Secondary Alumni Spotlight: Neli

As we celebrate 10 years of our teacher training programme, we are sharing the stories of our inspiring alumni. This case study highlights Neli’s journey as a Secondary Geography teacher, overcoming the challenge of training with English as her second language. Through her reflections, she shares her progress from the start of her training to her current impactful role in education.

I always wanted to become a Geography teacher, but I was offered a position in the administration in one university straight out of college and I could not resist. 15 years later, I had a great career – worked in three large international universities, worked up to International Recruitment and Admission Manager, but my dream of teaching Geography remained. I figured out my priorities more so during COVID and started working in one alternative provision as unqualified teacher.

The next year I decided to try a mainstream school and worked there for a year, working for the Science department in the Ashfield School. This is where I heard about Redhill Academy Trust and Inspiring Leaders Teacher Training and all my colleagues confirmed that they have very good reputation. It seemed like a good place to do my SCITT.

I researched online and found many positive comments about the SCITT, and I checked the OFSTED reports of few schools of Redhill Academy Trust. I attended an online information event too and I was very impressed by the Redhill staff and their professionalism. Therefore I chose Redhill and Inspiring Leaders to do my teacher training.

I had many great moments. I struggle selecting just one, but maybe the biggest highlight was the opportunity to meet and communicate with so many experienced and professional educators. I had amazing colleagues in both my placements, and I did not feel as an outsider or different in any way. They were all very positive and welcoming.

Unlike my Masters degree, I did my A-levels in my native Bulgarian language. Therefore, I did not know many of the Geography terms in English. Also, there are many terms coming from the Greek language, but the pronunciation is not the same, which further made my training more challenging. If I’m honest there were moments I felt a bit embarrassed about it.

However, my colleagues intervened and helped me understand that many students have my struggles; it is relatable and normal. I spent lots of time checking the pronunciation of terms in Google, then I practiced and made sure the students also understand the terms and knew how to pronounce them.

I came to the conclusion that even British people can struggle with some words and there is nothing embarrassing in repeating and practicing the pronunciation of an important term. We are all just humans and we all learn and develop.

Since graduating, I am now in my first year as an ECT. I finally have my own classes and classroom. It is exciting and even a bit overwhelming at times. It still feels unreal sometimes! My dream come true!

The one piece of advice I would give to future trainees is that your teacher training year is very intense, and procrastination is not your friend! On the contrary, you need to be consistent and concentrated.

If you’d like to start your journey to becoming a teacher, find out more about us here.