“SWiS gave me a taste of what it’s like to stretch yourself and use your brain. It gave me the push I needed to start doing a foundation degree for teaching assistants.

“I’ve been working at St Anne’s School for seven years. In the mornings, I work in the classroom as a teaching assistant (TA) and I’m also a lunchtime supervisor. The advantage of having two roles is that you get to know the children so well. If you go and work in a different classroom, you’ve already got a relationship with those pupils.

“When the headteacher offered us the chance to do the SWiS level 2 certificate, four of us TAs decided to go for it. I’d already done quite a lot of training but most of it has been classroom-focused. I thought it would be interesting to do a qualification that looked at my work outside the classroom too, interacting with the children in the playground. And I knew I’d get plenty of support from my mentor, Melanie Mathews, who’s also our lead lunchtime supervisor.

“Melanie led a couple of group sessions, where we all sat down together and talked through parts of the course. The rest of the time, we’d just catch up about the course over coffee or lunch. It was very informal. Melanie was my expert witness, too, which made the whole process very straightforward.

“SWiS really made me think about my work. It makes you look at things like the legislation that underpins school policies. You realise that what you think is just common sense is actually set down in the law. It’s good to have an understanding of why you’re doing the things you do.

“SWiS also made me realise I’m still keen to learn and use my brain, so in September I started a foundation degree for TAs at a local college. I spend a full day at college once a week, then there’s about 15 hours of studying to do at home. Of course, the more you put in, the more you get out.

“This year, we’re going to be looking at how children learn. Next year, we’ll do modules in specific subjects like science and maths to give us a solid grounding in those areas. The foundation degree takes three years, part-time. After that, you can choose whether to go and do another two years and qualify as a teacher. I haven’t made that decision yet – I’ll see how I feel at the time! But working in a classroom is so rewarding. Every day brings something new, and you can really see the difference you’re making to the children. The more you learn, the more what you’re doing makes sense. SWiS was an excellent starting point.”