|Outward Facing-School Placement|

Throughout the past 6 weeks I have and am currently taking part within a school placement at the Hathershaw Academy. I have been learning new skills which I believe will be extremely helpful in my future career. I have had experience of seeing 4 different teachers teaching their lessons and I have seen the differences in how each individual teacher plans and organises to be ready for the planned day ahead. Being organised is something which has been an ongoing battle of mine,  however seeing how they organise has also helped me. I have undertaken lots of responsibilities, more than I anticipated I’d be able to do. Miss Wiswell, who I have been with the most during my placement, has given me opportunities to work with my own group (7 pupils) to provide a one to one approach to help them with skills and techniques. I was asked at short notice by the art and design staff to provide a lesson on portfolios and the background to my practice. I presented this lesson in front of more students than I expected, in front of both art and photography students. This panicked me at first, however I engaged with the students and spoke clearly. Then students asked me questions about my practice and any queries about portfolio advice. I was humbled to be asked so many questions about being a past student at the school.

I have worked in lessons with children who have very limited English and helped them with reading the exam questions and spelling out any words they may not know, which was also a challenge with my dyslexia! I have had experience with a variety of classes and have been able to spot when a class is more challenging and how to handle this situation.  Risk assements and health and safety is something which I dismissed until a student got their finger stuck under the needle of a machine. I observed how the teacher stayed calm whilst keeping the student calm and also keeping her class under control. I also think the way Miss Wiswell plans the content of her lessons keeps the students engaged. She would start off with an activity and then show the learning objectives, then moving on to a video/lesson or the practical work. I have loved working across mainly textiles but also product design and art, it has given me more experience than I could ever wish for. I witnessed how the design and technology staff communicate and give advice on which students work well together so that the lessons can run smoothly. Encouragement and acknowledgement of when a student is doing well is something I enjoy the most about this role. It motivates me to work even harder.