Primary SCITT Pen Portrait 3
James Clark
At the age of 23, I returned to education as a mature student, still not quite sure what I wanted to do. Therefore, the obvious choice was to start reading History at the University of Essex and change to Russian Studies (third year living in Russia, against my wife’s better judgement) in the first term!
Once I’d decided to give teaching a go I was hooked. I have never experienced a more rewarding or challenging career.
My experience of SCITT (cohort 4) was a very positive one, giving me just the right balance of academic work and ‘hands on’ teaching experience. Although the year-long PGCE course was very hard work, the tutors and my course colleagues were great! My three placements required that I teach Y4, Y2 and Y3 in two different schools. This enabled me to make an informed choice on which year I’d like to teach.
On completion of the course, I was appointed, through the Suffolk Pool, as a Y4 teacher (33 children in my class!) at St Edmundsbury CEVAP School in Bury St Edmunds. Once I was settled, the SCITT training, and the support of my colleagues, gave me the confidence to take on more demanding roles and career challenges. I was appointed Deputy Headteacher a year ago and who knows, I might even think about Headship one day!
Thank you SCITT Team!
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