots of observations on a regular basis, its a fantastic way of reflecting on strengths and weaknesses and continuously working at them. I think that is why I have done relatively well when it comes to meeting the teacher standards, because I have been given constructive criticism on a weekly basis and I've made changes which have had results. Don't get me wrong, I am far from perfect, but for a trainee teacher - I can't say I'm doing too badly, despite said breakdowns every now and again! One of the most heartwarming experiences for me, was having a parent come into the classroom on my last day of year one and thankme for all the hard work I had done there. She said her son was much too shy to say it himself, but he would talk about me a lot at home and how kind and lovely I was and that he would miss me when I left. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little bit emotional there! Seeing that I have and am making a real difference in the classroom is the most fulfilling thing and I can finally at this point say, that a large part of that is due to my hard work! Cos I have NEVER worked this hard in my whole life haha.




                      Three tips for trainee teachers to be...


1. Become as organised as you possibly can
If you don't have a diary, GET one!Life moves as fast as a flash when you're a trainee and if you don't keep track of your time and the dates it is very easy to get left behind. I have an academic diary which is separate to my journal and I use it every single day! If you didn't start organising before, you're going to have to now. I'm still working on it to be fair and I should definitely be more productive at the weekends, but I know that if I still had the amount of organisation I did in second year, I'd have quit by now.


2. Prepare the highs and the lows
And boy oh boy are there lows to match the highs! Whilst so much of this year has been about self-development and reaching goals, a lot of it has also been filled with tears, stress, sleepless nights. I have never been so exhausted and stressed out, to the point where my skin is reacting really badly to it. My arms and legs have these horrible dry skin bumps and my scalp is the worst its ever been. As much as I try to make time for myself, its very very hard too unless it is a half term. There are never enough hours in the day and on top of the physical signs of stress, it can take a real tole on my emotional and mental wellbeing too. Some things that really really help me are praying and going back to that peaceful spiritual place, removing myself from it all for a few minutes at least. Also I've not been regular by any means, but when I have made the time to go to the gym (again mainly in the half term!), I have really appreciated the after effects. Maintaining my water intake and upping my fruits and 'good food', to sort of balance the amount of junk food I get through helps and of course taking time out to catch up with family and friends is really key. Even if they aren't going through what you are, its so nice to be able to put those to-do lists and deadlines to the side for a few hours and just spend quality time with those you love. I think a vital part of succeeding in the course, is accepting that the work life balance WILL be off for the foreseeable future. Of course focusing on the positives and the long term goals always help and to be honest, time flies by. I still remember the first day I walked into the classroom I teach in, yet now I know the kids like the back of my hand all within 6 months. It is both exicitng and scary!


3. Set up a teaching journal
and fill it with the things you learn, that you really want to carry forward in your own classroom one day! Some of mine is based simply on observations of different classrooms, but most of it has tips and little tricks teachers have shared with me, or things I have read about along the way. At the moment its in a scruffy old book, filled with my messy handwriting but I'm hoping that at some point this summer I'll be copying it out into a new book haha.

I hope you enjoyed reading this slightly TOO honest post today 😅

Sidenote for the SC fam, these are the lashes I posted yesterday! They have a slightly thicker band and are a little heavy, because I'm still getting used to wearing lashes full stop haha. But they're stunning, I wasn't too happy when they arrived, cause they looked super spiky. But when I actually put them on they looked beautiful and SOOO much more expensive than the 56p price tag! (YES YOU GET THREE PAIRS!).

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Teacher Training | 6 Months In!

Hello hello, I hope you're all doing well. Since it's been a whole 6 months since I began my teacher training journey, I thought it was appropriate to write a little update post for you all. Although I rarely get comments under these posts, the amount of feedback I get from you guys on social media makes me so happy! I'm glad these can be helpful in someway, especially if you are considering teacher training yourself. I have now also added a link in my sidebar, which has all my TT related posts if you're curious. OH! And, some exciting news, I am going to be featured on the UCAS teacher training blog!! It's safe to say I'm just a LIL bit chuffed about this 😝.

January 2017 Catchup | Cross-phase

Hello hello everyone, how are you all doing? I can't believe it's already the 4th of February and I'm only just now getting around to typing up this post (but I'll probably edit the date back in a few days and it'll go under the January section of this year anyway haha).

Teacher training update

Oh my goodness, January has been a TOTAL whirlwind! I started off the year at my new school for cross-phase and I went from teaching in year six (10-11 year olds), to teaching year 1 (5-6 year olds). Such a huge constrast and I was super nervous about it because they are just a lot younger, SMALLER and they obviously learn differently. I also had to learn all about phonics and then all about HOW to actually teach it, which was a challenge. However to my absolute surprise, I could not have enjoyed the cross-phase experience more. I have had so much fun teaching younger children and it's actually taught me to not be so apprehensive about new challenges. Their enthusiasm for learning, their laughter when you should them Geraldine the giraffe (a great phonics resource btw! 😝) and their sweet curiosity about everything. It has been an amazing experience, I have just one week left and whilst I doubt I'll be doing my NQT year in year 1, I know I'm not adverse to it completely.

What I have found really tough though, is the amount of time spent on creating resources, and the fact that a one hour lesson plan has taken me 4-5 hours to complete, which is not my cup of tea at all. It has taken over my whole life honestly, I am in school till around 6:30-8pm every night and I am beyond exhausted. Thats another reason why I have really been slacking with my blog, not because I have no content to post or because I don't want to, but because I really just do not get the time.

Lets just say, half term will be a very welcome break haha.

I.G live

Lately I've really enjoyed connecting with my readers through the new I.G live feature. Its essentially a live stream, which at first I was a bit nervous about, but now the more I go on the easier it becomes. I've also really enjoyed doing a GRWM here and there because I don't make youtube videos and really have no plans of starting, but it is I feel a lot more helpful to people who want to know about makeup to be able to see it done on video. SC is a good tool which I used to use a lot, but you can't go in as much detail when you only have a 10 second time slot haha. So yeah I.G live is what I've been using in those spare moments that I DO have any time!

Skin Issues

Can I even say I've been surprised that my skin has been pretty bad lately? No. Of course not. I've been really quite stressed, surviving on 3-4 hours of sleep a day and not having time to really look after myself. I do understand that teacher training year IS intense, but 👆🏽 right here is the reason why I've chosen the photo for this post to be 'you can't pour from an empty cup'. And I really cannot agree more. You can't be the best version of yourself if you're not taking time out for YOU. The amount of times I have fallen asleep half sitting up, with makeup still on my face is ridiculous this month and I am going to ensure that February will be different. Even if that means coming home and going through my skincare routine right away, then so be it. We just have to take care of ourselves ladies and we have to realise that its not being selfish in the slightest. I'm gonna make time for a relaxing bath this month at least twice and also turn off my phone and laptop and just relax PROPERLY. Cause I deserve it, and so do all you busy ladies too😅.

I had my first proper break out this month, which was hard to deal with. VERY first world, I'm aware, but when you've had pretty great skin your whole life its hard to even know what to do. Right now I'm dealing with skin thats healing and I have the new problem of multiple scars - usually I just have the odd one here or there. So I've actually invested in some new skincare, not that my old stuff wasn't working but I want to introduce some steps into my routine which I didn't previous have. The first being fading of scars and the second being anti-ageing, cause in four months I'm turning 22 and prevention is better than cure right? I am totally going to embrace ageing when the time comes and if my skin and genes are anything like my beautiful grandmothers', I think I'll be okay anyways ;D but still. So expect another haul coming your way, talking about a couple of new bits and bobs.

And thats about it for January 2017! It has flown by quicker than I even want to begin to think about, and I have a very tiring but exciting couple of months ahead in'sha'Allah (God Willing!). I have a colourpop trio, top 3, January faves and haul coming up for you and I promise I am going as fast as I possibly can. Thankyou for sticking around and still having a read, its so heart warming to see my daily views haven't completely dropped 😅.

How was your January?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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January 2017 Catchup | Cross-phase

Hello hello everyone, how are you all doing? I can't believe it's already the 4th of February and I'm only just now getting around to typing up this post (but I'll probably edit the date back in a few days and it'll go under the January section of this year anyway haha).

TEACHER TRAINING JOURNEY PART 2 | Interview process

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've been able to type up a part 2 of my teacher training post, for which I apologise!  This is for my readers who are also interested in teaching and todays post will specifically focus on the interview process of the school direct route. Please do read through my part 1, which also covers the skills test which is application, skills test and personal statement - I got a couple of questions on these but Ive already covered them, so have a read ^_^.


So bare in mind that my interview process will be a little different from any other, unless you are applying for the exact same school - but I highly doubt that! Teacher training schools are going to run things differently, however they will be 'testing' and 'asking' similar things, so I'll be going through the way my day went, but just take it with a pinch of salt.

The basic outline of the day was emailed to me about a month before the interview date and below I will be describing each activity and also giving you my top tips for them. We had times when the below activities were slotted into our own schedules, otherwise we would be spending the day with the same class of children and observing.

I was told that I would need to organise a 'learning opportunity' for a group of 12 children in year 5 and they would be giving me lego bricks to use. I was quite nervous about this because I would be observed for 15 minutes and the words learning opportunity, are kinda vague! That could be anything, maths, history, P.E anything at all really. I have my little sister to thank for the idea of doing a quiz, with different questions from across the subjects. I ended up splitting them into three teams of 4 children each and they worked together to answer the questions. Then after about 10 minutes, they added up the number of points and got 5 bricks per point. The team that build the most creative bridge would receive a prize (a 'smelly' sticker!). It went really well actually and although for the first couple of seconds my voice wobbled, once I got into the activity I felt myself relaxing a little, smiling, walking around and feeling like I was in my element. Of course it was a little nerve-wracking to have the headteacher and deputy observing, but I just blocked them out and it worked like a charm - their job is to observe my rapport with children, how I interact, if I am actually listening to them and ensuring they understand or not and so on.

Biggest tip for this part - don't over plan because time goes faster than you might imagine. Speak slowly and clearly - I have the tendency to kinda mumble or speak too fast when I'm feeling apprehensive, so make sure you are reminding yourself to slow down. Also SMILE. Children aswell as adults tend to respond well to smiles, plus the more you smile the more you trick your brain into feeling relaxed - top psychologist tip from yours truly 😋.

Group talking exercise 
So on my interview there were around seven other candidates and part of the day involved a group discussion, which I was very apprehensive about. The way they did it was in the meeting room, around a large table the deputy head gave us a set of scenario cards and we had to read them aloud and discuss them. It wasn't just our answers being judged at this point, but also our ability to discuss or debate, to chime in AND to listen to others' and their opinions. There were definitely a few moments where I felt like I was being over shadowed by the three loudest and most confident individuals in the room, however I must have done alright since I got through haha.

Biggest tip - it sounds so obvious but try to think fast in this situation! If you're spending too much time thinking of an articulate way to put your answer, they'll have moved onto the next scenario. So don't overthink, chime in when you can and ensure you're making eye contact with others when listening. 

Reading to the class
We were also told to bring in an appropriate book for the year group we had been given and we would have to read for around 5-10 minutes. I picked a Michael Morpurgo book, which I was told was a good one for their age. Again like with the group task, for the first couple of seconds my voice was wobbling, but I did okay. From all of the activities on the day, if I had to redo any of them I would have picked a bit more of a fun book. The story I choose was very serious and in hindsight - HARRY POTTER ALL THE WAY.

Biggest tip - If you've been given a younger year group, choose a book where you can show off your excellent accents! Have fun with it, children from ages 4-11 LOVE to be read to, so the more comfortable you are with the story the better it will go.

Presentation in front of the group
We were given a title and told to prepare a short presentation, which we would be giving to the rest of the applicants and to the head teacher and other staff involved on the day. The title was something along the lines of 'what are your expectations of the training year'. I was one of the last to do mine and my palms were drenched, I was sooo nervous. To be really honest I'm pretty terrible at presenting infront of adults, talking to a whole class of kids if not so scary, but adults - my heart starts pumping at 1000 miles an hour and I really do worry! I ended up writing brief bullet points on small note cards, but tried my hardest to make brief eye contact with people around the room, whilst I was talking about my expectations.

Biggest tip - write down your key points in note form and ensure that you've actually answered the question haha! Also rehearse as much as you can, the more confident you become with WHAT you're saying, the easier it'll flow when you present for real.

The actual interview!

And finally, the interview itself with the headteacher of the school you're in and the head of the teaching school organisation. This lasts for about 15-20 minutes and you will definitely need to prepare. I recommend having a read of this site here, for some sample questions. Jot down some answers and again rehearse saying them out loud. There are only realistically so many topics they'll cover and want to know, so the more time you spend preparing and reading up on this the better. Some of the answers will come to you naturally, like 'why do you want to teach?' - although its well worth having a long think about his before hand mind you! A key question they'll probably ask is can you tell me about a current issue in education? One you'll definitely have to do some reading up on. The main thing with the interview is to accept that you will feel nervous, but essentially they want to find out if you really want to teach, your passion for education and for working with children, as well as if you have a good idea of what the year will take.

Biggest tip - read read read, practice with a friend or family member and when you're actually in the interview sit up straight, smile but not too much and speak slower - don't let your words run away with you. Give yourself a moment to think about the question and most of all answer honestly.

General tips:

• Dress smartly, you're being judged from the moment you walk into the school and your appearance counts. Trousers, a plain shirt or non-figure hugging top and a smart cardigan will work really well. Sensible and comfortable shoes are a must too, you don't know how much of the day will involve being on your feet
• Arrive early and mingle with other candidates, it'll calm your nerves and also remind you that you're not the only one going through this day.
• If you're asked to bring in any documents or photocopies, make sure they're organised so this process is quick and simple.
• pack a big lunch because you'll be surprised how hungry you may get throughout the day
• when you're in class, try to interact with the children rather than taking a back seat, even if the class teacher doesn't specifically give you a place to be - s/he has a lot to think about, but they will be observing you from a distance and feeding back to the headteacher, so just relax, be yourself and talk to the children!

Answering your questions

1. How much experience did you do?

- You're supposed to have at least 2 weeks of experience in a school, within the past two years. However I've been working with kids for the past 5 years, spending my whole 4 years of student life as a tutor so I was able to get away with using that. However I did spent my entire year of (year 12) volunteering an afternoon a week at a school. I would strongly recommend you begin volunteering at a local school, it'll give you a great idea of what the classroom is like and yes although we have all been in classrooms, it's been over a decade at least since you were in your primary school...and believe it or not things have changed. Definitely start voluntary work asap, obviously right now it's the xmas holidays - HORRAAAAAY! But get on your emails and start emailing around. Most schools are happy to have a volunteer. 

2. What were you most nervous about?

A hard one! Probably the presentation though, because like I said I'm just not great at it. However it went okay, it's a hurdle I had to jump through and it didn't last too long either. You might not enjoy every aspect of it, but theres a good reason for each part, so just try and go with the flow.

3. When did you know the results?

We were told at the start of the day that we would be told the very next day if we had been successful or not. However the headteacher actually came up to me at the end of the day and asked me which year group I had mentioned I would want to work in, which made me so incredibly happy! Obviously this wasn't exact confirmation but it did make me feel like the day had gone well.

4. What types of questions did they ask you?

I feel like I've kind of covered this above, but they will ask you questions like, 'why do you want to teach?', 'when did you realise you want to be a teacher?', 'when was the last time you felt like you had failed and how did you recover from this?'. So you can tell that they're really trying to get to know you from all angles and also trying to suss out how you handle difficult situations too. Preparation is key again here, just prepare and try to think logically.

Final words for you all is that, as scary as the day will feel, make sure you take it as an opportunity to show your passion for teaching and for working with children. There was one lady who went through the same day and at the end she turned to me and said, 'I've blown it, I have completely failed to show my personality because I was so nervous.' And I really really felt for her because she then wasn't accepted onto the course - which just reiterated my point that you just gotta be yourself and realise that this is your chance to shine ^_^

I hope I've answered your questions everyone, please let me know if theres anything else I've missed out!

Thank-you for reading ♥

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TEACHER TRAINING JOURNEY PART 2 | Interview process

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've been able to type up a part 2 of my teacher training post, for which I apologise!  This is for my readers who are also interested in teaching and todays post will specifically focus on the interview process of the school direct route. Please do read through my part 1, which also covers the skills test which is application, skills test and personal statement - I got a couple of questions on these but Ive already covered them, so have a read ^_^.

September Update | A month into teacher training

Hello everyone! Happy October to you all 🤗 I do try to put my favourites up on this day, most months, however I've currently lost my camera charger and so photos are on hold. I was a bit behind with my blog anyway and thought I may as-well type up a chatty type of post because I know some of you really enjoy reading these ^_^


So September has been a whirlwind of newness for me. For the first time in 5 years I have had to regularly wake up at 6:30 am Monday-Friday which really was a massive shock to the system. University really kills routine, unless you're on a intense placement heavy course OR you're very disciplined with your time management (which is tough!). I've been at my school for a month now and I've taught four lessons in total with one being observed. The experience has been really exciting, although a little nerve-wracking of course! When you first start working in a school as a trainee you do spend a lot of time observing. I was nervous about my first lesson, but very lucky too because it was on the Quran (an R.E lesson), so I didn't have to do a lot of prep as that's a subject I'm quite familiar with. It actually turned into a bit of a Q&A which I loved, because the children felt comfortable to ask me questions they may have had on their mind but have felt a little unsure about asking before. Especially questions on my hijab haha!

The number of lessons and observations will slowly increase, which is fine with me and I actually find being observed really helpful. I am by hardest critic and once a lesson is over I'm quick to pick up on my mistakes straight away which really isn't the best thing to do. We've been told to note down the positives first and then what we could do better after which is a challenge for me, but it does help. The chat after an observation is great and I know it'll really help me to develop my teaching as the weeks go on.

At this point, aside from the really early starts and long long days, the most challenging part of doing this teacher training is remembering ALL the things that have to be done. Of course we have school responsibilities like lesson planning, being on break duty, taking the children to and from assembly and taking the register. Then we have a lot of objectives to be working towards and for each objective we must obtain evidence and explain how each piece of evidence will impact our training and teaching career. There are also assignments, small from training and one really big one which is towards the PGCE element. So there is a LOT to take in and we have had two training sessions just on time management and how to deal with stress effectively!

The training days - Thursday and Friday I really look forwards too, we have been lucky enough to have some brilliant external trainers, as well as a great base team too. This week we learnt about our personality types and how to steer away from being aggressive/passive/passive aggressive and instead be assertive when need be. I found it really interesting, perhaps because of my psychology background, but I hope I am able to use a lot of what we have been taught in my professional life as well as my personal life too. Two weeks ago we had a brilliant trainer in, who's topic I really wasn't sure about  (phonics, because I didn't think working in KS2 would really involve needing a vast knowledge of the subject!). However she made us all realise that its VERY important, not just whilst the kids are at school, but for the rest of their life. It wasn't just that message, but her vibrant passion for education and her heartwarming personal story, of how a few teachers in her life got her to where she was today - a very successful business woman. It made quite a few of us emotional when she actually thanked us for choosing this path, because teachers don't get thanked enough for dedicating a HUGE amount of their life to the children in their class and wider school.

The rest of September consisted of Eid - which was strange for me because I didn't have a day off for the first time in my life. I definitely could have asked for a day off, but as it was the first day of my second week I didn't want to miss anything. We ended up going out for dinner to a restaurant, which was a whole different experience in itself, but anyway it was nice to spend some time with the family and of course to get dressed up a little. I have really been enjoying playing around with the certifeye glitters, keep a look out for my next favourites as I'll be sharing more there, and I'm getting more confident with applying false lashes too. Teacher training has given me a new found love of the weekends too as I can stay at home all day and just catch up on lack of sleep and my never-ending to-do list - bliss! I also was lucky enough to end a fabulous Lush event, where they shares the halloween and chirstmas collection. I'll have a dedicated post, including a little haul and I'm rather excited to share this with you because I've discovered an easy way to make little Gifs, so expect many hehe.

Have you had a great September? What was your highlight? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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September Update | A month into teacher training

Hello everyone! Happy October to you all 🤗 I do try to put my favourites up on this day, most months, however I've currently lost my camera charger and so photos are on hold. I was a bit behind with my blog anyway and thought I may as-well type up a chatty type of post because I know some of you really enjoy reading these ^_^

Teacher Training Journey Part 1 | Why, Which Route and Application

Hello everyone, another requested post from me today so I hope my regular reader don’t mind. This post is my first on my teacher training journey and as I began thinking about it roughly around this time last year, I thought it would be beneficial to write up a post now for those of you about to begin your final year at University. This is going to be very text heavy and I will be going into as much detail as I can, so I recommend you get yourself a cuppa before you begin.

Why choose teaching?

Before I start talking about the route I have picked and why, I want to talk about WHY you may want to go into teacher training. I have just completed my second week of training and I can honestly say I have never been so exhausted in my life!  The journey to becoming a teacher is very tiring and I think its important to know that to go into teaching, you are not doing it for the money, or for the security of the job. You are doing it because you love children, because you enjoy learning as-well as teaching and because you yourself want to play a part in shaping the next generation’s future. These things are crucial and if at this point you are unsure about either of these things, then it is worth rethinking your decision. A teacher’s day is not 8am-4pm, although of course it varies but I have already, in my first week of training, been in my school at 7:45am and come home at 6:30pm. As a teacher you spend a LOT of your time working and that is a reality which is vital to keep in mind. In many ways it is much more than a 9-5 job, and I think its valuable knowledge to go into the process with this in mind. You really have to want to teach for the sake of teaching, intrinsic motivation is key!

The different routes

Moving on to the routes into teaching, there are a few and it is worth having a look on the UCAS teaching website as there’s a lot of information on there, with videos too explaining the key points of each route. If you haven’t got a degree yet and definitely know you want to go into teaching, you can do a 4 year degree, which will be entirely focused on education and should provide you with a PGCE qualification too. You do not need a PGCE to teach in the UK, however this qualification means you are qualified to teach worldwide. It was vital for me to pick a route which allowed me to work towards this qualification as I plan to move abroad in the future and experience life outside of the U.K. You do need to get Qualified Teaching Status to work as a teacher in the U.K and this is available to complete through almost every university, as well as many collages. There are also some schools which offer teacher training with PGCE, but you will not have to go to University yourself, it is all done through the school. 

A lot of people choose to do a degree in their area of interest and then go into teacher training, which is the path I personally took. Although I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to teacher in first year, I didn’t necessarily want to spend a whole 3 or 4 years studying to be a teacher and decided to do a degree in developmental and educational psychology instead. I LOVED the course, aside from the statistics element I really enjoyed what I was studying and that made a big difference to my university experience. The two main routes are University based ITET training and School-led ITET training, with the latter being government preferred. I don’t know much about the University route, however from what I have read and been told, this type of training is done in blocks. So you will spend a few weeks in University lectures , earning the theory of teaching in the traditional university way which we have all experienced. Then you will spend a few weeks in a school and so on. This route is great for people who prefer the university based style of learning. 

The School-led route AKA School direct is what I have chosen because it made the most sense for me personally. We spent 3-4 days within our school and the remaining 1-2 days in the training school. This means we are directly immersed in school life from day one and for more than half the week every single week of the course. So we not only get to build bonds with the children in our class, but we are constantly learning from the teacher we are shadowing and others across the school. It has only been two weeks, but I already feel like I've soaked up a fountain of knowledge! I really like having a few days with my class and then coming back with other trainees to discuss our week and encourage each other. It’s really beneficial to see so many people from different walks of life, on the exact same journey as i am and we are all a really supportive bunch. I already feel like I can turn to anyone in the room and ask for advice, so just having that support goes a long way! Within this programme there are two strands, salaried and non-salaried. Getting a place on a salaried programme is VERY difficult, you usually have to have three years of working within a school and their support to obtain this. I tried because I have been tutoring for over 3 years, however that wasn't enough. So it's worth bearing that in mind.

The third route which I briefly looked into before I began second year is Teach First, which is an intensive course over 6 weeks, where you're trained to be a teacher during the summer and you begin teaching in September. It is not the most accessible course, my nearest was in London and as I'm not willing to move out of my home yet, it would have been a very expensive decision to make. Anyways as I really don't know too much about it, I'd suggest you spend some time reading their website.

Applying

This part is quite straightforwards, you have to apply through UCAS just as you did with University and they have a course searcher tool which is a life saver. You search your post code or what course you're wanting to apply for (school direct, university based etc.) and they provide you with a list of courses. When you click on the courses you can read more about the training provider and get an idea of what they offer, what they expect and what you can expect in terms of the interview too.

Although they have their own section of the website here and again I'd highly recommend you having a little browse around on here because there's a lot of helpful info! You have about a month till you can apply for teacher training next year, UCAS application opens on the 18th of October so you have a good amount of time to think about which route is good for you. The first step for the application is the basic name, date of birth, education thus far etc. It can take a while to complete, but the good thing is you can save and return later - which is what I often did! Then you have the option to apply for three courses and they don't all have to be the same type. For example your first choice could be a school based one, second could be a university based one and third could be another school based. Places are allocated on a first come first serve basis, so it is important to get a little bit organised NOW and make your decisions before the start date (18/10/16), to avoid disappointment. 

You'll need to have two references before you can submit your application, I asked my manager to be one and my dissertation tutor and they both got back to me within a week so I didn't have to wait too long. However if I had to apply again, I'd ask my references a good fortnight BEFORE the application open date begins so in that first week I could submit everything and have that peace of mind. 

In order to train to be a teacher, you have to complete the professional skills test which consists of a maths and an english test. The first time you sit them is free but if you fail, you'll have to pay for the second round. These are not as hard as you may have heard - my biggest tip is to practice online as much as you can! The mock tests are available here which you can access once you've signed up on the gov website. The reason the practice tests are so important is that they really give you a feel for what the real thing will be like, the format of the test, the timings and the visual layout are really helpful to see. I sat my tests in January of this year and it was a relief to get them out of the way before my interview process began, so start looking at these as soon as possible.

Personal Statement

Yes, another one of those is required! This is the part I procrastinated the most, because I honestly didn't know how I'd articulate why exactly I wanted to go down this path and what I could offer to children's lives should I get past the application! However this section of UCAS really helped and I tried to keep it as straight to the point as I could. I did delete a lot of corny stuff, but it is important to keep at least one or two really honest and perhaps slightly cringy things in here, because it shows that you are passionate about wanting to teach. Reference to your previous experience working/volunteering in schools or working with children is a biggie that you have to include. Definitely get someone to read over it before you submit it as once you've submitted your application, you can't make any changes and it will be the only one used for all courses that you apply for. 

Once you've completed everything and your references have sent in their required pieces, you can proceed to pay. It costs £24 to apply for teacher training and this covers Apply 1 and Apply 2. Essentially the first time that you send off your applications, the course providers that you have chosen have 40 days to review your application and get back to you with an interview date. Once those 40 days are over you'll have a certain amount of time to decide which of your offers you want to accept - and you can only accept one! You'll get a welcome email from UCAS just before this, with an ID number that'll let you track your application and if you aren't successful, you wait for 'Apply 2' to open up. Then you have the option to apply for different programmes, but one at a time rather than picked 2 or 3. 

Personally I only applied for the School direct course as I knew it was the only one I wanted to do, however I applied for both salaried and non-salaried. Sadly as I've already mentioned I got rejected from the salaried 😪 but I was happy to receive an interview date for the non-salaried!

I was going to cover the interview process in this post, but its already VERY long and lengthy. So in approximately a month I'll be writing that post up for you lovelies, meanwhile I hope this has been helpful. Please do leave me any questions you have below and if you have any specifically about the interview process also let me know so I can include them in that upcoming post! My hands are aching and its way past my bedtime now, so I'm off but I shall be back soon with a makeup related post this week for sure.

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Teacher Training Journey Part 1 | Why, Which Route and Application

Hello everyone, another requested post from me today so I hope my regular reader don’t mind. This post is my first on my teacher training journey and as I began thinking about it roughly around this time last year, I thought it would be beneficial to write up a post now for those of you about to begin your final year at University. This is going to be very text heavy and I will be going into as much detail as I can, so I recommend you get yourself a cuppa before you begin.

Why choose teaching?

Before I start talking about the route I have picked and why, I want to talk about WHY you may want to go into teacher training. I have just completed my second week of training and I can honestly say I have never been so exhausted in my life!  The journey to becoming a teacher is very tiring and I think its important to know that to go into teaching, you are not doing it for the money, or for the security of the job. You are doing it because you love children, because you enjoy learning as-well as teaching and because you yourself want to play a part in shaping the next generation’s future. These things are crucial and if at this point you are unsure about either of these things, then it is worth rethinking your decision. A teacher’s day is not 8am-4pm, although of course it varies but I have already, in my first week of training, been in my school at 7:45am and come home at 6:30pm. As a teacher you spend a LOT of your time working and that is a reality which is vital to keep in mind. In many ways it is much more than a 9-5 job, and I think its valuable knowledge to go into the process with this in mind. You really have to want to teach for the sake of teaching, intrinsic motivation is key!