Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good Easter. I’ve just finished my block placement with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) so I thought that now would be a good time to write a review of my experience as it’s still fresh in my head. I am studying Primary Education 5 – 11 years. I’ve done this blog in a Q & A style so if you have any more questions or concerns about placement, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll try and answer them.
When did I start placement?
In your first year at SHU, you start placement in November. You will attend that school for the whole of your first year. There is a calendar view of the dates I was in school below, but essentially you’re in school for one week in November and January, 4 weeks in March and every Thursday.
What year group was I in?
I am doing the 5 – 11 years route, therefore I was in that age range. In first year, all 5 – 11 years students are in Key Stage 2 and the 3 – 7 years students are in Early Years Foundation Stage. This means that in second year all Primary Ed students go into Key Stage One. This year, I was teaching in Year 5 which was such a nice year group to be in as the children are able to write quite well and you can have a conversation with them. Next year, I’m looking forward to working with younger children as I do miss my pre-schoolers from last year.
Where was my placement?
Luckily, my placement was very close to where I lived and it was only a short bus journey away. However, my flatmate’s placement was a half an hour train ride away so there is no guarantee you’ll get a placement nearby. Also, at the start of the year you will inform your university of whether you can drive or not. If you declare that you can drive, expect to be driving quite far to your placement.
Was I with anyone on placement?
As I was in first year, my university tries to pair you up with another student. I was with my flatmate which was pretty intense as we were working in the same classroom and then living together. There was no escape! In my school there was also another two first year students and four third year students. This meant there was quite a big student group but it was nice to be able to ask them about their teaching experiences or advice.
What were the staff like?
In my classroom the teachers worked part-time which meant we saw more of the Thursday teacher than the other. But they were both extremely supportive and helped us through our first year. They created an open environment and were open to our suggestions.
How much did I teach?
To begin with, I wasn’t teaching at all as we started off doing teaching assistant roles just to get us used to the school atmosphere. It wasn’t until January that I taught my first lesson and that was because we had an assignment to do. The assignment meant that we had to teach one lesson of English, maths and science and then review it. I did this during the January week placement but besides that I didn’t teach fully until March.
When you have placement in March this is known as ‘block placement’ as you’re there for 4 weeks straight. In your first two weeks, you’re recommended to teach around 25% but by the end you should be teaching around 50%. These percentages get very confusing when you are sharing a class with another student. But they’re flexible and it depends on your school and teacher as to how much you will teach. In block placement, I was teaching at least one lesson a day but generally mostly two.
How were you assessed?
During block placement you will receive 4 formal observations. 3 out of the 4 will be conducted by your class teacher and one will be conducted by your class teacher and a lecturer from university (they are titled ‘university link tutor’). You shouldn’t be scared or put off by the observers. They are there to help you, not scare you.
What should I expect?
- Expect to be tired – 6:30am starts are not fun.
- Expect to get home no earlier than 4pm – marking and classroom tidying become the norm.
- Expect to eat not-so-great – getting home late, tired and hungry means you will make the quickest meal possible.
- Expect that your lesson plan template will change a lot of times during placement – you will be constantly adding and editing it.
- Expect to get quicker at planning – at the start of placement it took be 2+ hours to plan a single lesson but by the end it took only half an hour or so.
- Expect to have free time – yes I said that right! You will have time to see your friends or work. I didn’t think I’d have so much free time but providing you manage your time well you’ll have time to do the things you enjoy.
Any tips?
- Get involved as much as possible – attend parents evening if you can, do playground duty, help at extra curricular events such as choir, contribute to the school’s planning, ask if there’s any residential trips you could attend. All of these experiences will make you into a better teacher.
- Make your lunch the night before – saves you so much time in the morning and you can think more about what you want to eat.
- Set your clothes out the night before – saves you from stressing about what you are going to wear.
- Preparation is key – be prepared for everything and anything!!
- Speak to as many staff members as you can and get to know them.
- Be confident – even if you don’t feel it, act it as the children will never know and they want a confident teacher.
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