Danielle Williams

Education Studies BA (Hons)

Nine years ago, Danielle first came to her current place of work on a placement and never looked back. She’s now thriving as a teacher where she’s helping to shape futures and being a role model for current Education Studies students. 

“My time at BCU was a positive experience to look back on; the lecturers were always an email or a phone call away and ready to support me. They enabled me to develop my future career and brought out my passion for teaching – I don’t think I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for them. 

I first came to my current place of work when I was on my second-year placement, through the recommendation of my lecturers. I liked this school so much that I came back for my third-year placement, and I’ve been here ever since. The contacts BCU has with schools are so lovely and you can really see yourself working there and progressing throughout your career, staying there for a length of time and pursuing what you want to do for the rest of your life. 

As a teacher, you've got to be very flexible because each day is different. My day-to-day roles range from teaching, lesson planning, marking and assessing children’s work. Throughout the lessons, I give children formative feedback and solve any misconceptions to move their learning forward. There’s a lot of preparation involved; we make lesson resources and do a lot of prep on our subject knowledge development to make sure we’re up to speed with curriculum changes.  

Many things make this career rewarding. One of the main things for me is the progress you see in the children. You put in lots of hard work to get them from A to B, and it's really nice to see them improve. It’s amazing to think that you’re the one who’s helped them get from where they were to where they are now and they're going to continue to develop in their lives.  

There are many challenges, but it's nice to see that you've overcome those challenges together with the child for them to achieve their goals. Knowing that we play a part in what the students want to be when they grow up is a really important highlight. For example, I had a real stand-out moment when I planned a residential trip for the year to go to Wales for a week; I saw the children who usually struggle in a classroom environment really come out of their shells, and I saw their confidence blossom. It was lovely to give some of the children a chance to experience things like rock climbing and orienteering, which they would never have the opportunity to do if we hadn’t taken them there, and then seeing it become a ‘core memory’ for them as they grow up. It's rewarding when you come back to school and actually see that confidence and those achievements filter back into the classroom.  

I now mentor associate teachers, which I really enjoy. I was once a student teacher myself and it was important that I had strong mentors to be able to look up to and lean on for support. I now feel that it’s crucial for me to step up to that figure now the roles have reversed. I want to make associate teachers feel comfortable that they can talk to me and ask for support because I want to put their minds at ease. Being a mentor makes me feel like I am able to give something back to the University, and to support the future of teaching in some way.  

I AM BCU means life-long friendships, amazing support, and a stepping stone into my career.”