“Coming back to the school I went to just felt like home”

Angel Tiamiyu returned to teach at the school where she was a pupil, powered by her drive to make a difference in her community.

Finding a calling in teaching

Angel found a love for teaching while helping her nephews with their homework. “They would come to me for help,” she said. “I wasn’t sure why they chose to come to me but I loved helping them. Seeing them grow and getting to learn with them, I started to think that maybe I could be a teacher.”

Now, Angel is training to teach with London District East Teaching School Hub, one of Ambition Institute’s school partners, and she knew she had made the right decision from the start. “It felt scary at first. I hadn’t been in school since I was a pupil but after about two weeks of being in front of the class, I could see my confidence growing. Not only could I see it, but my mentor was also able to see it as well. That was amazing.”

Creating a safe environment

Angel explains how her favourite part of teaching is helping pupils to develop and apply their knowledge in lessons. “In my first term, a few pupils were struggling with the content that they were learning. Towards the end of that term alone, I could see an active improvement. It was just so brilliant to witness.”

“Seeing pupils view me as a teacher is lovely. One pupil made me a poster showing different traits she loved about me, saying I was an amazing teacher and listener. It was just lovely.”

Key to her success in the classroom is creating an environment where her pupils want to come to lessons and want to learn. She explains: “I say to my pupils, ‘It’s okay to get things wrong. You learn from it. Everything is a learning curve.’ That brings such a big shift, not only in their confidence but in their enthusiasm for learning.”

A school that feels like home

As a pupil, Angel went to the school where she’s now training to teach. “I’m teaching a Year 2 class and that was the class I was in when I was in Year 2. I loved my school – the pupils, the teachers, the classes, and even the building. It was always fun, and there was never a day I didn’t want to go to school,” she recalls.

On her first day on the Teacher Training programme, a couple of the teachers recognised her from her time at the school which felt like a full-circle moment. Angel still lives in the same area as her school, the same community that a lot of her pupils live in.

“I really enjoy living in the area of my school. I can see the parents and the pupils who will come and say ‘hi’. It’s lovely,” she shares. “I really feel like I can give back to my community. Coming back to the school I went to just felt like home.”