Suzanne Rowe, BCS Scholar

My desire to teach started when I was working as a Computing trainer in a local college and I could see a lack of females choosing Computing subjects. I was just one of two girls on my degree studying Network Engineering in 2015. However, it was 2018 at this point and I could see just two girls on the computing degree and I knew I needed to inspire other women to take Computing.

Prior to this position, I worked in the IT Department for the NHS, this was a busy department dealing with all IT enquiries in the area. I initially applied for the Education and Training certificate which included a 15 minute microteach. I was so nervous, I literally planned for one week and presented to family and friends for that 15-minute lesson on Viruses, Spam and Malware. I am now teaching 16 hour lessons per week at a secondary school and I never thought I would get to this stage.

The year is hard, but it has been worth it especially when you get that one pupil who understands programming because of your weekly code club. You learn a lot about yourself in your ITT year, and you meet a lot of other teachers who are with the same training provider. Each trainee you meet is going through their own ITT journey and it’s good to swap stories and gain techniques for teaching. My university has been amazing, they always push us to be the best computer science teacher we can be which then helps in school too.

You will get a curriculum mentor and they are the person in school who advises you during each placement. Before this course, I could not take any criticism without getting defensive but now I use this type of feedback both in school and university to make myself a better teacher. This has helped me grow a lot in various aspects of life.

The best part of the scholarship is all the webinars you can attend, I have attended many this past year and they count towards your teaching standard evidence which I didn’t know before. All the other BCS scholars can chat too and talk about their personal teaching / school experience.

I would recommend applying for the BCS scholarship because there are so many benefits from a free membership and webinars to free books in the post. It has helped with my PGCE too as I have many Computer Science specific sources to use in university assignments. I have also made some lifetime friends (also fellow Computer science teachers) and we have made a resource bank to assist one another through our careers. Take advantage of the help BCS offer throughout the year and enjoy your new adventure.