My SCITT experience: part of the team from day one
On our School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) programme, career-changer Ailsa was welcomed into her school’s teaching team and, at the end of the year, felt surprised at the impact she had made on the children she taught. Now she has a job at that same school.
I’d sidestepped my own career after originally studying costume design and starting out in theatres and live shows. Over time, I got pulled into the business my partner was running – and what was meant to be a temporary move turned into 12 years.
I got to a point where I wanted to change that. I had considered working in secondary or further education. Then, having my own children, I realised I wanted to work with younger children.
Teaching’s a career like no other; rewarding in ways that you can't get from a computer.
Choosing to teach
Teaching’s a career like no other; rewarding in ways that you can't get from a computer. No two days are the same. You're working with young people who are the future, and you can be a massive part of what goes on in their heads and how they turn out. You can be so influential, even when you don't realise that’s what you are doing.
Why SCITT?
Looking at the different routes into teaching, I wasn't in a position to go back to university full time. I felt a year working in a school was a better experience and more advantageous from an employability point of view. It's hands-on rather than sitting and learning about teaching – you're seeing real life.
I liked the setup of the SCITT programme – that there was face-to-face and remote learning. It was an all-encompassing course with lots of different modules.
It was the first year the school was running the programme, but they were passionate about its content, so meeting them and hearing about it was really good.
Feeling like I belong in school
The main school I trained in is a small first school; it's Reception to Year 5 with a very small staff team. From the day I started, I was very much welcomed and made to feel like one of the teachers. I was never really treated as the student. I felt like I was establishing myself from the start, which was good.
Ailsa in her classroom, where she trained through the SCITT programme and now teaches full-time.
For my broader school experience, I went to a very contrasting school in a deprived area that went from Years 4 to 6. It was good to see how different teams work and address different pupil challenges in managing behaviour and expectations. It was eye opening but invaluable because, although I came back to a school that doesn't have those challenges, you've still been opened up to that experience and it stays with you.
Now I’m employed at the school I trained in.
When I chose the school that I wanted to train at, I was seeing it as hopefully a place where I would start working, so I wanted to establish relationships with the staff. Now I'm employed at that school and I've got the benefit of having relationships with everybody already.
Feeling supported throughout
The support was brilliant from the first day I signed up. I felt supported at every turn, even down to quick responses from Teach First about queries on Bright Space [our learning platform]. I never felt like I was on my own.
The lead mentor was so knowledgeable.
The course leader and the lead mentor from my local training partner, Enhance Academy Trust, and my in-school mentor were very welcoming and approachable. There didn't seem to be anything that my lead mentor didn't know. She covered so much content, and she was so engaging – she blew you out the water with the stuff she knew and her enthusiasm.
Getting stuck into learning
The programme has a very good structure across the year. I thought with the seminars and conferences it was a good mix of online, face-to-face and self-directed.
You have to be quite strict with yourself about keeping on top of it.
There's enough time and flexibility with the programme to fit in your own self-directed learning, which you can do easily during the week. Sometimes there was so much information that you want to take in; you would read something and then there would be a link to further reading, but you've got to be realistic about how much you can manage. You've just got to plan for yourself and be quite strict about keeping on top of it.
At the start of the programme, I was apprehensive about silly things now I look back; you worry about how to do some of the maths problems – it's a been a long time. I wondered, if I don't know how to do this, how can I teach the children? But once you start, you realise you can do it. I remember asking my mentor how she physically retained all this information, for instance, how did she know all this about Egypt? And it turns out, you don't until you have to teach it, then you break it down into bits.
Feeling the impact
When the pupils I was working with were moving on to the next class at the end of the year, I got messages from pupils thanking me for helping them understand maths this year, and parents thanking me for helping their daughter’s confidence grow or telling me they could see the difference I'd made. It made me realise maybe I have made a difference; maybe that is why that child doesn't cry in maths anymore because I have done something to help her. I hope I have set those kids up well for the next year or had some part in that.
I got messages from pupils thanking me for helping them understand maths... it made me realise maybe I have made a difference.
What’s next?
At the end of the year, I felt it had been a hard one but really rewarding and never, at any point, did I wonder if I had done the right thing going into teaching. In fact, after I’ve finished my ECTP [Early Career Training Programme], I'm considering doing an NPQ [National Professional Qualification] so that I can go on and work in senior leadership.
Like Ailsa, you could train locally - join our SCITT and make a difference from day one.
We support teachers at every stage of their journey after qualification, from the Early Career Training Programme (ECTP) to the National Professional Qualifications (NPQs).