Graduation! Four Long Years of Being a Student is Over!

Well Folks! I'm breaking my temporary blogging silence with some great news! I've officially graduated now and finished my 4yr degree and gained QTS. I had my graduation ceremony in Leeds on Wednesday, it was a lovely day and was a fitting end to my long slog at uni. The only downside was that I'd set myself the near impossible task of moving out of my house on the same day *silly, silly, me!* Obviously my very proud parents came along for a few days to celebrate my graduation and Danny came along to the ceremony too...

It was gorgeous weather and mr sunshine was out ready for some lovely photos in the university gardens outside the Great Hall. It's strange to think that after this summer, I won't be travelling the 6 hours back up to Leeds... I'll be staying back home and embarking on a new adventure: completing my NQT year. I'm so ready for a new challenge and I cannot wait to meet my class and get into the swing of things. I feel like this is the exact moment the last four years has been leading towards and now it's finally here I can't quite believe it!

I was incredibly lucky to win an extra award as well, I was nominated by tutors at uni for "Trainee Teacher of the Year" award... and... I won!! I was so unbelievably pleased, and this was an absolutely wonderful cherry on top of the graduation cake! I missed the award ceremony as I was away in Poland teaching in a summer school there so I recieved my prize at graduation. The certificate was lovely: it had the speech made about my achievements written on it.

I've made some absolutely wonderful friends in my time in Leeds, some of which are in the photo above, but I've made many more too on my escapades to Spain, Poland and Gambia. I will miss you all lots, and thank you for making my time in Leeds to brilliant!!

Well done to all you fellow graduates out there! All your hard work has paid off, now it's off into the real world to find new adventures and challenges... good luck in the future!

Fundraising for Gambia - Sponsored Spooky Sleepover in "Haunted" Caves

Firstly, I am fundraising for a charity called F.R.O.G.S (Friends of Gambian Schools). I will be going out to The Gambia in June to help transform their classrooms into vibrant learning environments. The school cannot afford to buy books for the children and so I, along with 29 other Primary Ed students at Leeds Trinity University, will be going out to The Gambia and painting their classrooms inside and out. But not just a white-wash, we will be painting their curriculum and learning resources onto the walls e.g. number squares, phonetic alphabet etc. Below is the hard work from previous years' students...

Before...

...After

Fundraising efforts No.1 - Spooky Sleepover in The Caves!

So... In order for me to raise the £1000 one of the things I will be doing is doing a Sponsored Spooky Sleepover in my local Caves and tourist attraction (Smugglers Adventure) in St.Clements caves. We will be watching a few scary films in the video theatre and then sleep in the "Chapel" cavern (supposedly the most haunted part of the caves!)...

Here's where you come in! If you'd like to sponsor me to complete my challenge of sleeping overnight underground in the spooky caves then please visit my online sponsorship form here. all you have to do is fill it in and pledge your amount and I will collect the money after I have completed my challenge... remember every penny counts and even the smallest amount can make a huge difference! Anything that you give will be greatly appreciated and will get me a step closer to making a difference in the Gambian School and will help a great cause for a hard-working charity that strives to improve the lives of many children.

The mysterious carving in the "Chapel"

Oh, and did I mention, we will be sharing the caves with these delightful European Cave Spiders for that added element of challenge!