After many years of being a part time stay at home mum, I decided to fulfil my dream of becoming a teacher.

As soon as I began my placement everything fell into place and I realised that this was exactly where I wanted to be. Being part of a school and a whole new family of colleagues and students was empowering and the joy of seeing students fully engaged in my lessons, and achieving new goals is like no other job I have done.

GITEP was instrumental in developing this. The school-centred approach allowed me to experience school life as early as week 2 of my training. Weekly subject pathway sessions were great fun and allowed all the D&T trainees to meet with our subject lead, develop our practical skills and share our experiences of our various schools.

Returning to education as a more mature student did bring its concerns. I was worried I would be too old, and perhaps not fit in with the younger trainees and teachers, but this was far from the truth. In fact, having had many years of life experience and my own children has helped immensely, and the support from GITEP, my mentors and school colleagues has been fantastic.