After finishing her PGCE, Leanne Wilkins thought she would have to go back into working in fashion before a role came up for her in teaching. Instead, she went straight from her PGCE at Chesterfield College into her dream teaching job.
Leanne loved her time here at Chesterfield College, both as a student and a member of staff.
“I originally came to college straight from school, back in 2009, to study fashion and then went straight onto university to do a fashion degree. After working in design for a few years, I decided I wanted to go into teaching fashion and so I came back to college to do my PGCE whilst also working part time.”
“I did a voluntary student placement at Chesterfield College and then a couple of opportunities came up for me to get paid work here. I was working as a LEAP mentor four days a week and then an academic coach role came up so I went for that, as it gave me great classroom experience.”
The two-year, part time PGCE was perfect for Leanne, as it fit conveniently around her existing work commitments.
“I always wanted to go into teaching but I just wasn’t sure when or how that would fit in with my life. The PGCEs that I was aware of were all full time and so to gain a teaching qualification would mean leaving my existing job. I had a house and a mortgage, so to just up and leave your job seemed scary. When I heard about the two-year, part time course here at Chesterfield College I thought it was a great opportunity. It allowed me work part time and study for my dream role.”
Leanne’s dream combination of teaching and fashion soon turned into reality, securing a job straight from her PGCE.
“I was working as an academic coach here at college and saw a job at West Notts College to teach fashion. Whilst I loved working at Chesterfield College, I knew how rare it was for a job teaching fashion to come up, because it’s quite a niche subject area. I really wasn’t expecting it, but I got the role and last month I started as a full-time teacher of fashion and textiles.”
“It’s been a whirlwind couple of years and I never expected to get to where I have as quickly as I have. The industry is so small and competitive. I’m the only fashion teacher at West Notts and there were plenty of applicants so I feel very lucky to have got the position.”
Chesterfield College helped Leanne prepare for the world of teaching and gave her the skills needed to get straight into employment.
“During my PGCE, the discussions we had particularly around behaviour management really set me up for the working world. We had some training over at West Notts the other day around classroom management that was based on a book we studied for our PGCE. It just shows that the training you receive comes back around and it’s genuinely useful.”
“One thing I think we all found really helpful on the course was a ‘micro teach’ we completed during our first term. For this, we had to teach for thirty minutes in front of our peers and you didn’t necessarily have to teach your subject area, just something interesting. It was a little intimidating to start with, because you’re teaching people who are the same age as you or older, but it was really useful preparation for interviews. The ‘micro teach’ I did for that lesson is nearly the exact ‘micro teach’ I did during my interview for West Notts College.”
Leanne was nervous that a lack of teaching experience might hold her back, but she found the course really accessible and quickly found her feet in the classroom.
“I came into my PGCE with no teaching background whatsoever. So to have studied part time for two years and then land essentially my dream job is amazing. There’s been a lot of tears over the past few months. It has been emotional because I’m just so appreciative and I really didn’t expect it.”
“I was a little bit intimidated to start with because people on the course were either already working in a teaching setting or they had come straight from degrees. This meant they were either very much in that academic mind-set or that teaching mind-set. I, on the other hand, was still in the design world. However, once I got that experience of teaching in the classroom, a few things just instantly clicked. I think that’s something really good about the PGCE course at Chesterfield College. They really encourage you to do as much teaching as you can.”
Despite starting her course in the midst of the pandemic, Leanne and her peers flourished. She said this was largely down to the great support they received from tutors.
“The support we received was amazing! With my university degree being based in art & design, although I did a dissertation, it was never from an academic perspective. Instead, it was more design focused. Plus, I’d been out of education for about six or seven years and all of that meant I was a little bit worried about the academic side of the PGCE. However, we received loads of support with the academic side and a lot of feedback from the tutors.”
“We also got a lot of support in terms of the pastoral side of things. The tutors were great in supporting us through personal and financial aspects, especially with the pressures of COVID.”
Leanne had a key piece of advice for anyone thinking of getting onto the PGCE course.
“Wider reading is a really good thing to do. It’s hard because a lot of people on the course are working alongside studying, so finding the time can be difficult. It’s all about balance.”
“Through the course you start to find your feet on what you want to focus on in your teaching. So, it’s about focusing on wider reading that is relevant to your industry and getting the information that will genuinely benefit your teaching. It may be that you’re teaching construction, so behaviour management is a big thing to focus on. Whereas, for me, I’m quite interested in futureproofing the course and sustainability. I’m hoping to do a project on sustainability in my new role because it’s such a key topic in fashion at the minute.”