From volunteer teacher in Jamaica to SCITT trainee

Before I started teaching, I emigrated to the UK from Jamaica. There, I was working as a ship manager, but since moving to Corby, I worked as a health and safety coordinator at one of the largest warehouses in Corby.

Last year, I decided it was my time to follow my passion.

I volunteered as a maths teacher in Jamaica. The regulations were different there and I taught children in my community.

For seven years, I would teach pupils for free. As a result, my pupils excelled in maths.

Even now that I am living here, I still get calls from parents in my hometown to teach their children online – but I have to tell them that the time difference will be tricky!

From that experience, teaching became a passion of mine. When I moved to the UK, I asked, ‘How can I impact the next generation?’

When I found the Northamptonshire Teacher Training Hub, I realised it was conveniently close to my house, and I thought, ‘Whoa, this is fate’. I go there to train on Thursdays, and I can walk there if I want to.

My teachers inspired me

When I was younger, I had a grandmother who didn’t believe in education. She would say, “I can’t read – but I have this big house, I have land, and I have your father. If you looked after the land it will look after you”.

I started school for the first time in Year 5. I couldn’t read to save my life.

When I left school at 17, I still couldn’t read, but I met a maths teacher, Mr Jarvis. He made me an offer to continue my learning and attend his classes at his school.

He, along with Mr. Westcott (a physics teacher), took me under their wing and ensured that I came to school and attended their classes. They let me know that it’s not where you start, it’s where you end that matters.

Their willingness to take a chance on a 17-year-old who couldn’t read – and was a bit off the chain when it came to behaviour and discipline – helped me get where I am today.

My inspiration is to do for my students what Mr Jarvis and Mr Westcott did for me. I keep my fingers and toes crossed that I can be as good as them in my teaching profession.

Support through the challenges

Before I started, I had to undergo an SKE course because my degree wasn’t primarily in maths.

It was a 12-week course, and it was intense. However, because I had a passion, the challenge didn’t faze me.

On the programme, I also received a bursary and student finance loan, however there were still a few hurdles. My teaching hub (Northamptonshire Teaching School Hub) never let me down in terms of their involvement.

They made sure to support me through the student finance application, along with speaking to Teach First, to make sure I received financial support throughout the programme.

They did everything possible to make sure I am on the course today.

My mentor has been a source of encouragement and strength.

He doesn’t mince his words, and he tells me exactly what he thinks I should be doing. He lets me know what’s going well and he coaches me in areas where I need to improve.

A proud moment

There’s a pupil in my class who has selective mutism, so when I started my training, I noticed he didn’t speak and wasn’t engaging in my lessons.

As I knew he wouldn’t speak, I would go over to him, talk through the work, and point in his textbook.

He wouldn’t respond, and he wouldn’t look at me. But when I walked away and later came back, he would’ve completed the work that I set.

One day as I passed him, I saw that he wrote the question on the board but hadn’t started on an answer.

I noticed this and spoke to him, and – for the first time in two months – he simply responded: “I’m working on it.”

I felt like the king of the forest! When I told the teacher observing the lesson, he said: “He spoke for you?”

This encounter, although it may seem little, has been a highlight of my teaching journey so far.

Managing behaviour

My main fear was how I was going to manage and maintain good behaviour in the classroom.

But the methods that I’ve learned, the examples I’ve seen from observation, and the feedback I’ve received from my mentors have all helped me with my behavioural strategies.

When you’re in a new school with new students, they’re trying to figure out if you’re a cover teacher and what they can get away with.

But little by little, I’m letting them know I’m not a cover, I’m a teacher. I’m now getting that across – and from that, the behaviour is getting better with the strategies I’ve learned.

For those who are considering teaching – just jump!

It’s not going to happen by second guessing yourself.

It has its bad days, and it has its good days.

Each day comes with different challenges, but that’s what makes it a brilliant career. 

If you really love your subject, teaching is the route to go.

You can qualify as a teacher in one year on our School-Centred Initial Training (SCITT) programme.

Like Junior, you’ll train in a school near you, make a difference in your local community and learn from experts along the way.

Learn more about SCITT.