Laura Stevens
Study Type: Adult and Community
Study Location: The Roundhouse
Subject Studied: Teacher Training, Coaching and Mentoring
Diploma reminds teaching assistant Laura of her love of learning
Taking a diploma course via Derby College’s Academy of Professional Education Training and Development, reminded teaching assistant Laura Stevens just how much she loves learning.
Laura, a business studies and marketing graduate, used to work in marketing at a Derby-based medical firm, but decided to change career after having children.
She had always been interested in education so she started volunteering at her children’s primary school in Quarndon – a role which led to a permanent job as a teaching assistant.
On the recommendation of the school, Laura enrolled on the Level 3 Diploma in Specialist Support for Teaching and Learning in Schools course at the Roundhouse and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Although fitting in study with raising her two children and working part-time was “a juggling act”, Laura finds her new career very rewarding.
It is, she says, the perfect choice for herself and her family, and Laura is now looking forward to studying for her Level 4 qualification.
My lecturer, Lynn was amazing – very friendly and supportive. Most of the people on my course were also parents with young families and our tutors understood the pressures we were under. I loved studying – it was lovely to be back learning again – and I also liked learning with other people, who, like me, had taken a break and were now returning to work. We set up our own WhatsApp group so we could help each other with our coursework. It’s a great course and I can’t recommend it highly enough.