I was lucky. Jo Venn, my headteacher, is really supportive of staff development. As soon as she heard about the pilot she came and told me about it. I jumped at the opportunity. The school did everything it could to support me, including rearranging my timetable so I could attend the course every Tuesday afternoon.
The work was geared to around A-level standard, although at times it reached degree level – which was fine as the tutors took time to make sure we all understood everything. They were very patient with me, for example, when we were learning about SUVAT equations! They geared things to our interests too. For example, I particularly wanted to learn more about astronomy and astrophysics, and they delivered.
The workload was quite challenging. After all it was in addition to my full-time teaching job. But it was manageable, rewarding and always enjoyable, and I was very aware of the benefits of doing it. There was a lot of learning involved so I made a fair few mistakes, but even this was useful as it helped me realise how challenging physics can be for my pupils.
The key thing about the course is that the tutors taught us to teach even better. There was lots of practical work and, vitally, we learnt the theory behind it. It was also great for networking. The students had a really good rapport. It was a giggle. We discussed different ideas and approaches and shared things that work well for us in our schools. We bounced ideas off each other.
I feel much more confident about using different approaches now, in taking risks and thinking out of the box in the classroom. I am much more inspired and I am able to inspire my pupils more as a result. For example, in a recent lesson my pupils made car test dummies with a raw egg inside them. They had a great time testing them out – there was egg all over the place. And amongst all the mess they learnt a heck of a lot about physics!
I am currently teaching GCSE physics to pupils ranging from very gifted to special education needs (SEN). I really like the variation. Over the next few years I would like to take this a step further and teach A-level students. This may be possible within Balshaw’s as we are thinking about fast-tracking pupils, so they could go on to take AS level here.
In short, the course helped me to become a more informed and skilled physics teacher – and I am even happier and feel even more appreciated by my school as a result. My pupils are also enjoying more practical and creative physics lessons and, with any luck, the school will achieve even better results in physics as the improvements settle in.
