Charli Marshall
I love training to teach Maths with Stockton SCITT. I chose Stockton SCITT because I wanted as much experience in a school as possible. I was encouraged to teach as soon as I felt ready, team teaching within a couple of weeks of being at a school. I have found that progressively increasing teaching hours has been a great way to build confidence and get to grips with the workload without feeling too stressed. I have had amazing support in both placement schools; there is always someone to answer any questions or give advice. Working with a variety of teachers has allowed me to observe many teaching methods that I have adapted to suit my own teaching style. I have gained a wealth of experience from different settings, from teaching A level to dealing with challenging behaviour to getting involved in after school activities. Central training has provided me with a wide variety of different experiences and valuable knowledge that I can transfer to my teaching practice. The training provided is always suited to our needs and as trainees we are always encouraged to identify any extra training sessions that we feel we may need. Central training is also a great time to socialise with other people on the course and share our own experiences.
Video Transcript
Why did you want to train with Stockton SCITT?
The key reasons I wanted to use Stockton SCITT are mainly because I went to school in Stockton and I knew there was a possibility of getting placed or getting a job in my former school or one I am familiar with and also the job prospects are a lot better because the SCITT programme works so closely with the local schools and quite often the local schools will take on Stockton SCITT students.
What did you think of the quality of the central training?
I like the fact that there were so many different specialists that came in to talk to us about what they know, it wasn’t just the same people all the time you really had the kind of feeling that the people that came in had that experience and knew how to deliver the courses in an interesting way.
Did you feel supported by the partnership during your training?
I had a fantastic class mentor and also training coordinator in my main placement school and I felt that I could go to them for absolutely anything and it wasn’t necessary for me to get any extra support from lead practitioners but I knew I had the feeling that had I needed it, it would have been there.
Did your training prepare you for your teaching NQT year?
I would definitely recommend doing the Stockton SCITT because throughout your training you get to meet a lot of different trainees who have taken a lot of different courses and for me I always seem to be the one where you’ve got the best representation of what being a teacher is going to be like because you are in school more and you only go to two placement schools cause you really get to know people, you get to become part of the school and really get involved in stuff and I’m really glad I have done it as I wouldn’t have done any of them.
Would you recommend Stockton SCITT?
I felt that my mentor and the lead practitioner and the partnership reps they’ve all made sure that we had as many training sessions as possible on all sorts of relevant things but also my mentor was in school and made sure that I really watched what was going to be expected of me and so I don’t think there’s going to be any nasty surprises for me next year because I feel they have fully prepared me for everything.