#UoRWay: Trainee teachers making a difference to children throughout COVID-19

Trainee teachers at the University of Reading have been continuing to work and train in local schools during the Covid-19 lockdown. 

While schools and settings in the UK have had to adapt at very short notice to changes due to the pandemic, trainee teachers based at the University’s Institute of Education have been supported to continue their placements, either physically in school or working remotely with a named mentor and school or setting.

Trainee teachers have been able to support primary schools who have faced significant challenges as the highest number of year groups have seen a return to physical teaching. 

Teachers have faced additional workloads to manage classroom lessons as well as home learning to ensure that the quality of education for children continuing to learn at home is not harmed, and having trainee teachers to take on responsibility for delivering classroom lessons has been a beneficial experience for all concerned. 

One trainee primary teacher who has continued to benefit from the in-classroom experience is Elizabeth Dawkins, who just completed her second placement teaching children of key workers.

Elizabeth said:

“The teachers and children stay in their own bubble, so I haven’t been able to mix with the rest of the school as much as I would have liked, and sometimes I have had to teach with a mask on, which has been strange, but other than that everything has been as I expected.

“There is a lot of pastoral care with children at this age, and you feel very responsible for their wellbeing and welfare, even outside of school where things have been very different for them, so it has been great to be able to provide them with that constant and that routine.”

"If we can train during a pandemic, we can do anything."

Elizabeth believes that learning to be a teacher during a pandemic has been a blessing in disguise, as she has been given the confidence to face each new challenge head-on.

She said:

“If we can train through a pandemic, we can do anything. Personally, I am loving the training, and everyone says how amazing we are doing. And because we don’t know any different, this is just how it is!

“Studying at university has been very different, and I was worried that I wouldn’t get the chance to build any friendships with other teachers, but during half term when we had our training sessions online, the tutors split us up into different break-out sessions, so we were able to solidify our relationships and compare notes.

“The tutors have been amazing, and it is so good to know that they are there at the end of an email if we need anything. They’ve really tried to make it more personal by logging onto sessions early so we can have a chat if we need to, they really have been brilliant.

Dr Catherine Foley, Programme Director of Primary School Direct at the University of Reading’s Institute of Education said: 

“Unlike many providers, the University of Reading partnership made the decision that wherever possible, trainee teachers would continue with their placements. Since then, their contribution to keeping learning and wellbeing going for children in schools across the region has been phenomenal. 

“The vast majority of schools never closed their doors during term-time in the last lockdown, so our trainees have been involved with teaching and learning throughout. 

“Many of our primary trainees, for example, have continued to go into their schools and settings to teach vulnerable children and children of key workers. They have embraced the new challenges of teaching within a ‘bubble’, sometimes working with children of many different ages within the same group.” 

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