Caroline Farrell GTP - MFL

I’d always wanted to be a teacher, but I’d never got round to doing anything about it. After 12 years working in industry, I found myself with two children and a mortgage, could I really train to teach now? With the help of the TDA and WIE I decided to apply for a place on the Graduate Teacher Programme. My degree in French and Spanish would be ideally suited to secondary MFL teaching and I was accepted on the course.

 The training year was extremely hard work, but I was teaching from day one! As a GTP I was in school from the start of the September term, I was being paid (as an unqualified teacher) and the pupils assumed I was ‘just another new teacher’. The GTP is more like an apprenticeship, where you learn on the job; you start out teaching small parts of the lesson and gradually build up to teaching whole lessons. The mix of University sessions (1 day a week) and school-based time was ideal for me. You do need support at home, especially if you have a family, as during the GTP year I was studying, planning and preparing lessons for two to three hours nearly every night of the week. However, all the hard work in the GTP year is fantastic preparation for the NQT year.

 Having passed my GTP I started my NQT year in an interesting position; I was running my own department at Whitley Abbey Business and Enterprise College! It is a very small department, only me in fact, but, the management team felt that my previous industry experience and the valuable training I had received during the GTP was a great foundation for me to build on. The NQT year flew by and I did many things that most NQTs would never get a chance to do (exam entries, heads of MFL meetings in Coventry, leadership meetings in school etc).

For me the GTP experience was extremely positive and it has enabled me to start my teaching career way beyond where I expected.

Gareth Davies, GTP Science (Chemistry)

I came to teaching from a senior position in the construction industry in my mid 40s, wanting to do something which I found more fulfilling.

I’ve found teaching to be very hard at times, but generally rewarding and fun.  An ability to reflect on your own shortcomings and abilities is a must, as is resilience.  I am delighted to be part of the teaching profession and treasure the great rewards I’ve had from many pupils already.