Peter Kiddell

Name: Peter Kiddell
Area of work: secondary education
School: Reading Blue Coat School
Qualifications: BA history, University of Nottingham (2004); PGCE, University of Bath (2006)

I spent six months during my gap year assisting with sports coaching and basic maths and English at a school in New Zealand. I worked with both primary and secondary pupils and came away feeling that I would enjoy secondary school teaching more. Upon graduating I went to observe in a few different schools before making the decision to do a PGCE.

Teaching and developing at an independent school

I teach history to all year groups, including the upper sixth. I teach 33 lessons per week, varying from four to eight lessons per day, and also sometimes cover a class for an absent teacher. It’s difficult to put a figure on the amount of time spent preparing lessons and marking, but the view of teachers arriving five minutes before the start of school and leaving as soon as the final bell goes is a myth! At busy times of the year, Sunday afternoon is often spent marking.

I am a head of house and meet with my house captain each week to decide on the format for that week’s house assembly, when we organise the teams for upcoming house events, both sporting and non-sporting, and report on past events. I also teach some games lessons and run after-school training sessions in rugby, football and athletics.

The school has a very good professional development programme and I have been able to go on a number of training days to develop my skills. It has been an extremely busy first two years as I have had to get to grips with the curriculum and have spent a great deal of time planning and ensuring my subject knowledge is up to scratch.

Combining passions into a teaching career

I really enjoy the interaction with the pupils and watching their development in my subject, the sport I coach them in and as individuals. I also enjoy the variety of a school day with every pupil presenting a different challenge and every lesson being about something different. I have had the opportunity to go on a number of school trips, including an expedition to central America. Having a job that allows me to indulge both of my passions – history and sport – is ideal and I genuinely enjoy going into school each day.