‘How can ambitious and inspirational graduates continue to be attracted into the teaching profession and retained?’

“Congratulations to Miss Cherise Duffy who was invited to London on 20th January as a Key Note speaker at the Westminster Educational Forum. The Forum was debating ‘Recruiting teachers of the Future’ and Miss Duffy talked about her GTP route into teaching. She acquitted herself very well and was an excellent ambassador for Penketh High school. Her speech received rapturous applause and Mr Paul Holmes MP gave her special praise,” Mr J Hughes, Head Teacher announced.

“During November I received an email and phone call from the Westminster Education Forum asking me if I would like to take part in a forum on 20th January 2010 at Whitehall (Westminster).  The forum was to discuss recruiting and maintaining teachers in the profession.

Despite feeling quite nervous, I could not turn down this once in a lifetime opportunity. I had been given first refusal from four possible NQT’s recommended by the GTCE from a list of all Newly Qualified Teachers in England.

I was asked to produce a five minute speech based on key questions. I was one of five speakers on the panel chaired by MP Paul Holmes a member of The Children, Schools and Families Select Committee.

I drew on personal experience and was able to put forward my passion for teaching and my enthusiasm and praise for the Graduate Teacher Programme for training. I received a lot of positive feedback at the end of the event and was able to speak to people from all areas of the profession from MPs, university professors and doctors, to headteachers, members of the Training and Development Agency for Schools and General Teaching Council for England, as well as people in charge of teacher training. All were very welcoming and positive.

The atmosphere in the room was electric and I thoroughly enjoyed the day and experience finding it very rewarding and a real confidence boost. I would recommend anyone to do it and would have no hesitation in doing it again.

I have since received emails and phone calls from the educational forum thanking me for my contribution and the Times Educational Supplement who are running an article about the day’s events,” Miss C Duffy commented when asked about her experience.

Extracts from Key Note speech:

“As far as my training is concerned I could not praise the GTP more and feel extremely lucky to have partaken in such a fulfilling and rewarding training scheme.    The actual application was challenging and nerve racking as it involved researching and ensuring my educational knowledge was up to date.  So what did I get out of the GTP?  It gave me realistic experiences of school life as I was teaching from week one of my training, giving me a hands on experience from the outset.  It allowed me to develop working relationships with pupils, parents and staff at all levels.  I was also able to observe experienced staff, learn new and exciting teaching styles, and constantly evaluate my own practice, a very worthwhile skill.  Most people say your NQT year is hard but after this I didn’t feel too much more pressure due to the learning and full teaching requirement.  In my experience this was very much the general consensus of most trainees I spoke with.  Teachers face enough challenges in the classroom without having to be thrown in not knowing the true and full extent of the teaching role.”

Conclusion:

“Overall, I feel the best way to ensure trainees remain in the profession is to ensure as realistic an approach to teaching as possible preparing them for the real challenges that come through this demanding profession.  This learning curve will never stop, society continually challenges us to change with the new educational initiatives not to mention the demands from the parents, and most importantly the challenges we face from the kids we teach to believe in themselves, so they have to be the most important ones in the equation haven’t they?”

Miss Cherise Duffy is a History and Media graduate. She started at Penketh High School in 2006 as an SEN Teaching Assistant. She soon showed a talent for working with children and showed the qualities to become a successful teacher. Cherise made the decision to become a teacher and chose to go down the GTP route, training-on-the-job. The school had no hesitation in supporting her. She made a good impression during her GTP year and was successful in gaining a full time position in the Humanities Department. Miss Duffy is now a key deliverer of the Opening Minds Curriculum and inspires the students she teaches!