Teaching is a career I have always dreamt of doing. My dream was postponed for three years due to financial commitments of buying my first house. During this period, I worked for my Local Authority within the Family Hubs, predominantly conducting administrative and data duties. I absolutely loved the staff I worked with, but the work wasn’t purposeful enough for me to feel a sense of job satisfaction. My colleagues continually encouraged me to apply for teacher training, as did my two best friends that are qualified teachers. One of my friends completed her teacher training programme through East of England Teacher Training (EoETT) and strongly recommended this route to me. I decided to attend one of the EoETT open events held in Grimsby to find out more information about the training, and the financial support I was eligible for (as this could have been a barrier for me completing the training). The open event was a valuable experience, Charissa informed me of the content of the course, what is expected of trainees and what EoETT can offer. Charissa assured that trainees would receive school placements within their local area. This was an important aspect for me, after I had been told about my friend’s experience, who completed her training through a university and her school placement was an hour and a half away from her home; she found this extremely difficult to manage alongside her workload. The re-assurance of having a placement within my local area was a great advantage for me, as well as Charissa being extremely friendly and welcoming; I got a really good feel for the course. As a result, I decided to apply and was successful in gaining a place on the course. I have now been a trainee on the course since September 2019 and I finally feel a sense of job satisfaction. My school has been fabulous! All of the staff are friendly, and I feel a valued member of their team. So far I have been in school mostly Monday to Wednesday, as we have training on a Thursday and Friday, just at the start of the course. During this time, I have been teaching a range of subjects, initially teaching 1.5 days a week and gradually increasing to 2 days a week by Christmas. I am observed by my mentor once a week; before starting the course the thought of this frightened the life out of me! But now, I have a fantastic relationship with my mentor and she makes me feel comfortable and at ease. She gives me constructive feedback so I am able to reflect and improve, in order to become an effective teacher. I strangely look forward to the feedback now! The training days in Lincoln have been on various topics, all involving theory and practical ideas to implement into the classroom. The training days have all been excellent, especially the Maths and Phonics training which allowed the trainees the opportunity to observe lessons delivered by enthusiastic and engaging teachers. I have taken some great ideas away from these training sessions and put them into my practice (such as pass the popcorn phonics). Although there is a high workload, I feel that the course is manageable, alongside running a household. I would strongly recommend anybody thinking about applying for teacher training to apply with EoETT. Charlotte and Charissa are so supportive and understanding and I feel you are highly valued as an individual. Working with children and seeing them progress gives me such a sense of achievement. It is true, being a teacher really is the best job in the world and I haven’t looked back and regretted it once! – Katie, current trainee (2019-20) All Stories