Katie Little
PG Post-compulsory education and training 2011
After having several career avenues including journalism, counselling and even TV production, Katie realised that what she wanted to do was to teach Sociology. With a degree in Sociology from the Newcastle University and having volunteered at Derwentside Sixth Form in Consett County Durham, the 27-year-old thought that the right decision was to do a postgraduate course at the University of Sunderland. As Katie describes, her course was inspiring and motivational. “It was very interactive and creative- just like teaching should be!”
Her PCET qualification has enabled her to work in the secondary and further education sector. Studying the PCET course allowed her to work as cover supervisor during her year at the University and this in turn opened many doors as she made lots of contacts in several very different schools in the North East.
She now works as an A Level subject leader of Sociology at Avonbourne Sixth Form in Bournemouth. Her main role is to plan and deliver the GCSE and A Level Sociology course. With this she markets and organises Sociology events and trips for students aged between 14-18 years old. In addition she mentors Sociology EPQ students, many who wish to study Sociology at a higher level.
Katie also runs a staff CPD learning community and is trying to raise money for Barnardo’s with her A Level Sociology students.
When Katie started her PCET course in 2010 she already knew a lot about the University and its atmosphere.
“I knew a lot about the University of Sunderland as throughout my degree at Newcastle University, I would often jump on the metro train and visit the Murray library on a weekly basis. The main reason for this was because I loved the atmosphere at Sunderland. It reminded me of the Students’ Union in Hollyoaks and I loved this! The students were very down to earth and enthusiastic. There seemed to be lots of activities and events happening every week across the road at the main campus and this impressed me. Additionally, I found the support staff in the library to be very helpful and considerate. The Murray library was stocked with fantastic resources and there was always plenty of room to study.”
Indeed one of her abiding memories of Sunderland was their PCET coffee mornings in the Murray Library Cafe. “Throughout the year our PCET group became very close and it became almost tradition to socialise in the library cafe with a cuppa and a cake. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up on our personal lives and share stories from our teaching work placements”, explains Katie.