Lauren Roast

After spending 13 years at Gable Hall, I believe my loyalty and dedication to the school, pupils, staff and wider community has led to me developing many skills and responsibilities throughout my time there and within my various roles throughout the years.

As stated in my qualifications, I do not hold a qualification in Geography however after being asked to train as a Geography teacher as I did have a passion for it and due to a shortage at the time after 8 years now of teaching Geography and then being appointed as head of department, I feel my geographical knowledge is of a high-quality level and have also taught to A-level qualification level with my first set of results coming out as a positive value added. Therefore, I know many schools require a degree in the subject taught however I just wanted to acknowledge this and feel the subject enhancement course and teaching experience has provided me with the relevant knowledge required to deliver Geography lessons.

A strong skill in which I feel I have developed is resilience through many challenges and experiences in life. From a young age I experience several challenging life events which have resulted in many obstacles to be where I am today. After unsuccessful a level results, I had to change my educational route and after completing my degree through the open university whilst working full time and then completing my teacher training through COVID-19 and finally being handed a department to run following a colleague’s personal circumstances with no warning, I believe that any challenge I am faced within I can overcome with resilience and adaptability. Entering teaching as an instructor and then completing an SKE course in Geography and my subject knowledge being self-taught I feel will greatly benefit me in then being able to gain subject knowledge in history and RE subjects.

As current subject lead I have gained experience in leading individuals, including non-specialists, in which I feel will enable me to bring geographical knowledge and teaching experience to help support colleagues if required.

When I unexpectedly took over as subject lead, I was also tasked with ensuring the curriculum was aligned with the national curriculum and was asked to redesign the scheme of work. During this I worked closely with the head of humanities to create a new scheme of work, curriculum maps, assessment materials and lesson resources and as a result have completely restructured the KS3 curriculum will all year groups now having newly designed lessons following the humanities structure and templates as well as the KS4 lessons being revamped.
Furthermore, I was also given a level classes to teach due to the circumstances of the other colleague and this was also a huge learning curve where I had to not only learn the curriculum and exam structures but also create the resources from scratch for year 12 and year 13 A level Geography. This I believe has not only developed my confidence in resource creation but my wider breadth of geographical knowledge. Finally, the development of assessment resources and feedback has provided me with a wider knowledge of assessment techniques and feedback opportunities including formative and summative assessments, knowledge quizzes and recall opportunities ensuring that feedback is skill based and relevant to individuals based on progress and targets.
This will enable me to work with other departments and across the humanities subjects to provide any further development.

Another strength of my teaching experience is monitoring and recording attainment and data. As subject lead I have collated various data and analysed numerous types of data including behaviour within departments, attendance, effort levels, intervention attendance, progress and rewards. We analyse data using various programs including google sheets, progress teaching, Arbor and excel spreadsheets and therefore have a wide range of skills in analysing data and putting intervention in place. I am a highly organised person who ensures key documents and data are clear and easy to interpret. I have extensive experience and knowledge of an array of ICT programs as a tool for learning and management.

Throughout my time at Gable Hall I have participated in various extra-curricular and school events. Firstly, I have organised and led the KS4 and KS5 fieldwork trips both day trips and residential, which has required me to lead group teaching in different locations outside the classroom, demonstrations and support to students working in the wider community. Secondly, I have organised trips for pupil premium students in KS3 to provide them opportunities to engage in fieldwork opportunities prior to GCSE. Finally, I have regularly run interventions during school holidays for GCSE and A level students and also lead intervention sessions at lunch times and after schools. In terms of wider school activities, I always attend the school shows where possible, have participated in teacher challenges for charity and participate in the different dress up/down days for specific events.

I believe that teacher/parent communication is important and as subject lead this was one of my performance targets to try to increase communication within the department. On a weekly basis i email or call home for my positive praise students of the week and also use the school email system to email parents ahead of parents’ evenings and interventions in an attempt to increase attendance.

Throughout the years I have also had experience of working as both an LSA and pastoral support assistance which has also enabled me to develop various skills working with pupils with different needs and challenges. My role as pastoral support included providing 1 to 1 support and mentoring to students. My degree in childhood studies and experience working at Treetops school has also led increased knowledge and awareness of specific needs and how best to support students and effective use of learning support assistants. I also completed mental health first aid training in 2021.

I believe that my long period of teaching at Gable Hall has provided me with a great variety of experience working across various departments with various members of staff and as a result of leadership opportunities and teaching across all year groups, I feel I am suited to the role due to my resilience, organisation, team working abilities and desire to support all students in achieving their best, ensuring all policies and needs are met including safeguarding, health and safety and departmental policies.

I like to take on challenging new roles harnessing and am driven to deliver high quality provision in these roles.

I believe i am a dedicated teacher and am well-versed in strong communication and organisation skills. Adept at multi-tasking, leading group discussions and managing projects and tasks.

Hard-working teacher with strong organisational skills and deliver high quality lessons through exceptional planning and prioritisation. My Organisation has led to me being successful at managing multiple priorities with positive attitude and i am willing to take on greater responsibilities to meet deadlines and goals.

• Reading and completing jigsaw puzzles as a way of de-stressing