Placement - Staple Hill Primary School

Nature of the business:

bulletTeaching a range of subjects to Children between the ages of five and twelve.   

Career paths available within this business:

bulletPrimary School Teaching; Secondary School Teaching; College Tutoring. 

General information on what I did during the placement:

bulletI worked my way through all the aspects of Primary School starting at nursery and working my way up to Year Six, teaching a variety of Subjects and doing many personal tutorials in Spanish or German.

Daily Diary:

bulletMonday: Nursery- In the first rotation I began working with the pupils taking an interest in what they were doing and I then went out for the second half of the morning and played with the pupils regarding what ever activities they were doing outside. Then for the Afternoon I did very similar to this only with a slightly younger age group.
bulletTuesday: Key Stage 1- I did some Admin Activities for the pupils work later that day. And then I took my own group for an English Lesson, where they were learning about the difference between Statements and Questions. This was followed by a Maths Lesson where the Children were learning about simple Multiplication. That Afternoon I first went out with a Class to do PE where the children were practicing throwing and catching. Finally I listened to some of the Children read whilst some of them were having Story Time   
bulletWednesday: Y4- The first thing that the Class I worked with today was learning certain aspects of telling the time, for this activity I took the most experienced group and worked on some time problems with them. Next for English I took out small groups and gave them five minute Spanish sessions where I taught them significant aspects of the language such as how to ask for and say your name in Spanish. That Afternoon the Class first had History where I took some more groups out for Spanish and then for the last ten minutes helped a pupil who didn't understand the activity, writing a Letter during World War II, the final activity this class had today was PE where the Class went out to the field for a game of Rounders, which I umpired.
bulletThursday: Y5- Today all I did for most of the day was took groups of two out and gave them lengthy tutorials in Spanish, and gave them all specific marks regarding their ability in Spanish. Then finally at the end of the day I was once again with a group doing PE, which I took eight of for a game of Quick Cricket, which I bowled and umpired for. 
bulletFriday: Y6- For the morning I did some Admin work for the teacher regarding Year Six Camp, which was happening the next week and they still needed information on. In the afternoon I had PE, once again, where they were doing athletics activities, just scaled down such as 50M Sprint, for this activity I went round with a group recording their Details. Finally I took groups of three out for Laid-back German Tutorials with some of the basics of the language.

Location and Travel arrangements:

bulletStaple Hill Primary School is located in Staple Hill, just outside Bristol, and I was able to get transport in every morning with my Mum.

Particular skills or abilities needed:

bulletPeople Skills; patience; a high self-esteem; and an ability to understand children's needs.

Health and Safety requirements:

bulletBeing able to use and carry equipment; and not endangering Children at any time of any activity.

Advice for anyone considering this as a work-experience placement:

bulletA short working day, but it takes it out of you; have high confidence; get involved with the children; and don't be shy. 

Advice for anyone considering this as a career:

bulletBe prepared for it to take over your life and be ready for people of all backgrounds and behavior ready to be taught.