Personal Statment

I left school in 1998 with poor results and opted to enter the catering industry as I had not
enjoyed school and did not want to pursue further education. I gained a lot of experience
and eventually held a managerial role before being made redundant in !!". #uring the
wee$ends I had been wor$ing for a construction company who then offered me a full time
job. %gain I &uic$ly wor$ed my way up to become a s$illed 1
st
and
nd
fix joiner responsible
for several loft conversions before again being made redundant. #uring both these careers I
spent a lot of time mentoring new staff and so decided that I would li$e to teach. 'his
decision has resulted in me spending the last five years bac$ in education resitting my
()S*+s, completing an access to higher education course in science and finally a - year
undergraduate course in design and technology with .'S.
%t present I am currently on my second placement as part of a three year degree course in
design and technology with &ualified teacher status. /y current target grade for teacher
placement is a 1 and I am wor$ing my way to achieving this. #uring my latest formative
assessment I was graded a 1 against teaching standards 1, 0, 8 and grade against the
rest. I am confident that with the continued support from within the department I should be
able to achieve this target.
/y time at Sheffield 1allam 2niversity has introduced me to the changes in design and
technology that have happened since I attended school as a pupil, I have greatly increased
my subject $nowledge throughout the - year course wor$ing on many different projects. I
have gained experience in wor$ing with some specialist areas of design and technology
which ta$e into account the currently changing national curriculum. 3here possible I have
tried to incorporate )%#4)%/ and systems and control into my projects ta$ing advantage of
the advancing technologies becoming increasingly available in schools today.
#uring my time at placement I have been able to broaden my subject $nowledge in specialist
areas such as engineering. I have just finished teaching a pneumatics module with a year 1!
engineering class which I enjoyed and hope to continue challenging myself into my 5.'
year. I have also had the opportunity to teach in primary schools where I have been helping
to run a S.'.*./. project once a wee$ over six wee$s at several different primary schools.
'he project is a solar car challenge and helps pupils engage in the subject of S.'.*./ and
prepares them for the transition to secondary school.
/y strengths as a teacher of design and technology is an enthusiasm of the subject, this
reflects in the way I teach and has helped me in planning and implementing motivating and
engaging lessons. #uring lessons pupils may not share my enthusiasm, but I am able to
ac$nowledge this and if needed brea$ away from the lesson plan and steer the subject to
something that the pupils can relate to and thus regain their engagement. )reating
stimulating and engaging lessons reduces behaviour issues and has helped me with my
classroom management. 3hen incidents arise I ta$e a relaxed approach to begin with and
offer pupils a choice of participating in the lesson and try to show them the benefits this will
create for them. 3here issues persist I have found the schools behaviour policy to be an
invaluable tool. %fter such incidents I ensure to meet with pupils after a cool down period and
restore any bro$en relationships that may have occurred.

#uring lesson I ma$e sure assessment is effective and when possible use formative
assessment throughout lessons, before reflecting on the lesson towards the end so that
pupils are aware of how their feedbac$ has helped them ma$e progress. 'his has
encouraged pupils to achieve a high standard in their &uality of wor$ and given them a sense
of pride at what they have achieved. 3hen planning lessons I use the teaching strategies
taught to me from other staff within the department ta$ing advantage of blooms taxonomy to
implement targeted &uestions that can be used for differentiating in lessons

/y main s$ills and abilities are in resistant materials and systems and control but I have had
experience in the construction and catering industries. I believe these are transferable s$ills
within the department and I hope to use these extra s$ills in an educational setting. I have a
$een interest in computing and programing and hope to utili6e this hobby in the changes that
are to be applied to the design and technology curriculum this year. I am currently teaching
1'/7 and web page design in year 8 I)'. /y mentor was really impressed and has as$ed
me to team teach another class that is being taught by a business studies teacher with little
experience in this subject.
3hen planning lessons I try to ma$e them as practical as possible but in some cases this
can be difficult. #uring a recent 81! engineering lesson I was as$ed to teach a theory lesson
about mechanical advantages. 'o ma$e the lesson more engaging I constructed an
adjustable seesaw that the pupils could use to lift each other at different pivot points. 'his
made the lesson more engaging, gave pupils an opportunity to physically feel the
mechanical advantage for themselves and appealed to all the different learning styles of the
class.
I am a firm believer of the benefits of cross curricular teaching and have recently finished
wor$ing with a year 9 class on a perfume project where pupils use maths science *nglish
and design and technology to produce a perfume with pac$aging, point of sale and a
business plan. 'he pupils are then re&uired to pitch their wor$ to judges from different
industries in a dragons den style competition. 'he project ran over three days with pupils in
teams of ", in my class I had five teams who did really well with one team winning all other
teams across year 9.
I have been involved in extracurricular activities outside of school running an after school
7ego robotics club where pupils are able to build and program robots that can complete set
tas$s. I also wor$ed with two teams completing in the 0x0 in schools challenge which then
went on to compete at 9aguar 7and :over in 7iverpool. 'his was a fantastic day out and
although they didn+t win the pupils gained a lot from the experience. ;nce a wee$ I play five<
a<side football with teachers from across different subject areas which I find is a good way to
relive stress and share ideas.
I am really loo$ing forward to starting my 5.' year and hope to begin in a school where I
can develop my s$ills in teaching and be given the opportunity to push my career forward.