Looking back I am so glad I chose to do my PGCE at UEA.

I didn't know Norwich at all before I started the course but could not have chosen a more friendly University or ‘easy to get to know' city.

Before the course started, the University put me in touch with other student teachers so I was able to find a house-share really quickly.

I met some really lovely people on the course and I remember sharing experiences of good/bad/indifferent lessons with them during our seminars.

I remember being inspired by quite a lot of outside speakers who came in to share teaching ideas with us – one I especially remember was Ian Luff who got us all beating our chests like Roman soldiers!

My school placements were great – I had supportive mentors who let me try out new ideas on their classes. Even the car sharing experience to and from the placement schools was useful as we analysed the lessons we had taught – ‘You'll never believe what happened in my Year 10 lesson today...' ‘That's nothing – my Year 8s said that...'

Since Qualifiying...

I have worked in two very different schools and am now Head of History at a large, vibrant secondary school in Brighton.

This year I am the Lead Practitioner in History for Brighton and Hove which involves me running network meetings for other History teachers across the city. I am also on the Fast track scheme which means I get involved in a number of whole school initiatives – my project this year involves intervention work with C/D borderline science pupils. Last year, I was the school's Mentor Co-ordinator which involved me supporting PGCE mentors and I also worked for one day a week at Sussex University teaching on the History PGCE course. I am planning to do this again next academic year – it's a great way to get out and about and see other schools and watch other History teachers. Also, our school is a Training School and we are all encouraged to deliver INSET to teachers in other schools – all good professional development experience.

I run quite a few History trips – over the past couple of years we have been to Ypres; Normandy and Berlin. There is also plenty of opportunity to go on other school trips – the best one is our annual school trip to Italy – although the 24 hour coach journey is no so much fun!! Our school has many international links and I have visited our ‘sister' school in Normandy on a number of occasions.

One of the main changes in my teaching since I qualified has been my use of ICT. I have an interactive whiteboard in my classroom; my department has a computer suite, and I have also done a bit of video conferencing with the Imperial War Museum. In October, one of my Year 11 groups did a blog for the ‘One Day in History' which led to the local BBC station coming into school to video us!! I finally got my five minutes of fame!! Like all jobs there are some boring parts - I don't especially enjoy marking coursework – especially when there are 60 essays all about the same topic!!

But Overall…

How can you beat this job? You never ‘clock watch' – time flies by. You can be as creative as you want to be in your classroom and you have the chance to work with young people who will always surprise you – they might also frustrate you at times!! Plus you get to teach a subject that you love – although my love affair with the Industrial Revolution has still not blossomed!