Fran Dineen

My name is:

Fran Dineen

I am training to be a:

Design and Technology teacher at a secondary

I chose to be a teacher because:

Working with young people is incredibly rewarding, and despite the challenges, I can guarantee you will laugh every day. Seeing students learn and flourish in your classroom is a wonderful feeling, and even more so when you know you have made an impact on them. 

The reason I chose to train with Manchester Nexus is:

A SCITT appealed more to me than training through a university. This is because I learn better on the job than behind a desk and wanted to get into the classroom straight away. I have also had Nexus recommended to me by people I know in Education, who have advocated highly for it due to their training, resources and support they offer. 

The thing I find most challenging about the course is:

Prioritising your time, especially between the PGCE assignments as well as the usual workload of working in a school. It took me a while to get my head around lesson planning but now I feel confident with this so can manage my time better. 

But the way I am supported with that is:

The mentors are fantastic, any problem or concern you have they are very approachable and happy to help.

The most enjoyable thing about the course is

Growing and developing into a confident teacher. At the start of the course, you’re apprehensive, feel that all eyes are on you and are eager to make a good impression, as time goes by and you receive good feedback and support, you grow in confidence, have established and developed relationships with the students and feel ready to become a full-time teacher in September. 

The best thing about working with children

There is never a dull day! They are brilliant, come out with the most hilarious things and especially when teaching a practical subject, they can produce some fantastic work that some of them never knew they were capable of doing which shows confidence and resilience.