Jessica Warne

Education Studies BA (Hons)

Jessica Warne, a Primary Education student, is driven by her lifelong passion for learning and a desire to make a positive impact on children's lives. Inspired by her own transformative experiences with engaging teachers, she now embraces the challenges of teaching by finding fulfilment in building students' educational and personal development. 

“I’ve always loved education; I was the nerdy child in school at the back of the room wanting to learn more and always asking ‘why’. I was inspired by my teachers who made me want to pay attention and kept me engaged. I was never very interested in things like English and Mathematics as a child, but my teachers made it interesting, which encouraged me to be a teacher. 

For me, training to become a teacher has been fuelled by the impact that I've seen teachers have on kid’s lives and the transformation they had on my life when I was younger. I remember my year 6 teacher, Mrs. Smith; she was a qualifying teacher at the time and she really took the time to get to know every child in the class. She made an effort to know what everyone was interested in and what motivated them to help them learn more, which furthered us as people. She inspired the kind of teacher that I want to be - I want to be a part of making that positive change in a child.

I think there’s still a very normal anxiety as a trainee teacher where you sometimes sit and doubt, ‘What if I'm not actually making a difference?’, and then you come into work and the children remind you why you’re doing what you do. It happened to me the other day when I was teaching Geography; I got the general groan of the kids saying, ‘Geography is not fun, I don’t want to do that’. However, at the end of the lesson, I had three of the children come up to me and say that I’d changed their minds, and they couldn’t wait to learn about it again. I was so happy for the rest of the day because those children went from complaining about starting that lesson to enjoying it and wanting to know more. 

I adore the children that I'm working with currently, and I cannot sing the praises of the teachers around me enough. I have not only been given support in working towards being a great teacher myself, but I’m learning from them how to engage with children in the most effective ways. 

On a deeper level, my work feels important when I’m able to build a personal relationship where children feel they can confide in me. To me, that really shows that we are doing the job that we're supposed to be doing, and we're supporting them not only through their educational development but through their personal development as well. 

I have found challenges, especially sometimes with how to handle children’s behaviour. It’s important to understand that children are also people who are trying to learn and improve and there’s always a reason for their behaviour, which you can work together to fix. 

My world is dictated by little people, little humans and their brains and the way their brains are processing what's being told. I can't rush them through at my pace because if I did, they wouldn't learn anything. I have not only learned about patience and understanding and how to build strong relationships with people but being able to take a step back and reflect on my growth and what I've learned myself. 

I AM BCU means personal and professional development and making a difference.”