About Me!

Hello and welcome,

I thought it would be a good idea to tell you a bit about myself. I am very enthusiastic about most things! I love my family and our dog Blue! My favourite ways to pass time are travelling and enjoying new cultures, walking Blue and enjoying nature. I love trees and my home county of Yorkshire! My daughters are all just about grown up so I am always very happy when they are home or when we are all together. 

 


Becoming a teacher

I started my Primary Education journey when I was 37 and my daughters were 5, 10 and 14 years old. I had always thought about becoming a teacher but never had an opportunity to realise that dream. After completing a ‘City In Guilds’ Level 2 Teaching Assistant qualification in 2007, I got a job working at a brilliant primary school in 2008- supporting a little boy with SEND. The Head teacher was so supportive and suggested that I do a Foundation Degree in Learning Support. I subsequently attended night class at the University of Hull for the next 3 years, whilst working as a TA and looking after my family- to get my Foundation Degree and then ‘topped up’ to a complete BA Honours Degree in Education and achieved Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) April 2013. 


I went on to work for an Academy Trust as an NQT in Year 5 followed by two years in Year 4- which I loved. After moving schools, I became a Year 6 teacher which I have been doing for the last four years now. I have thoroughly enjoyed this although I am happy and excited to be moving to Year 3 in the Autumn- a challenge I am very enthusiastic about undertaking.


PSQM

Three years ago, I became Science Lead at our school and worked to attain the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) which I absolutely loved. It involved quite a lot of work but I was so engaged and proud to take part- leading my school to achieve the accreditation in 2018. I have gone on to be trained as a PSQM Hub leader for the Yorkshire team and I am so proud to be part of the @PSQM team. I’m looking forward to leading my Yorkshire Coastal Hub in the Autumn. I honestly feel that undertaking PSQM was the hugely important starting point for my Primary Science Education journey as well as for my school and our pupils.


STEM Enthuse Award

In 2018 I was thrilled to become a ‘STEM Enthuse Award for Excellence in STEM teaching at Primary’ winner for the North of England in Newcastle and to then travel to London as a National finalist. My partner and I attended the function at the Royal Society- to be nationally recognised amongst such wonderful teachers, schools and technicians was both a huge achievement and a huge honour.


Masters in Education

Two years ago I decided to undertake a Masters- the chance came up and I grabbed it. It has been fantastic and I have just received my final scores which were a High Merit overall including a Distinction for my Research Project and Dissertation- related to Careers Education at Primary (one of my passions) and its effect on engagement, attainment and enthusiasm of pupils. I’m so proud of my achievement.


CSciTeach

I was so proud to be recognised and accredited as a Chartered Science Teacher recently by the Association of Science Education (ASE) and the Science Council. It was extremely rewarding indeed to be recognised for all the hard work I have undertaken and for my commitment to teaching, sharing, encouraging and engaging children in Science.


I feel so strongly about ensuring pupils access quality education and maximise their learning journey. I will be blogging about subjects close to my heart such as Maker Education, Undertaking my Masters, YESTEM Equity Compass, the Twitter Primary Science Education community and ensuring social mobility and enhanced cultural/science capital for all…




Thanks for reading and see you soon!

Kate

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