Meet Alice, best known as a runner-up in the Great British Bake Off, 2019. Alongside baking extravagant cakes, she works as a Geography teacher in an all-boys secondary school, teaching students between the ages of 11 and 18. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
Alice Fevronia â Geography teacher
Alice: Iâm Alice, Iâm a secondary school teacher and I teach children between the ages of 11 and 18, geography, Key Stages 3, 4 and 5. I qualified in 2019 so I had to do my degree in geography and then I did a Postgraduate Certificate in Education so my PGCE.
At school, I really didn't know what I wanted to do when I left and it came to picking my A-levels and so I picked a whole range of things and I just chose what I liked so I did philosophy, art, maths and geography and people kind of thought âwell, they don't really go togetherâ, but to me, I just like doing them so that's what made sense to me and then I did geography at university and then I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do and I was fumbling around for a couple of years just trying different things, but I really missed working in schools, so I decided to combine my passion for geography and my love of working in a school environment and I became a teacher.
Once you have your teaching qualification and you start working in a school, youâre an NQT, so youâre a Newly Qualified Teacher. You have so much support from all of your department and other members of staff so you're not completely left on your own. In that first year of teaching, as well as having you know a whole load of assessment criteria that you need to meet and ensuring that youâre feeling comfortable and competent in the classroom, it's a really great year to just find your feet.
I arrive at school about 8:15. After a very much-needed morning coffee, I will register my form, have a couple of lessons so Iâll have about eight lessons a day, sometimes Iâll have a free period where I can do some marking or planning. You don't have to be an extrovert to be a teacher, just think you're never going to be thrown in front of them without any kind of preparation, without any support. You spend time building up when you're training so you'll do maybe like ten, fifteen minutes of a lesson and youâll build up to a whole lesson and honesty, before you even realised it, it just becomes second nature.
I don't think it's a case of it necessarily takes over your life, which I think some people will always assume that it does. Thereâs definitely a work/life balance, itâs just you know you have to find what works for you.
The most satisfying part of the job is when you have a student that perhaps is struggling with something or maybe even just having a down day and you've made a difference to them by finding out what the problem is or helping them work through whatever issue theyâre having or if theyâve just suddenly clicked with something that they're working on, and you kind of think âoh yeah, that was a really good dayâ.
If you're looking for a job that gives kind of real meaning to what you're doing and you know something thatâs going to definitely keep you on your toes and keep you engaged, then yeah, teaching is definitely for you.
(to class) Thank you very much boys, youâve all been wonderful today. You are dismissed.
Class: Thank you Miss! Thanks!
You don't have to be an extrovert to be a teacher.
When Alice left school she wasn't sure what she wanted to do, so at college she chose a range of A-level subjects she enjoyed rather than focusing on a specific career or 'set' of subjects that 'fitted' together.
One of the subjects she studied was Geography, which she continued to study at university. Alice then combined her passion for Geography with her love of working in a school environment, by going on to study for a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education), she now finds real meaning in her job as a secondary school teacher.
What to expect if you want to be a secondary school teacher
- Secondary school teacher average salary: ÂŁ25,714 to ÂŁ41,604 per year
- Secondary school teacher typical working hours: 37 to 45 hours per week
What qualifications do you need to be a secondary school teacher?
You could get into this role via a university course, an apprenticeship or working towards the role.
Sources: LMI for All, National Careers Service
This information is a guide and is constantly changing. Please check the website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed.
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