After over four years of teaching, I have grown into a driven, multi-skilled and compassionate teacher, who constantly strives to improve my practice. I have visited Brazil many times and I have fallen in love with its vibrancy, culture, diversity and language. Therefore, the British College of Brazil is the ideal place to continue my career.
I believe promoting learning behaviours and a growth mind-set has the greatest impact on children’s progress. Attitudes such as resilience, teamwork, independence and resourcefulness can motivate children to take responsibility for their own education and give them the self-belief to strive to reach their potential, no matter their starting point.
Providing children with many opportunities for oracy, dialogical talk and purposeful conversation in the classroom is very important. It enables them to practise writing, share and develop ideas and listen to a range of vocabulary in context. It also boosts confidence – for example, when voicing opinions and sharing work in front of the class – especially with children who have English as an additional language or special educational needs.
After much professional development training, including a middle leadership qualification, I have been involved in a range of school improvement initiatives, such as restructuring the teaching of writing in my year group, producing a school, wide spelling initiative and developing the homework policy. I also mentored two student teachers, who received ‘Outstanding’ feedback by the end of the placement. Recently, I have led staff training in targeted teaching.
I was the Music Co-ordinator at my last school. This involved running weekly singing assemblies and driving initiatives, such as teaching ukulele and the introduction of ´Charanga´ - an online music programme. I also run a choir, which have taken part in various performances and competitions. I would love the opportunity to continue to share my passion for music in my future teaching career.
I have an excellent relationship with children and parents, who comment on how well I understand the children’s unique personalities and intricacies. My students know that I want them to be successful both in school and in life, which I believe helps them to develop a positive attitude towards learning.