23 Laugherne Road

St Johns
Worcester
WR2 5LP

Mr Curtis
Wigmore School,
Ford Street,
Wigmore
Leominster,
Herefordshire,
HR6 9UW
Date: 28/03/2017

Dear Sir,

I wish to apply for the position of the Food Technology and Textiles Teacher as seen on your
school website. I am currently studying a PGCE in Design and Technology in Food and Textiles
at Worcester University. I will complete my PGCE by the end of June and I am therefore
looking to start in September or earlier if needed.

My first placement was at North Bromsgrove High School in Worcestershire. I taught Textiles
to KS3, KS4 and KS5. Food and Nutrition and Health and Social Care to KS4, Resistant
Materials to KS4. During my first placement I also had a form group and ran after school
activities such as, setting up a teddy bear club for KS4 pupils. This gave me a chance to teach
extra skills such as pattern cutting, marking out patterns and sewing difficult seams, inspiring
them to considering applying the skills learnt into their GCSE projects. My lesson observations
have highlighted my organisation, my strong resources and planning and behaviour
management, I feel all the qualities are something that I can bring to Wigmore High School.

My current placement is at Lacon Childe School in Shropshire, I am teaching textiles to KS3

and KS4, PSHE to KS4, food and nutrition to KS3 and KS4. I also have a form group and have
been involved with the costumes and hair and make up for the school play mermaid. I have
received my interim school report and I have achieved all teachers standards and six out of
eight teachers standards have been graded as outstanding. Moving forward into completing
the PGCE, I am aiming to be a qualified teacher with an outstanding status.
During my PGCE I have focused on setting high expectations, planning and teaching well-
structured lessons by being able to take schemes of work and adapting them to strengthen
the needs of all pupils along with promoting the love of learning. I feel these areas are
important when teaching a creative subject and is an important aspect on my PGCE course.
As highlighted in your school prospectus, Wigmore School offers an innovative, broad and
balanced curriculum which meets the needs of individuals, encouraging confidence and
independence. I believe this post will provide me with a good opportunity to put this into
practice and develop my teaching approaches.

During my teaching I have been able to implement different teaching strategies, which have
helped me to improve pupils understanding and knowledge in the subject. When planning my
lessons I aim to develop pupils knowledge of learning, I have been able to do this through the
use of target setting, group activities, class discussions, paired work, individual work and
questioning in starters and plenaries. In my lessons I have ensured I support the needs of all
pupils in my class and provide different level tasks and questioning so all pupils can achieve
and progress, as commented in my school report Paige has consistently set high
expectations which inspire motivate and challenge pupils in her lessons, planning included a
wide variety of activities, with some scaffolding for lower level learners and more challenging
tasks for those working at a higher level. Paige developed excellent skills in planning to
promote good progress and outcomes by pupils.

I believe in providing a supportive and caring learning environment so that all pupils have the
opportunity to grow as individuals providing opportunities so that pupils believe in their own
potential. I set high expectations of my pupils to ensure the best outcome and establish a
safe and positive classroom environment, as mentioned by my mentor Paige has established
good behaviour management strategies from the start of her placement demonstrating her
confident manner with students, this has ensured a good and safe learning environment.

In my placement I motivate pupils by having rewards in place such as best decoration

reward in textiles and Chef of the week or baker of the week in food and nutrition during
practical lessons. This really helps pupils to engage in the practical and adds in an element of
competition, which helped to motivate pupils. During selecting the rewards I get pupils to
peer assess one anothers work and feedback their strengths and what they like about their
work. This promotes a positive classroom environment and gets pupils to think about
techniques that they like, that they may not have considered using before. In my lessons I
make sure that I circulate and speak to individual pupils about the work they are doing, giving
encouragement and constructive feedback. I feel that it is important to motivate pupils to
achieve their potential and develop those transferable skills that Design & Technology lessons
can offer.

I am an enthusiastic, creative and flexible teacher who can reflect, Im open minded, patient
and I believe that my industrial knowledge to promote my first subject, textiles, to the next
generation of pupils, as education is very important and teaching contributes a lot to a childs
future. I want to share what I have learnt with others so that I can inspire and encourage
them aswell as leading them into their own futures. Prior to
teaching I have worked in H&M as a ladieswear manager and I then went on to be a
Menswear Trainee Buyer at NEXT head office in both accessories and clothing, after
completing my degree with first class honours. I am an enthusiastic teacher and I believe
that I can use my industrial knowledge in my first subject to benefit pupils learning and
curiosity in the subject. I have also taken part in organising a sixth form fashion show and a
school trip to the Clothes Show Live. Outside of teaching I enjoy theatre shows and the sport.
I am a licensed Zumba instructor, this is something I hope to be able to offer as an after
school activity to get pupils enthusiastic and engaged in exercise and joining a club, maybe
using it to set up charity events for the school. In my first placement
school I was able to teach a lesson on production methods, which I could, then link to my
industrial experiences and provide the pupils with real life examples. As my mentor
commented in my school report: Paige was able to use her previous experience in retail and
her degree courses to engage students and thus impart knowledge in a realistic and
understandable manner supporting the subject specification. Within the lesson she was then
able to use question and answering techniques to establish the learners understanding.
Paige has a strong ability to plan and teach well-structured lessons.

Reflecting on my experiences in education, I appreciate the importance and impact that

teachers make on the lives of young people and I believe I have a lot of knowledge and
enthusiasm to offer young people. I am committed to making positive contributions as a
teacher by being a role model, helping to inspire whilst guiding and developing creative
minds in design and technology and in wider professional development. As highlighted on
your school website, Wigmore School is committed to being an inclusive learning community
in which every child succeeds regardless of additional needs or circumstances. Narrowing the
gaps in attainment, progress and opportunities between children is an integral part. As a
teacher it is important to support pupils outside of the classroom as well as in a classroom
environment, having undertaken pastoral duties within my placements this is an area in
which I believe pupils need support and having a community environment within a school
really supports this.

I am a very organised person who is committed to teaching and promoting my subject to the
best of my ability. I am able to work and communicate in a team effectively and draw on the
advice of other professionals when needed as highlighted in both school reports alongside my
lesson observations. I am willing to learn and extremely keen to broaden my experience. I
believe I can take the passion and dedication for the subject, which I have used during my
PGCE year, into my first teaching post. I am confident that my motivation and my ability to
work well with others is something that I can bring to your school as well as the classroom.

I am excited about the opportunities and challenges of this post and would welcome the
opportunity of an interview at the school.

Yours sincerely,

Paige Harrison