Case Study Rebecca Logan, a previous trainee, discusses below some of her strategies to balance home life and the course. "How to live on the student finance amounts? BUDGET! Always plan ahead for what is coming up and what will need paying. Make a note of what is essential (car tax/insurance/bills etc) and when they are due so you have those in mind each month. Have your student finance in a separate account and give yourself a monthly ‘wage’ to live on. Don’t over indulge in luxuries. Have conversations with your family in terms of birthdays and Christmas and explain your situation. They will understand and it is only for a year; you can spoil them afterwards!" Having children and childcare commitments alongside my training:For me this was the hardest bit of my training year. To get around this, I would prioritise and plan well in advance, so my family and work life had a balance. I used to get up early to work on assignments, and work one day on a weekend so I had the next day off. If you’re a night owl, evenings may be better for you, but I preferred mornings! It was all about time management for me. I would spend time when they were at clubs completing paperwork (reflections/lesson plans etc) so that it didn’t impact on them. I always gave myself one day off at the weekends that was purely to do whatever we wanted as a family. It was hard but it also helps if you have children of school age as you can ask them their advice on lesson ideas or what they may have done before so there are benefits to having children and being a teacher! During the week, I would leave school in time to pick them up from after school clubs and not touch my work until they had gone to bed (7pm) so I had that down time with them (and for me). Schools locations (local placements)I was very lucky to be able to stay in local schools for my training year, which is something EoETT guarantee. It made a massive difference being close to home with childcare. Benefits of a smaller providerYou are not just a number! There is the personal feel to the whole course and everyone knows each other and supports one another. EoETT know how you’re getting on and how best to support you as a person, taking into account your individual circumstances. Being with a smaller provider meant that I knew there was always somebody who had the time to support me with any queries I had and would go that extra mile when you needed them to.