Transcription
Hi guys, welcome back to sharescorebeans. And today I'm going to be taking you through my personal statement for my PGCE. Um, I've applied for September 2021, and I've got into all three of my selected places. That's amazing. I've just gotta make the choice of which um, university or training facility I wanna do my PGCE under. But yeah, I'm gonna run you through my personal statement.
And the reason why I'm doing this is, well, one reason why I'm doing this is because I've seen other YouTubers doing it. I've been following this amazing YouTube channel, um, this girl called Miss Greenwich I believe, and her videos are really insightful. She's doing her PGCE at UCL right now, and she's just um, posted a video about her personal statement and what she wrote. And also, I'm doing this because I don't mean to brag, but when I was being interviewed, the interviewer, she told me that my personal statement was one of the best she's ever read. So I was thinking, okay, let me share with you all to give you some pointers about what you can write, how you can structure it. And just so you know, obviously you can't copy it because that would be plagiarism, and I've already submitted it through UCAS. But this is just to give you a few ideas. So let's go.
Okay, before we get into it, you need to do a few things. So I'm going to link my PGCE interview experience along with the 10 exact interview questions I was asked during that interview up there, and you, you need to add that to your watch later, or you need to watch it right after this video. And then you need to subscribe to this channel because I'm gonna be, I'm taking you on my journey of this PGCE. And also, I want you to comment down if you're doing the same thing so that I can follow your channel because I really want to see everybody's experience, and it would be amazing if we can all support each other. So watch the video, watch this video, and subscribe and comment below. And let's get started. So take notes because this is how I've structured it, and I'm going to tell you exactly what I said.
So the first paragraph, you need to talk about why you want to become a teacher. Your first paragraph always needs to be about why you want to become a teacher. So this is what I wrote in my first paragraph. It's really small, but it's just that starting statement for this personal statement. So, "During my experience of school life, I'm working in education; there is an understanding that we always want the best for children, as well as them knowing that they can always rely on their teachers. As an aspiring primary school teacher, this is an understanding that I am adamant in reflecting between my pupils and myself." So there, I'm basically stating that I want the children to know that they can always rely on me if they need anything. This can be to do with school life and home life as well, because when you're talking about primary school, when you want to work in education, there's so much to do with safeguarding and the well-being of students. So I want them to know that they can rely and trust me, and that's what, because I've experienced that myself when I've been in education, and this is something that I'm adamant in reflecting between myself and my future pupils.
Okay, bear in mind you only got about 41 lines on UCAS. You know how UCAS has a word limit? I forgot how many words it is, but I believe it's 41 lines, so I had to do so much cutting down. You really just need to get straight to the point. So in my second paragraph, or you can link this to that first short statement, I've spoken about the age group that I want to teach and why I want to teach this age group. So I wrote, "Throughout my time working with children at the youth club and the primary school I currently work at, I'm not going to say the names, I'm most eager to teach Key Stage 2 children. Once I had completed my master's degree in Early Childhood Leadership and Practice with a distinction," you've got, you gotta brag about yourself, "I was able to apply my knowledge of the stages in child development and realize how children within Key Stage 2 benefit most from great pedagogies and leadership. I know that children in this particular stage need immense encouragement in their efforts so that they can evolve and yearn for achievement. Second to their parents, our expectations of them will have a large impact on their social and educational development, and that is something I feel I will be able to help my pupils with if I became a primary school teacher." So to summarize, I'm saying I want to work with Key Stage 2 children, and this is because during my master's degree in Early Childhood Leadership and Practice, I learned that child within child development, children in Key Stage 2, they're most active with their social and educational needs, so they benefit most from like good learning ways of learning and leadership, and they yearn for, for achievement as well, and that's what I want to help my pupils with when I teach Key Stage 2 in the future.
In this third paragraph in my PGCE personal statement, I'm kind of listing the vital experience that I've had that's going to really help me with this PGCE course and help me become a primary school teacher. So you're only going to list things in this part that actually relates to your course. Like, say I worked in McDonald's back in like 2014, I'm not really going to write that in a PGCE personal statement because that really doesn't relate to teaching, like unless you're applying to midday supervisor, but you're not, you're applying to teacher. You're not going to include things like that in your personal statement, just things that really relate to being a teacher, like organizational skills, leadership, etc. So let me read what I wrote to you in this third paragraph. "I believe that I have already made some contribution to this within my current role as a teaching assistant, which is my current role now. I have over years experience in this role supporting a number of SEN pupils on a one-to-one basis in the classroom and often liaise with the SENCO inclusion manager to deliver SEM provision. I also support, I also provide targeted support outside of the classroom and working on differentiated activities with groups of children using our school's Zones of Regulation plan, is kind of like a plan B cell to help kids um, emotionally regulate, and the British social curriculum, which is kind of like a website for activities of activities for children with autism. I help pupils to develop their social emotional skills depending on individual need and work closely with teachers are minor professionals to monitor their progress throughout the school day. I reinforce lessons presented by teachers by reviewing material with students one-on-one or in small groups. In addition to this, I have led my own handwriting and Read Write Inc classes where I taught students how to develop an understanding and application of phonics to guide them with the fundamental skills of reading and writing." So I'm kind of writing the essential like key experiences and skills that I have that's really going to benefit me when I'm planning to teach and what's actually going to benefit the children who have me as their teacher.
Now, in this final paragraph, I've kind of outlined what I've learned in my past educational experiences, if that makes sense, like kind of like applying theory that I've learned from my university degree when I'm actually involving myself with the children. So let me read you this final paragraph. Oh, there's two, well, there's one this final paragraph and then a small tiny conclusion. Sorry. I wrote, "Furthermore, I retained many critical reflection and leadership skills that I had learnt throughout my master's degree and have applied them to real-life situations in the classroom and school setting. For example, when working with challenging pupils who have trouble regulating their emotions, I have to be versatile in my approaches by using low directive actions with high supportive behavior. This is actually situational leadership which I learned in my master's degree." So I'm showing them that I can also be a leader, like I don't, you know, when kids are acting up in a classroom, I don't really need to run for another teacher to help; I can kind of like sit, I can kind of assist them and sort out for myself. And where was I? "As a result, this builds rapport between us and a positive working environment for these pupils thereafter because they've built trust with me. Also using my acquired leadership skills, I currently co-lead our school's equality and diversity group where one of our main aims is to tackle unconscious bias within ourselves, our pupils, and the school curriculum." It's just a bit more bragging about myself there. You like, you have to show off what you've got because it's really, really competitive now more than ever, especially because of like this pandemic. I think most people see teaching kind of like a safety net; it's a job you can have for as long as you want, but to be honest, I don't think people are actually really passionate about teaching. So I think that's what um, all these universities are looking for, like on the PGCE courses, people are actually passionate, have that experience, and if they don't, are willing to learn.
So in this final tiny conclusion, I wrote, "Over the years, a consistent circle of great teachers, educational routine and direction have guided me towards better life chances than I would have had without this support." I'm basically giving thanks to my past teachers here because, to be honest, this is really true. Without them, like my life chances wouldn't be as good as they are now; like they really helped me and supported me, and I kind of want to give back. So it is why I want to join this circle to provide the same aid to my future students, and I would embrace the opportunity to do so.
So there you go, that is my PGCE personal statement. Tell me what you think below because you can have your, I'm welcome to like opinions and stuff, what you think I could have included. I'm always looking to better myself because even though I'm doing a PGCE now, I might be doing something else in like five years' time. I definitely want to get my doctorate in education, the EDD, that's kind of like my next big step, so we'll see how that goes. I also want to know how you're feeling about teaching at the moment. Like, I'm a teaching assistant, and I'm listening, there's nothing I'm more passionate about than helping kids, teaching kids and stuff, but right now with this pandemic, when I'm seeing like, when I'm assisting like online remote learning, it's just so much, and I want to be a teacher, but not like this, and I want to be teaching kids through a computer screen. I want to actually be actively up there. So hopefully things have changed in September 2021. I'm really excited though, but I'm nervous, of course, but um, we'll see how it goes. So if you liked this video, please like it and comment and subscribe, and also check out my other PGCE interview tips video. I'll see you soon. Bye.