Jasmine Armitage

Recently, I worked as an assistant in classrooms in a SEND school. It was often a high-pressure environment accompanied by challenges that required creative-thinking to tackle. It was a role that needed a degree of patience and understanding that I believe would be incredibly beneficial to any working environment. The job required me to be highly flexible - I was frequently sent to different classrooms depending on staffing, and as such I am accustomed to meeting and working with new people almost daily. My tasks out of many included:

• Supporting students with individual learning needs, enhancing engagement and understanding.
• Monitored student behavior and provided guidance to maintain a positive learning environment.
• Assisting teachers in delivering lesson plans and managing classroom activities.
• Enhanced student comprehension by utilizing visual aids and hands-on activities in the classroom.

I acted as an online tutor, creating materials and lessons for A-Level History students. I have also provided mock interviews for Cambridge applicants, as well as personal statement reviews. This took a significant amount of time out of my week as creating materials and analysing personal statements for mock interviews was a demanding task. There were several occasions where I had to balance my time between creating resources and completing my weekly essays or assigned reading. Whilst difficult at first, this was something I quickly became accustomed to and flicking between tasks and managing my time effectively meant I was able to complete all my necessary work whilst still maintaining time to socialise and relax. Tutoring included:

• Developing personalized lesson plans to enhance student understanding and engagement.
• Creating engaging resources to facilitate effective online tutoring sessions, i.e. Word documents that were annotated and colour coordinated for ease of understanding.
• Identified individual student needs and acted accordingly for improved academic outcomes.
• Showed empathy and understanding when students needed extra support.

I volunteered at Newcastle Cathedral for several months as both a welcomer and the gift shop cashier. I frequently interacted with fellow volunteers, visitors and customers in order to keep the cathedral running smoothly, and I learned how to use the till and its interface. Volunteering helped produce a compassionate, strong work ethic within me and a sense of community, as well as an appreciation for cultural heritage. Shifts at the cathedral required a degree of adaptability. In one instance I arrived for a shift as a welcomer, however was asked to run the shop by myself for a few hours before another volunteer came in to take over. Shifts included tasks such as:

• Maintaining an accurate cash drawer, ensuring proper change and balance, as well as checking notes for forgeries.
• Assisting in inventory management by restocking merchandise and organizing displays
• Working flexible schedules to meet the cathedral's needs.
• Greeting visitors and helping make them feel comfortable and welcomed.

I undertook work experience at Bede Academy as a teaching assistant, where I worked with classes of around 30 children from Year 7 – Year 10. Working as a teaching assistant greatly helped me develop my skills surrounding communication and adaptability. I would have to communicate ideas clearly to students depending on what they struggled with, and if certain explanations did not work, I would resort to explaining in a different way. This was particularly prominent when I was placed in classes with much younger year groups (Year 7 and 8) as it was often necessary to change the language I used in order to be understood. I had to:

• Manage classroom behavior effectively in order to create a positive learning environment.
• Support classroom maintenance and upkeep, for example by organising books and materials.
• Supported classroom activities, such as by assisting students that required additional support and explaining assigned work.