Reepham Learning Community - Jo

 

Reepham

A Learning Community Case Study - Jo

Jo first attended a Reepham Learning Community event at Reepham High School in 2003. It was a family open day event and Jo and her eldest daughter enjoyed a session on cake decorating - she said that it was fun and found the small group really friendly - ‘‘the group size meant that the tutor could give plenty of time and support to each person attending''.

That year was also when Jo's youngest started school and Jo volunteered to help in class with listening to reading and supporting learning. Through this she found that she enjoyed working with children. Also around this time Jo went on a taster in Sign Language that was run in Reepham and then continued onto a one year course in that subject at Hellesdon High School.

 A Teaching Assistant job was advertised at the school where Jo was volunteering and she decided to apply as she felt that it was the logical next step from being a helper. Within a couple of months of starting the job, Jo was enrolled on the Level 2 Teaching Assistant course and she said that it was a real "going back to school'' for her as so much has changed in the way things are taught.  After the Level 2 in 2005, Jo enrolled and achieved the Teaching Assistant NVQ Level 3 course, which has given her additional skills in ways to support learning and how to work with all ranges of ages and abilities.

In 2006, Jo enrolled on and achieved her Maths and English Level 2 qualifications at Fakenham Adult Education. Again, the small group, approachable and attentive tutoring made it all possible - as did the support of friends who were also attending: "The group really helped each other and because we were working at similar levels and the difficulties were followed up and explained; it all worked out!" Jo also attended a Web Design course run by Reepham Learning Community as part of the Links into Learning taster courses at Lyng Primary. Jo is self-taught on computers and is always on the lookout for IT courses that will add to her knowledge of computers as she is aware that it is a fast-moving subject and "there's always more to learn". This was a far cry from the years that Jo was at school where she felt she did not recognise the value of learning - "I can't turn the clock back - I wasted so much time".

Now Jo's is so motivated in her job, she says the reward is "every time a child understands something new", and she is hoping to get on to the Higher Level Teaching Assistant course...