The Student Teachers in the Western Region have now come to the end of their placements in the classrooms and have travelled back to Holy Child College of Education to sit their final exams. To mark this, a Student Teacher Moving on Meeting was held to prepare them to implement the programme in their own classrooms when they begin their year as Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in September, as well as providing an opportunity to celebrate all of their achievements over the last year.

The day began with the sharing of best practice and innovative ideas from the Student Teachers’ classrooms, which gave everyone some inspiration and new ideas to take to their new schools. The Student Teachers also each shared with each other three benefits that they have gained as a result of the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training programme.

We were delighted that some of last year’s student teachers, who are now NQTs and implementing the programme in their own classrooms, were able to travel back to Holy Child and share their experiences of being out on their own. This was excellent motivation for many of the Student Teachers, who were able to see that it is possible to successfully implement the programme as NQTs.

The Student Teachers also had the opportunity to walk across the ‘wobbly bridge’- representing how they may be feeling about becoming teachers in charge of their own classrooms. Whilst walking across the bridge the Student Teachers said they felt unstable, scared, excited and anxious- many of the same things that they feel about becoming NQTs. Advice on how best to implement the programme on their own was given, filling the Student Teachers with more confidence and excitement about becoming NQTs.

The day ended with a celebration of the Student Teachers achievements and the presentation of certificates. The Principal of Holy Child College gave an excellent speech, encouraging her students to continue implementing all that they have learnt.

We wish all of the students the best of luck with their exams and life as NQTs from September. We look forward to following their progress and congratulations for all their hard work this year!