Chris Thompson

Year of Graduation: 2020

  • Course Level 6 Teaching Apprenticeship
  • School School of Education
  • Nationality British
  • Career industry Education
  • Current job title Primary School Teacher
  • Current Company Shropshire County Council/Norton-in-Hales C of E (VC) Primary School

I felt that being surrounded by lecturers who were experts in their field, whilst also having the time to share experiences with my peers, was crucial to the University of Wolverhampton experience.

The satisfaction I felt when I was told that I had passed the course and heard that the other three members of my cohort had done so too was quite a feeling. On our very first induction day we all spent our lunchtime sat together, feeling shell shocked and quite overwhelmed at what lay ahead, so the feeling that we had all completed everything asked was incredible. I think that the first day was a highlight as that somewhat overwhelming feeling helped to bond us as a group and the support that all four of us gave and received throughout was quite special. Additionally, we struck up a great relationship with our personal tutor, Karen Amos, who understood the pressures we were under and did everything she could to alleviate them at all times.
Ultimately, the teaching apprenticeship course enabled me to be able to pursue a career I thought had passed me by. I was working as a HLTA and PE Lead within a primary school in North Shropshire and was happy with my role. However, when the chance to lead a class as an unqualified teacher whilst completing the apprenticeship was offered, I jumped at the chance to try and achieve a lifelong dream.
There's quite a bit and I'm sure I'll forget to include lots! I plan, prepare and deliver lesson plans, provide feedback on tasks to all pupils and work closely with those who may need a little extra help. I deploy teaching assistants within the room and try to ensure that their many talents are utilised in the best possible way. Communication with parents is key whenever required too. Additionally, I have recently taken on roles of lead of both Music and PE and am currently looking at our progression documents and long term plans across the school with the aim of producing a plan that sees long term and sustained progress for each child. Ultimately, it's an action-packed job and no two days are ever the same... it's great!
I was nominated by my school for the Apprentice of the Year award with our local council, Shropshire and was very surprised and humbled to discover that I had been chosen as the winner. I was very honoured that school leaders had seen fit to nominate me and hoped that I had paid them back for the faith they had shown in me by putting me through the apprenticeship. However, nothing has beaten the feeling I had when I stood in my class for the first time after my NQT certificate had been awarded. Knowing that I'd achieved what I'd aimed to do and was now stood in front of my class with my whole career ahead of me was the most incredible feeling.
I loved my time at the University of Wolverhampton. Our lecturers were friendly, respectful and approachable and the cohort I was in had a great relationship with our personal tutor, Karen. There was a real awareness given to the fact that, alongside the course, we were all busy juggling the responsibilities to our own classes and care was made to make things as stress-free as possible.