Madeline Spokes

I am leaving secondary education after 14 years as an English and Support Teacher. I am looking for a new challenge in further education or council services.

I have a lot of customer care skills experience with younger adults and teenagers, but also with parents. I have worked in three London schools, and in Scotland, I have worked in Lochgelly and Inverkeithing High Schools. I have loved the experience of meeting a huge range of adults and young people in this time, from widely differing cultures and walks of life. Empathy is one of my strongest personality traits and I try to put myself into the shoes of the young people I am teaching or talking to, considering some of the challenges they may face and how best to connect with them and build a relationship.

From August 2020 to April 2021, I worked as a Nurture Support teacher in the Support for Learning Department in Inverkeithing. This experience was invaluable in consolidating my skills when working with young people experiencing the most challenging of situations including bereavement, being in care and other social and emotional adversity that caused them to present with challenging behaviours. I gained experience learning how to help them feel safe and secure enough to start re-engaging with their subjects including English in the Wellbeing Room as a stepping stone to re-entering the classroom. I ran several small groups including one helping pupils deal with anxiety. I was privileged to listen to what they wanted to talk over when they were ready to do so. This was a very meaningful time for me, but it also made me return to teaching mainstream English after a few years in Additional Support and Support for Learning due to how rewarding it was to support learners re-engage with their English work. 

As regards Public Speaking, I have my years of teaching experience delivering to learners across the age range, but I have also given short presentations to parents at for example the P7 Open Evenings. In my previous career as a picture editor, I also had to present to my team or to clients, so I have some experience of delivering business presentations. 

I have excellent literacy skills which I use to prepare and deliver lessons to pupils from S1 to S6 and also to pupils in our Supported Learning Provision (DAS). I have strong numeracy skills and experience of running two businesses, the photo library Babyarchive.com and Madeline Spokes Photography from 2007 to 2011. 

My attention to detail and accuracy is apparent when I deliver lessons via Powerpoint or Word documents, in my marking and assessment, at parents’ evenings and by phone and email to parents. Last Summer I marked Higher English Folios for the SQA as part of a marking team.

I am competent at prioritising workloads and used to managing my time. I currently teach S2 to S6 and have taught S1-6 for many years. This involves planning, delivering and marking for BGE, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher, all with different assessment dates throughout the academic year and different reporting dates and parents’ evenings. Within the school week and day, priorities change as class locations and individual pupil situations evolve so I am used to thinking on my feet to rejig what I am doing to fit in fire alarms, assemblies, issues of behaviour, absences and sometimes just tasks taking either longer or shorter than expected. 

I have always been someone who brings the energy to my classroom or department. I believe that a zest for life and learning new ways to do things helps learning and work be constantly evolving and energising. In our school we are continually looking to involve pupils in having a voice and leading their learning and I am always on the lookout for content and resources that are fun, energetic and engaging. 

I’m also committed to CPD most recently improving my understanding of Mental Health support by completing a six hour in-school Mental Health Support Training CPD course in Spring 2024. I learnt more about supporting young people with a range of mental health related issues including disordered eating, self-harm and a range of trauma experiences. I have been involved with Kitbag since my time in the Wellbeing Room and did further Kitbag CPD in Summer 2024. 

I have a range of experience in using my initiative to develop practical solutions to resolve a range of pupil needs. I have a solution focused attitude to all learners, meeting and greeting them warmly and enthusiastically at the start of each lesson, checking in with them regularly and appreciating that they have a range of abilities and ways they access learning. I have prepared and differentiated lessons to ensure dyslexic, visually impaired and hearing-impaired students or those with complex needs can access the teaching resources. I have also worked both inside and outside school with students who are non-attenders to support them to catch up and guide them through what they need to learn and practice. 

I pride myself on taking ownership for the learning of all the individuals in my classes. It is my responsibility to make sure that all the learners can access and understand all the class content that they need to learn. I reach out to learners who are not in class on their Glow email and provide weekly updates on their class TEAMS pages. I also reach out to their Guidance teachers to check on their situation and to provide material emailed directly or to set up 1-to-1 catch up sessions in my non-contact time. I am tenacious at not giving up on anyone and doing my best to support them with lunch and post school study support. In the Easter Holidays I provided a day of study support with Nat 5 students from 9am to 1230pm and then Higher Students from 1.30 to 3.30pm. 

I am definitely a team player and being a considerate and helpful team member is very important to me. I make a lot of resources including Word documents and PPTS for my classes and I will always upload them to the department TEAMS page for others to use. Teaching can be intense and stressful at times, and I have been lucky to have a department where many of us support each other and are willing to listen when others need time to help process challenging experiences. I am leaving my post just before the new timetable starts and it was important for me to wait until this time to do this and not leave my pupils or my team in the lurch. I am leaving several hard copy resources for others to use. 

I have a good knowledge of Council Services especially those related to Education, including CAMHS and Social Services and have done recent CPD online training courses on Data Protection, Fraud and Counter Terrorism. In my current job I use Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel, TEAMS, SEEMIS and Oracle. On securing this role I would be keen to undertake online and in person training to learn about the new services and systems I would be using. 

PGCE English - Institute of Education

MA History of Art - University College London

BA English/History of Art First Class Honours - University of York

2 Advanced Highers  6 Highers AAABBB  8 Standard Grades All Grade 1