I’m Gemma, and I’m a learner on the Supporting Teaching & Learning qualification from Aspire 2Be.
I first heard about the course from a work colleague, who put me in touch with the Aspire 2Be team – and the rest is history!
I decided to do this course as I had just started a new role in Sofrydd Primary School Nursery, and I thought this course would help me to progress within this change of career. It has helped me a great deal in my role, as I am constantly learning new things that I am lucky enough to be able to put into practice.
I have been able to apply the learning not only to my work with the children and staff in the school, but I’ve also learned more about the running of the school through some of the units in the course. I found the unit on behaviour – Promote children and young people’s positive behaviour – particularly beneficial. I currently work with children with additional learning needs (ALN), with a variety of behavioural issues and this unit really helped me investigate a child’s behaviour and why a child may behave like they do, along with ways to deal with these behaviours.
My workplace has been extremely supportive and has encouraged me throughout the course. I’ve had fantastic help from the whole team, whether its acting as a mentor, providing witness testimonies, or assisting with progress reviews. Senior leadership has definitely been able to see the value of the course, and can see how it has helped me grow in knowledge and confidence.
The support from my trainer coach, Andy, has also been amazing! He’s always on hand to support me and explains things to me in a way that he knows I will understand. I enjoy our sessions every month and never feel pressured. Our meetings can often be casual chats, but they are always informative and productive.
I would definitely recommend this qualification to others. The work can be done around your commitments, and you can submit examples from within your daily job – I have even used pictures of classroom set-ups to support my written work! Being able to submit examples of my day-to-day work has been very beneficial, as it gives the course content real relevance to my role.
The icing on the cake for me is that, through doing this Level 2 course, I have recently been successful in an interview and have got a job as a Level 2 Teaching Assistant in a brand new LRB unit working with children with additional learning needs – I couldn’t be happier. This is the path that I wanted to take, and this course has helped me achieve these goals.
I am so glad that I decided to do this course, as it really has changed my life. In September of this year, I will go from having four part time jobs to having one full time job. It’s lifestyle changing for me. That wouldn’t have been possible without this opportunity from Aspire 2Be.
