Lily-Mae
Hackett

Why NTU

What inspired you to study BA (Hons) Primary Education (QTS)?

"I have a passionate desire to make a positive impact on the lives and education of young people. It's very rewarding to be able to watch children learn and grow."

Why did you choose your course and NTU?

"There are a number of reasons I chose NTU! The bright, modern campus has everything you need in close proximity. There are excellent resources and facilities, such as the primary mock classrooms for D&T, art and science. I particularly liked that there was a building dedicated to the education faculty. The friendly, welcoming and helpful staff also stood out to me on the open day."

Have you been involved in any projects or extra-curricular activities that have supplemented your studies run through NTU?

"I am a Student Ambassador which means I work interview and open days. I'm also a Collaborative Engagement and Retention Team (CERT) mentor – helping first-year students settle into university,  as well as running events (film nights, games nights) to help them meet like-minded students within their academic school."

Social Sciences

What does Social Sciences mean to you? 

"Empowering young people of today to become the next generation of leaders and positively contribute towards improving our society."

Placement

Have you completed any work placements on your course? 

"I've been involved in placements in Nottingham, Derby & Loughborough. This has allowed me to develop a number of key skills, including confidence, communication and collaboration, organisation, time management, ability to use my initiative and reflect critically on my practice.

I have most enjoyed experiencing children's successes through those ‘lightbulb’ moments in teaching where concepts that children were once struggling with, finally fall into place and the learner breaks through from remembering to understanding. This has given me a sense of pride as the learner accelerates their progress."

Do you have any memorable moments from your placement?

"A child in my class who I had struggled to connect with during placement due to challenging behaviour surprised me with a card and gift on my last day. His mum had contacted me to thank me for the positive impact that I had on that child during the time I was there and how upset he was that I had to leave. This experience really meant a lot to me as I wasn’t aware of the positive effects, I was able to have on this child’s self-esteem and learning."

Support

What do you think of the support available from tutors and staff at NTU?

"The teaching staff are all ex-primary teachers/head teachers, which means they are have up-to-date knowledge of their profession and specialist subjects. More than that, they are friendly, caring and nurturing.

Not only are lecturers always on hand to answer emails promptly, but they have an open-door policy if we ever need to see them."

The Next Steps

What’s next for you after NTU? 

"I am currently applying for early career teacher (ECT) positions, ideally for a KS2 classroom teacher in a primary school within Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire. I'm hoping to take on my first full-time teaching position from September."

How is NTU helping you to achieve your career goals? 

"There is lots of support in searching for jobs, letter of application writing, interview prep, advice and talks from head teachers, and reference writing from tutors."

Advice

What top tips would you give anyone thinking about studying your course at NTU?

"Make the most of every opportunity on offer as all these additional experiences will look great on your job application letter and make you stand out from the crowd.

For example, forest school training can be completed as an optional qualification at level one and level two. Externally these can be very expensive to undertake, however they are offered for a very small fee during the course. Valuable experiences that are likely to increase your employment opportunities."