“I was told by many of my teachers that I wouldn’t make it past GCSE level…”
What was your path to teaching at HTP Apprenticeship College?
My own experience with education has been a bit of a mixed bag. I always really enjoyed school and although I wasn’t particularly gifted at the academic subjects, I managed to achieve some good grades at GCSE. When I started my A Levels, I completely flopped as I couldn’t cope with the large classes and the exams, As a result of this, I decided to go for a more vocational, practical route, and decided to study Childcare Level 3
From here, I went on to study Early Childhood Studies at Chichester University, and started my first role as a Learning Support Assistant in a secondary school. I really enjoyed working one-to-one with students and I learned so much myself, too.
What would you say to someone who’s not sure about starting a ‘Business’ programme?
People sometimes think that business courses are ‘dull’ and ‘boring’, but our course is actually the opposite. I bring my experience to make the course as interactive and creative as I can. We do things like baking cakes and selling them as part of a competition, designing your own business and creating a logo for it. As well as this, business also involves some general skills which help in general life, for example, writing a CV, applying for jobs, and managing money (something I wish I had been taught at school!)
And what about Childcare – is it fun?
Our childcare course requires the learners to think as a child – so there’s a lot of creativity involved, from painting, playdough, and all things messy! It’s all part of helping the learners to understand how children develop and how play can help assist this.
A final thought?
In both of the courses I teach, I’m always mindful of my own experiences within education. I was told by many of my teachers that I wouldn’t make it past GCSE level – and I’ve proven them wrong. I believe that if you really try your best – and you can hand on heart say that you couldn’t have tried any harder, then you’ve aced it (and you might even surprise yourself by how much you can achieve).