Louise Bradley

First job: St Teresa's Primary School.

What it taught me: I learnt that to work with children I have to be very patient and a good listener. Children cannot always communicate their needs, so it is important to use these qualities to fully understand them to help reach their full potential.

Family/status: Mother of two daughters.

Best advice anyone ever gave you: To treat others as I want to be treated. This advice may seem simplistic but for me it always stuck, as It is important to remember that we as adults should use this advice through our actions and when speaking to children.

Best advice you could give someone thinking of a teaching career: Do it! It can be a very challenging job, from the training to the actual role in the classroom, but it is the most rewarding job there is! To see a child excel and acomplish something that you have taught them is an amazing feeling.

I have worked in St John the Baptist Primary School for nine years, it has been an amazing job working with the best staff. My role is a Special Needs Classroom Assistant and I love every minute of it. The children in our school make it such a happy, fun and lovely place to spend my days. Like all jobs, it can bring its challenges, but nothing that a smile on those little faces can't change. This year has been a really tough time for everyone working in education, but St John the Baptist didn't close its doors throughout it all. Our staff remained dedicated to the children, from remote school learning to looking after key worker children. When our doors closed in July for the summer holidays, myself and a few colleagues continued to work during the summer holidays to make our school the best place we could for the children returning. We brightened up our corridors with hand-painted inspirational quotes and photographs of the school’s history and past pupils. It has been a frightening time for everyone working through this pandemic, but this was something we could do to give back to our children coming back to school after such a hard time.