Allison
Clay

What made you choose this course? (Facilities, reputation, additional opportunities?)

Nottingham Trent has a good reputation and it offered this course which was perfect for me as I wanted to progress my career and become an Early Years Teacher. The course fees were paid and I could remain in my job at the time as a Teaching Assistant whilst gaining my qualification.

How has the course so far helped you to develop your career?

This qualification has enabled me to take a post as a Reception Class Teacher. The lectures and assignments made me question and develop my practice and begin to evolve my own ethos. It gave me a thirst for continual learning and development. It gave me confidence in my own practice which has meant I feel comfortable sharing knowledge with colleagues and developing practice and provision in my previous and current setting.

Could you describe your experience of being a student at NTU so far?

I enjoyed being a student at NTU. The lecturers were lovely, really supportive and knowledgeable. The campus in great with plenty of facilities. It was such a shame that my time there was cut short with the Covid breakout but the online learning was well managed and meant we could still complete the course and gain the qualification.

Could you tell us about the support you received from your tutors and university staff?

The staff were really supportive in incredibly difficult times. They were managing the constant changes of the pandemic, a situation that nobody had experience of and were always there to offer advice and help. My dad passed away in March of 2020 during the course and Vicky arranged for me to have an extension for one of my assignments so I was able to catch up with the work I had missed and still complete the course. All the tutors on the course are genuinely lovely, caring people.

Did you do a UK placement, and if so, please tell us about that?

I did a placement in a private day nursery which was great as I normally work in primary school. It was an extremely valuable experience and has informed my practice moving forward.

If you recommended this course to a future student, what would you say?

I would definitely recommend the course, it has made me a more reflective practitioner and helped me to develop and progress professionally. NTU is a great place to learn, the campus is well equipped and the lecturers are incredibly knowledgeable and supportive.