OXFORD

EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Catrin Mayes
PGCE Secondary (Modern
Languages) at University of
Oxford
St John’s College, BA
Modern Languages (French
& Spanish), 2015
WHAT: I will be taking up a
teaching post at a state school in
North Oxfordshire from June 2016
following completion of a 1 year PGCE.
During this training, I’ve had room to
experiment with different ways of teaching
and I’ve been consistently challenged
throughout this year in a way that has
been really positive and supportive.
WHY: I wanted to do a job where I could
see the results of my work and where I
would never stop learning and improving.
I also find young people entertaining – so
teaching was an obvious choice!
I decided on the PGCE route into teaching
because I wanted to think more deeply
about how to be an effective teacher and
to be encouraged to think about why we
teach children the way we do in the UK.
The Oxford Internship has a good time
balance looking at the theory at the start
of the course, followed by two blocks of
full-time school placements, so it was the
best of both worlds.
HOW MY DEGREE HELPED ME: Learning
to teach is a pretty steep learning curve
- there’s constant feedback, especially
from the pupils ..! My Bachelor’s
degree built open-mindedness and
resilience, and taught me how to
learn and to never stop learning.
Juggling lots of different societies and
clubs and essays over the course of
my degree definitely developed my
time-management skills, which have
turned out to be very useful.
TOP SKILLS FOR SUCCESS: Plenty of
motivation; believing young people
are great; liking to work out what
makes people tick. Positive thinking
and willingness to change your mind
and admit that sometimes you might
get things wrong!
THE BEST BITS: Getting my year 7
class to write their own raps – and
performing my own as MC Miss
Mayes so that they wouldn’t be
so embarrassed! Also all those
moments when a child who really
believes they just “can’t do it, Miss”
realises that maybe they can after all.
Matthew Wood
Teacher of History and
Deputy Head of Sixth Form,
Magdalen College School,
Oxford
Lincoln College,
BA History, 2011
WHAT: I teach 7 classes across a wide
age range (13-18), and cover an equally
wide range of historical periods from
Cromwell’s Protectorate to Khomeini’s
Islamic Republic, and from Victorian
politics to the Nazi state.
As Deputy Head of Sixth Form, I oversee
the L6th (Yr12). This can mean taking
a morning assembly on what makes
effective study, having one-on-one chats
with pupils to discuss their academic
progress, having meetings with new
pupils and parents to discuss how
they’ve integrated into their new school,
and arranging extension seminars for the
summer term (often, all of these might
happen on one day!). An equal weight is
put into me coaching hockey in the Hilary
term, or helping organise a trip to Berlin.
Variation is the most exciting element;
I’m never bored!
EARLY CAREER: I’m currently teaching
in my second school. I found the
move between them relatively easy
because they are similar kinds of school
(academic, independent, day
schools). In teaching, it’s possible to
gain additional responsibility very
quickly, be that as coach of a sports
team, tutor to a form group, or
pastoral role as head of year. These
opportunities are readily available
– you just have to be keen to get
involved in the life of the school in
the fullest sense, have to organise
yourself well, and have confident
presentational skills (and, of course,
be willing to work the occasional
long day!).
ADVICE: The vast majority of
teaching jobs can be found in the
Times Educational Supplement
(TES). Teachers are generally rather
evangelical about their profession
and it’s always worth asking an old
teacher of yours for advice – I’ve
already replied to several requests for
advice from old pupils. Lastly, schools
are always interested in dynamic and
driven Oxford graduates. It seems we
make good teachers!
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