Personal Statement

I am now, as I said yesterday, fully focussed on writing my Personal Statement for my PGDE course. Everything I read tells me that this is one of the most important parts of the application process, so the pressure is mounting!

I am reasonably confident that I can get across everything I want to say in my application, but I just wanted to share a few documents that I have found so far that have helped me. This is for the reference of anyone who is reading the blog wherever and whenever you are, but also for me so I don't forget the documents.

The first helpful thing I found was this advice sheet from St. Andrews University. Some nice tips here on structure and things that you should and should not do. A nice visual bit at the end too.

Another really helpful document here , slightly longer, but definitely worth a read through. Looks at common mistakes and structure ideas and loads more. This is from Wolverhampton University, so a few of the references to courses are out for me, but I managed to get over it!

Also as a final one for just now, the GTTR website where you actually apply has some good advice. I need to remember to look over this too. If anybody is going to know what makes a good personal statement I would say it would be them.

I would also recommend visiting the website of the institution you are applying to and reading everything there is to read about your course written by them. This is what I plan to do because they will give the best idea of what they are looking for in a candidate.

 

Summer Holidays

I feel bad that it has taken so long for me to write another Blog post, so as above, I am sorry, I am sorry... I currently work for The List magazine, and we are right in the middle of Edinburgh Festival at the moment. So I know this is not a great excuse but it is the one I am giving for not writing many posts in the last couple of weeks.

I am also in the process of writing my personal statement for applying for the PGDE, and am concentrating my efforts on that.

I found this really nice blog (Miss M's Learning Blog) about someone who has been through exactly what I am about to embark upon (that makes it sound like some horrible ordeal, which I am sure it is not). It has been helpful reading her posts, and the blog is exactly what I am trying to do with Tiny Little Teaching, keep track of all my thoughts and progress around teaching.

She also suggested a great site ScotEduBlogs which has been a great tool for finding out more about what teachers are doing around the country.

So apologies again for the time off, but rest assured I will be more regular with my updates from now on. I may post my personal statement here, and if there is anybody who stumbles across it, maybe they will have some advice and pointers.