Design Strategy - UCAS - Personal Statement

6B2 - Identifying and evaluating myself and my skills, as well as seeing the opportunities available to me. 
6D2 - How I communicate to an audience about myself and my skills.


Becoming a teacher has been my greatest ambition since a young age, I started working with and supporting children as soon as I was able to, this started with babysitting locally and supporting a child in our village with English as an additional language. Since then I have carried out several placements within a variety of schools with a range of age groups, one of which was a pupil referral unit which was extremely interesting and also secondary school to experience a different age group. In all of these settings I was able to observe teachers and their approaches to teaching, planning and assessment as well as being able to support children of all ages and build relationships with other staff.

During my placements in various settings I have seen, first hand, some of the challenges that teaching staff face working with children with a range of special educational needs; pupil premium or looked after children. The pupil referral unit was especially eye-opening when it came to working with children on a 1:1 basis and the additional behavioural challenges. At the secondary school I had the opportunity to not only help teach a Graphic Design lesson but to also meet the Head of SEN which helped me to learn about ECHP, and additional help they need, I also met with the head of Year 7 to discuss the transition from primary to secondary education.  

Experience working with different year groups from Reception through to Year 4 has allowed me to get an insight into the similarities and differences in teaching styles and the levels of learning, especially so within KS1 and KS2. Working with children in Year 2, taking part in innovative maths games, taught me the experience of making things engaging and fun. In Year 4 maths, learning about different methods within maths such as Chunking. Helping with both fantasy stories and instructional writing in literacy, learning about planning a story and writing, helping with spellings and elements of story writing. Working with Reception allowed me to see how Phonics were taught and the importance of this in the early years of KS1, also helping them develop their reading skills and reading aloud.

Working alongside staff in the educational settings I have been in so far I have had the chance to see how they interpret government curriculums, whilst following short, mid-term and long term planning, which I long to do with creativity and innovation. Seeing the relationship between teachers and teaching assistants, different roles within the classroom and how they help one another. I have realised how children of all levels of ability can be taught in one class, dividing attention and focusing on pupils who need extra help and deploying support staff.

Similarly, the importance of teamwork has been shown, working as a waitress and a student ambassador has allowed me to put these skills into place. Collaborations and group briefs as part of my degree have made me be able to speak up about my opinions and making compromises. Along with these skills confidence is also something I have built upon; presentations, pitches have all helped with my interpersonal skills and also the importance of being innovative and engaging which is definitely a big part in the effective delivery of teaching.

Being a student ambassador has allowed me to experience working with young children in a creative setting, helping them practice their skills in a variety of different media.

Moving onto my degree, studying Graphic Design has allowed me to bring my ambition of teaching and love of design together. One project explored UX design and creating an app for both children and parents to help with handwriting at home. Another brief has allowed me to explore the values and morals of a local primary school, creating banners and logo representing their ideals. My dissertation is allowing me to explore the delivery of teaching, designs of classrooms and different teaching theories, such as Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Piaget.  

I would like the opportunity to make a difference and be role model in young children’s lives and be able to encourage them to achieve their potential. Giving every child the attention they deserve and to see them grow and overcome their fears and difficulties.