Summer camp: great teaching work experience
Lydia Harrison completed several summers of work experience through BUNAC's Summer Camps USA programme before embarking on a PGCE in primary education. She shares her experiences of life as a camp counsellor and explains how her work with BUNAC helped her choose the right age group to teach.
The application, interview and selection process
As a first-time applicant to BUNAC, I had an interview and it wasn’t long before I was informed about my placement. I didn’t mind where I was placed, but Timber Tops turned out to be perfect for me: a beautiful private residential camp for girls aged 6–15 years. The camp paid for my return flights and I received a decent salary. I spent very little money whilst at camp as all food and accommodation was provided. Being a university student, I was fortunate to have long summers that I could spend in Pennsylvania with my new camp family and I returned year after year.
Career progression as a camp counsellor
During my first three summers, I worked as a cabin counsellor and waterfront assistant. I later progressed to the role of a head counsellor, looking after the younger campers in the junior division of camp.
As a waterfront assistant, my duties involved life-guarding and teaching sailing, windsurfing and canoeing on a lake. I also planned and led overnight trips where we canoed, hiked and rock climbed, camped in tents and cooked outdoors. My cabin consellor role involved living with children in a cabin and caring for their general well-being during the summer.
As a head counsellor I supervised eight cabins of young children. I organised special events such as evening activities, addressed issues such as homesickness, liaised with parents, and organised and led a two-day trip to Boston with 150 girls. I gained so much from the experience and I apply skills I learned at camp every day as a teacher.
Choosing the right age group to teach
When I started my undegraduate degree, I thought I wanted to become a secondary physical education teacher. During my time as a head counsellor, however, I realised that I wanted to continue working with younger children. I am grateful for my experience at camp and believe that without it I would be teaching at a secondary school, having never known how much happier I could be as a primary teacher.
Work experience and teacher training
As soon as I had returned from camp in 2006 I spent some time gaining experience in a local primary school and applied for a place on a primary PGCE course. Competition for places on teacher training courses can be tough and I believe my experience at camp strengthened my application. I was able to talk about working and living with children in an intense environment and what I had gained from this. At camp, I was given the responsibility of implementing strategies to support each child’s emotional and physical needs in a healthy and safe environment, just as I am doing now in the classroom.
Work experience has long-term benefits
My summers at camp changed me in so many ways. My confidence increased enormously which helps me feel at home in the classroom. I gained skills which help me to develop positive working relationships with children, parents and colleagues. I started my teaching career being used to the company of lots of children and understood early on how each child has a different way of learning. Camp may not have been an academic environment, but it gave me a lot to take into the classroom – be it a song, dance, behaviour management strategy or an idea for a lesson.
Lydia Harrison spent five summers working at Camp Timber Tops in Pennsylvania in the USA. She has a BSc in sports science with physical education from the University of Brighton and did her PGCE at the University of Worcester.