Working from home
Savannah Lunn
Primary and Early Years Education with QTS BA(Hons) - Final Year
Hi, I'm Savannah. I enjoy learning and expanding my knowledge and French vocabulary during my spare time. I can read, write, and speak French, which is great as my Mum can too. This is something I am passionate about and this subject is what I will take leadership of within my new school. This may sound totally bonkers; however, I am a huge Mrs Hinch fan, she is an Instagram influencer who has a passion for cleaning! I also like to go to the theatre to watch musicals and ballets especially, after dancing for 15 years in both ballet and contemporary this is something I enjoy.
Hello, my name is Savannah and I am a final year Primary Education student.
Before coronavirus struck and turned my life upside down, I was happily living in student accommodation with three of my closest friends. When Boris Johnson announced lockdown on March 23, I made the decision to return home to my family over 200 miles down south. This was not an easy decision at all. I still had a 10,000 + word dissertation to begin writing and knowing that the library and University were closed suddenly panicked me. I felt broken-hearted to have my University experience cut short, to no longer be living with my friends. Finding out I would not be going to my graduation ceremony in July also added to my sadness.
I moved back home where I had to improvise with the space I had. Coming back home was never part of the plan as I had found a job in Huddersfield and had made living arrangements for when I moved out of student accommodation.
I used an antique desk my dad had at his work and one of my mum’s brand-new garden chairs to create a desk space in my room. It obviously wasn’t ideal, however it’s served its purpose and I am grateful for the efforts my parents made to accommodate me. In addition to this challenge, my youngest sister also has special needs, so I often find myself distracted or having to support her on a daily basis which makes finding the time to study tricky.
As my course group is small, with only 15 of us, we are all extremely friendly with each other. Also, the relationships I have with my lecturers are great, they really understand my situation at home and are always contactable and available for me to talk to. They constantly reassure me and provide endless amounts of support, especially whilst trying to write my dissertation. I find that I work better in the mornings, so I wake up, shower, and get straight on with studying. This leaves me with my evenings to walk, relax and catch up with my friends.
I am fortunate enough that my parents live by the coast, so I am able to walk along the beach in the evenings and listen to music I enjoy. This is how I like to keep active each day as the environment is so calm and peaceful and it gives me time to reflect on life. The girls on my course and I regularly organise Zoom meetings where we each create a quiz round to do together. I really look forward to doing this each week as we always have a laugh and a catch-up.
When applying for my primary school teaching job in Key Stage 1, I had to prepare for an online academy interview with the school’s principal and deputy headteacher. I prepared for this by organising the questions I wanted to ask and writing down key words which I wanted to discuss in conversation with them. Despite the current situation, I am really excited to begin this new chapter in my life and work within such a fantastic team. The University has supported me endlessly with interview preparation and increasing my confidence. Despite turning 21 in June, which makes me a very young teacher, I feel more then prepared to begin my new career as a teacher because of the range of experience and knowledge I have acquired through my training.
The school where I will be working was my final year block placement school at University. During the current climate, I have observed the teachers at the school adapt to online teaching. I admire them for their continued efforts with managing this and I have had the opportunity to team teach online alongside my mentor which has reassured me in managing this situation myself if come September, we are in a similar position.
With only days left until my dissertation deadline I feel motivated to accomplish this as well as looking forward to break before the full-time teaching begins!
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