Kate

I am bilingual in French and English and have studied German for my A levels and currently in the process of learning Spanish. Being a native French speaker, I am knowledgeable about not just solely language structures and vocabulary, but also the cultural foundations that language is dependent upon, which I feel serve as integral not only to A Level languages study, but also to that of beginners.
The PGCE that I studied at the University of Cumbria (formerly St Martin`s College) has shown me the wealth of engaging visual auditory and kinesthetic strategies available to the Modern Foreign language Teachers. In working with schools that are committed to a communicative approach, I believe that I am capable of adapting the principles of the method to a variety of given classrooms, contexts and ability groups, using several different multimedia approaches, and of writing a scheme of work that would engage pupils as it did in my current school where I successfully replaced English with French as the functional interaction language of the classroom. I believe that my training and the various tutorial programs I attended and my experience have also increased my ability to manage students and handle classroom management. My philosophy in teaching is to cater for every pupil with different learning styles and ensuring each and every one of them are given the opportunity to achieve their aims and make progress using AFL and differentiation in each lesson. I always set high expectations for my students and give high importance to the equal opportunities and achievements that each pupil needs.
My experiences as a second in charge teacher, and head of French have taught me the importance of developing interpersonal and empathetic skills with pupils and to build strong relationships with students and colleagues. I have worked in both a single sex boys’ and girls’ school, and I believe I am well aware of the challenges inherent in raising boys’ and girls’ achievement, particularly in fostering their interest in languages and also encouraging even more pupils than currently do so to keep up their language studies post Key Stage 3 and beyond. As a qualified teacher I have been convinced of the importance of being seriously involved in looking after the personal and social well-being of each pupil, through my personal involvement in parents’ evenings and twilight sessions as well as my responsibility as KS4 Coordinator. I thus have high expectations for all the learners and I consider it important to encourage independent learning, I include in my lessons pair work, and peer assessment. The use of ICT is also an important part of my teaching, as I believe it can promote creativity and confidence.

Availability: Every day 9 am to 5 pm

Willing to travel: 5 miles

Experience: In my different professional roles I have worked as second in charge / head of French and KS4 coordinator. I believe in a communicative approach to languages and have put in place many successful strategies to help my learners.