Interview with Kyle, Secondary Biology Trainee

“Whilst teaching is a lot of work, it's highly rewarding, and you'll genuinely find you want the students to do well so they can have better options in the future”

Kyle talks to us about what surprised him most since starting in the classroom, his favourite aspect of the course so far, and tips for a healthy work/life balance.

Read more about Kyle’s teacher training journey with The Sheffield SCITT below.

Have you always wanted to become a teacher? What made you decide you wanted to get into teaching?

I've always wanted to be in a career path that helped people. I narrowed it down to two areas, the NHS, or Education. After working for a year as an LSA, I settled on education, as I really enjoyed it

What is the one thing you wish you knew before you started your teacher training?

How different it would feel being the main teacher in the room, compared to being an LSA.

Do you have any tips for submitting your application?

Be honest about why you want to teach.

How was your interview process? Do you have any tips?

I really enjoyed the interview. The interview lesson was better than I thought. Making use of good resources (such as some found on TES) can help make it easier on you as well.

What were you most nervous about when joining The Sheffield SCITT?

Behaviour Management. Trying to manage 30 children in one room can be daunting, but I've made some good progress in this area.

What kind of planning/preparing did you do before your training year started? Did you do any reading/researching, school experience etc.?

I spoke with several different people, including the ECT Co-Ordinator, at my job, to see different experiences, and the different options for training, to determine which would be right for me

How do you balance your training/work with your day to day life outside of teaching?

I eke out time to work/plan where I can, to reduce how much I might have to do at home. I commute, but I try to do some work on the train, which makes a huge difference. Making sure you have something you can do to switch off is a must, however small it might be.

What is your favourite aspect of the course so far?

Getting to meet a wide variety of staff and students, and get to know them and their personalities.

How have you been managing your workload? Especially when PGCE assignments are due? Do you have any tips/tricks/advice?

Try to get into a good habit of planning. Working to avoid over-planning helps too, and being aware that, especially at lower years, a Scheme of Work will introduce content in small chunks, so single lessons shouldn't be jam packed with info.

How do you find the hub days? Is there anything in particular you enjoy?

Getting to see other trainees, and hear their experiences is nice. I find they tend to be good ways to introduce theory, so I can investigate it further.

What responsibilities and tasks have you taken on so far in your training?

I've been doing duties every week within my host school. Additionally, I have worked to plan engaging practical work, to allow students to understand the ideas behind the science they learn.

How do you feel you have improved since starting in September?

My presence has improved, and I feel much more confident in handling the behaviour of large groups of students. A lot of my subject knowledge is starting to return, which I'm happy with.

What are you most looking forward to in your teaching career?

Getting to have classes of my own.

Best piece of advice for anyone hesitant about training to teach with the Sheffield SCITT?

Whilst teaching is a lot of work, it's highly rewarding, and you'll genuinely find you want the students to do well so they can have better options in the future.