Nargis Ahmed

This is my supporting statement required to apply for English teaching jobs. 

I am writing this supporting statement for the teacher of English job which definitely captured my interest for many reasons, of which I will outline in this supporting statement. One of the reasons I wanted to apply for this role was that I am incredibly honest and hardworking and feel that these qualities, as well as others, are imperative to becoming a valued teacher. Although the pandemic made completing the PGCE difficult, this did not hinder my success on the PGCE teacher training degree, in which I gained incredibly good grades. All of the feedback I received while on the PGCE course was incredible and I honestly felt an incredible surge of power when I was teaching. I was graded several merits when being observed by my university tutors and placement mentors. One of my biggest regrets in life is not qualifying to be a teacher sooner, and I have since come to the conclusion that I may have felt much more determined and a much harder working individual as I have become older and wiser. One of the other reasons I have chosen to apply for this particular job is that I have the right degree, as I have a degree in English, something that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have a passion for literature and am very well read, something which I feel will give me the confidence to do the job applied for very well. I was often accompanied by a mentor whilst on placements, especially at the start, once I found my feet, I was able to teach and manage a classroom unsupervised. An example of this was when I began a placement at Philips High School, I was expected to manage the class unsupervised, something I felt I did incredibly well as I showed initiative and used the behaviour management policies deployed by the school in order to manage any behavioural issues. This placement really gave me independence in terms of what I could teach, this is because I had the freedom to choose any literature I wanted to teach as long as it was 19th century, including Shakespearian literature. During the years I spent completing the English degree I read a very wide variety of literature this includes the classics like Emily Bronte’s 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Emma’ by Charlotte Bronte as well as many Shakespearean plays, yet also included more up to date literature. I read many books and really enjoyed the work of Toni Morrison, and particularly liked the novel called 'Sula'. The novel addresses race, sex and freedom from a women's perspective. There was also a module titled ‘What women want’, which was certainly one of my favourite modules studied. This was because I got the opportunity to read many feminist texts, this includes Virginia Wolf’s, ‘Mrs Dalloway’, which was about gender expectations in the 1920’s. On many occasions I was expected to use my own initiative in terms of what I was to plan for lessons. I loved the creative aspects of planning lessons and was very immersed in the subjects I was teaching. An example of this is when I was planning a lesson on ‘Dramatic Shifts in Tone’ in texts that were being studied. I planned a lesson where I used the fairy-tale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ and set the learners an activity where they were to dramatically change the tone of the fairy-tale with a creative and interesting approach. This activity was incredibly engaging and was a success as it got the learners to understand ‘Dramatic Shift in Tone’ and its purpose in a text or piece of writing. Some of my other favourite lessons that I recall teaching include teaching dystopian fiction and analysing the conventions of the genre. I had taught this class to year 8 and they were very engaged by how interesting some of the texts we looked at were, such as Ray Bradbury’s, ‘The Pedestrian’, which I found one of the most interesting as it depicts what life could be like in an era that is completely destroyed and modernised by possible advances in modern technology. Which moves me nicely on to talk about the forever changing world of education and how we are always trying to improve every day. I have done much reading on how the syllabus for English language GCSE and English literature GCSE are being redesigned to become more demanding in order to bring 16-yearold school leavers up to par with international standards. The use of technology to support classroom practice is evident in almost all my taught lesson so far. Teaching a subject like English we can almost always show a video clip of some sort to not only engage learners but also emphasise diversity and variety in our practice. I am however proficient in my use of Power Point to help aid the lesson with colourful imagery and various textual resources. I can most certainly use Microsoft word and online teaching platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. As we are just coming out of a global pandemic, I recognised just how important being efficient with technology is, as much of my teaching regarding the PGCE was completed online via Zoom and Teams. We all felt massive gratitude for technology and its forever growing benefits. I am more than capable of using an interactive whiteboard in the classroom as I have done so on many occasions and its benefits are definitely varied. One being the visual aspects of teaching and learning which for many learners are much better than traditional blackboard and chalk methods of teaching. Whilst on placement at Bolton Islamic Girls School I was thrown in at the deep end as I was expected to teach a lot of classes a week which as a trainee, I had to really grasp everything quite quickly. I did however hit the ground running and received very positive feedback from my mentor who was very helpful and supportive. I am a British born Pakistani something I think will bring diversity and inclusivity to the role. To sum up I would like to finish by adding that I am very enthusiastic about the role and would be excited if I was considered.

Edgar Wood Academy English Teacher

Bolton Islamic Girls School

BA Honours English 2:2

PGCE- Post Graduate Certificate in Education 14+ Literacy and ESOL.   Theory-Pass and Teaching Practice-merit