#RSMFridayFastFive – Mrs Gibb
Why did you choose a career working with children?
Although I hadn’t planned on going into teaching, I volunteered in a special school while at university to get some work experience. It was so much fun and I was immediately hooked. It was so lovely seeing children make progress and be proud of their achievements.
Your favourite subjects at school?
I liked most subjects at school, particularly Drama – I loved being part of all the school plays and wanted to be a costume designer for a theatre. I also really enjoyed Maths and English. I’m afraid I really judged whether I liked the subject on the teacher I had!
Why Upper School?
I love working with children in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 for different reasons. Younger children seem to make huge progress, and the transition from not being able to write to producing meaningful sentences is magical. However, I enjoy teaching the curriculum in Upper School more. Older children ask challenging questions, share their opinions and debate what they are learning which is exciting and gives the classroom a buzz. I really love the way that children at RSM respect each other’s opinions and most are prepared to stand up with an opinion which is different from everyone else’s.
Most memorable moment in your teaching career?
There are so many ranging from good to bad! One of the worst memories I have is when I had an OFSTED inspector in my lesson and the playdough I had made for the lesson had turned into slime overnight, which I only noticed when the children started using it – it is very hard to shape slime into the letters of the alphabet! It was horrific and I had a lot of cleaning up to do afterwards. A lovely memory I have is returning to work after my Dad had passed away – the adults didn’t really know what to say, but the children all came up and just gave me a massive hug and spoke openly – the children seemed to know exactly what would help. My best memory is building a raft, having a water fight and ending up in the lake at PGL with the Year 5’s. It’s the fun or the terrible things you remember!
My favourite quote:
You can’t go wrong with a bit of Dr Seuss: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Children need guidance, but should be given the opportunity to make their own choices from what hobbies they have to the way they treat others.