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How can I arrange to spend time in a school?
If you would like to arrange your own school experience it is recommended that you approach schools in your local area. They may be happy to arrange for you to spend a day or so observing one of their classes or shadowing a teacher. You will need to contact your preferred school directly to arrange classroom experience. You could ask to speak to the person in charge of Teaching and Learning. This could be a deputy or assistant head.
Schools can be busy at certain times of the year and it is worthwhile addressing any e-mails to a specific person rather than using a generic e-mail address.
It also helps if you can be flexible with the dates you could be available to visit the school. Classroom experience may have to fit around training placements, exams and other activities. Schools may find it difficult to accommodate you if you have fixed dates for a school visit.
You may need to contact a number of schools in your area to be able to gain classroom experience. The Edubase website lists all educational establishments across England and Wales. The database allows you to select education phase and location to quickly find a suitable school.
To improve your chances of success you could offer to volunteer at a school rather than merely observe – perhaps as a classroom assistant. Volunteering in general is a great opportunity to gain experience in working with children. You could also volunteer to work in a youth club or as a Scout or Guide leader.
You could look for volunteering opportunities at after-school clubs or gain valuable experience through sports coaching, student tutoring, community education and youth schemes. Some of these may be available during the evening or at weekends, allowing you to fit volunteering around your existing commitments.
Useful websites to identify volunteering opportunities are Timebank and vinspired.
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How can I get some experience of teaching in Wales?
'Prepare to Teach' courses were developed as a collaborative venture between ITT providers and the Open University in Wales. They include six days' school experience and are offered for secondary mathematics, science, modern languages, design and technology, and Welsh. Enquiries should be made directly to the Open University by contacting Clare Schroder - tel: 029 2039 7911; email: c.a.schroder@open.ac.uk
A number of ITT providers also run Teaching Taster days. These vary, but generally offer the opportunity for you to visit a school and the university or college running the scheme, and to talk to lecturers and teachers about initial teacher training and teaching. Details can be obtained from individual ITT providers.