Throughout my previous rugby career, I always took a long-term view that I needed to educate myself for life after sport. After completing my B.Sc. in Sports and Exercise Science and M.Sc. I decided to further my studies by completing a PGCE as I had always liked the idea of teaching and sharing some of my experiences and knowledge with young people. I decided to investigate the prospect of teaching and came across WWLCSD online. Following a conversation with Sarah Holland I knew that WWLCSD was the best option for me. A large part of my decision was based on the amount of quality time spent Infront of pupils that the course offered. The immediate exposure to high school environments from a teaching perspective for me was exactly what I needed as an alternative to a more academic University led experience.
At the start of your training year, you are expected to attend school as a full member of staff, however, in the first few weeks and months there is a settling in period were you are observing a wide variety of staff members such as form tutors, teachers of your subject and others, staff working with SEND students, middle and senior leaders. You are then gradually exposed to small but very important roles such as registering pupils during form time, teaching small sections of lessons and then eventually delivering full lessons. Decisions regarding your progress on the training course are made by your subject mentor and professional mentor with progression speeds varying between each trainee, there is flexibility with this. The support offered throughout the training process was fantastic, everybody involved were always more than happy to help and went above and beyond to make the experience a positive one.
At the end of my training, I went onto interview and secure a post at St Peter’s Catholic High school. The interview process was difficult and challenging however, another great part of WWLCSD is that your mentors prepare you for the day by setting up mock interviews with senior leaders and head teachers who ask common interview questions and then provide you with invaluable feedback on how you can improve ready for the real thing. I spent a memorable 4 years at St Peter’s, and I loved every second. St Peter’s is a very special place the staff and students are fantastic and I have made friends for life which I am truly grateful for.
Following my time at St Peter’s I was presented with an opportunity to open my own independent school with a colleague that I had met during my first non-qualified teaching role. The opportunity was one that I took after months of consideration, and I am currently in the process of securing and registering a site with Ofsted in the near future.
Without WWLCSD, St Peter’s and all my mentors and colleagues none of my success would have been possible, the course is the best of its kind and I can’t recommend it highly enough to those who want to begin their careers in the best possible position and develop into well rounded and established professionals.
