It’s Day 4 of my May-Hem challenge already (apologies – I realise this will be going on late.
I started writing but felt so ill and couldn’t carry on…), and today’s blog post is going to be focusing on the fact that my journey to where I am now has been somewhat haphazard. Oh, and yes, I’m a mum and a teacher, but I am also much more.
Some of my earliest memories centre around education, whether I was in school or pretending to be the teacher. I also vividly recall seeing items as I was walking along a beach and thinking to myself, “I could do a lesson about shells when I become a teacher,” and things like that a lot. In other words, I had my heart set on a career in education from a young age.
V98 changed my life somewhat, though. Prior to that festival, I was a pretty shy, goody-two-shoes, always committing myself 100% to my school work. I suppose that this festival and my discovery of boys and freedom probably tied in with starting my A levels. Academia stopped coming so easily to me, and I had to knuckle down… but I didn’t really do that. The two A level years came and went, along was regular attendance at Blaises’ rock and indie night in Middlesbrough and general partying. I decided against going to university because I wanted some freedom. I spent a summer in Belgium as an au pair. Generally, I was rebelling. In fact, on A level results day, I changed my way completely: dumped my boyfriend, applied for uni and started preparing for a different kind of freedom.
And so, I made my way back to the path to becoming a teacher, albeit a slightly different route to the one I had planned years previously. Yes, I was one of those kids who asked for prospectuses from various universities years in advance.
At the age of 23, I finally qualified as a teacher, having done a four-year degree and a year-long PGCE. Unfortunately, this tied in with a time that schools were being amalgamated or shut down in Hull, where I was living at the time, and I found it impossible to secure a job in Yorkshire. I began applying further afield, and that brought me to Norfolk, my then fiancé’s home county. Two years at one school where I successfully passed my NQT year, then five years at another where I really developed as a practitioner, and then I became a mum. Yes, I know I’ve missed out the bit where my molar pregnancy meant I was seriously ill and nearly died, but you all know that anyway (and just in case you don’t, I’ve put a link in to allow you to read all about it)!
Upon returning to work part-time, I felt somewhat disillusioned with education in its current form. The 2010 coalition government and then the 2014 National Curriculum changed things dramatically for me. Anyway, another baby, another part-time return and a distinct plan to change my future by moving out of education altogether or entering the SEND world. While I was on maternity leave, I was lucky to visit an SRB for autism and a complex needs school. Just a few months later, I was delighted to secure a part-time teaching role at the latter. I hadn’t banked on my marriage breaking down, but a brand-new start both personally and work-wise was just what the Dr ordered.
And so, here I am now, contemplating the future and wondering what it holds for me. Time will tell, I suppose.
