I am a PGCE student at the University of Southampton training to be a secondary school English teacher. For the past four years, I’ve been studying English at the University of Stirling as a mature student, but I decided to return to studying when my youngest daughter went to nursery school. I did an Access to Degree Studies course to bring my qualifications up to date, and was then accepted at Stirling. While studying, I had worked at the local hospital as a carer and enjoyed working with people, and opting for teaching meant I could combine that with a subject I’m really enthusiastic about.

At the moment, Mondays and Tuesdays are spent in our subject groups, Wednesdays and Thursdays are spent in school and Fridays are for lectures and seminars on “professional themes”. I’m in a school that is in the top 10 per cent in terms of social deprivation. Many pupils have special needs, and Ofsted says standards are “well below average”, although students’

achievements were found to be satisfactory in most subjects and good in some. Students were also found to have low aspirations, with some described as “difficult to manage”. At first, I was nervous about the sort of welcome I’d get. Would staff be too busy to have anything to do with a mere PGCE student? Would I be in the way? And how would the children react to a stranger sitting in on their lessons? But I needn’t have worried. When I arrived, I had a meeting with the deputy head and the other PGCE students at the school. I then spent the rest of the first day in the English department with one of my fellow trainees. It was good to have somebody with me who was also feeling nervous and apprehensive. The staff seemed quite happy to have us sitting in on classes and I soon got to see a range of ages and abilities. With so many special needs students, the lessons had been shortened to 40 minutes, and the pace of the lessons was very fast. This helps to focus pupils’ attention and stops them from being distracted. But from the teacher’s point of view, it is a very intensive way of teaching that requires lots of mental stamina. I was impressed. And thankfully there was always another member of the department on hand in case I needed help. On the second day, a member of staff was assigned to us as our professional mentor. She set up a timetable that helped us to get to know the school better. Activities included answering questions about the school handbook, a tour of the school, a chance to visit the library and a discussion of the school’s behaviour policy. At the end of the day, we had to feed back to the mentor. After two days, I could at least find my way around the school, although I felt more apprehensive than ever. Actually, I was glad to get back to university so I could talk to other trainees and see what everyone made of it all. I just hope that when I do take my first class the students will be kind to me.