Tag Archives: university

Sep 01 2020
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Back to School

My kids go back to school tomorrow, and this September, I’ll be right behind them, heading for the classroom. I’ve only gone and bagged my dream job!

When I was at school (hundreds of years ago), I wanted to be a teacher. I did my year 10 work experience at my school – I interned for the PE department because it was my favourite subject. I loved the idea of playing a part in students’ development and watching them learn and master new things with your guidance.

Somewhere around age 17, I lost the thirst to learn. I knew university wasn’t for me. I was partway through my A-Levels (PE, English Lit, English Language, Psychology) when an opportunity to go home (Sydney) and work at the Olympic Games 2000 came up, I grabbed it with both hands. Bags packed, I was out of school and all ideas of education and teaching we’re left on the tarmac.

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20 whole years later, I’ve done it. I’ve finally got myself a teaching job. I’m absolutely delighted to say I’ll be joining the staff at The City of Liverpool College and I will be delivering the NCTJ Journalism Diploma programme. It’s the very course I graduated from back in 2016 and the very course I have championed to anyone interested in a career in journalism.

Since the vacancy came up online, I’ve thought of nothing else than delivering shorthand training and supporting journalism students with opportunities to expand on and polish their portfolio’s, ready for the world of work. I can’t wait to get started.

It’s inevitable that the new job has made me stop and think about my previous career decisions. It’s entirely possible that, had I have knuckled down at 17, gone to uni, got my PGCE, that by now I could be enjoying 15 years worth of educating others. But that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, right?

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So this September, there are four pairs of shiny new shoes (okay, mine are Nike’s) on the stairs, four new water bottles lined up ready for the first school day, and three students rooting for their momma on her first big day.

It’s going to be fairly chaotic for us all going back to an educational setting. Whether it’s the kids, teens, or adults. I hope your youngsters enjoy seeing their friends again, you settle into a routine quickly, and you’re all safe and well.

Happy New School Year!

Miss James

 

 

 

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Jun 09 2020
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In The Fridge

Naomi dropped her backpack in the hall and wandered into the kitchen to see what was in the fridge.

Ben followed close behind, like a lap dog. It was plain to see he was besotted with her. 

“Don’t know why my mum keeps buying these DiaryLea lunchables, but I’ll keep eating them.” she offered Ben a plastic lunch pack with a smile. 

“Haha, probably because you can’t even make a Pot Noodle without burning the kitchen down.” Ben teased. 

“I’m not that bad! She rolled her eyes and sat up on the kitchen worktop to eat. 

“I well and truly messed that up. I’ve definitely failed.” Naomi closed her eyes and sighed. 

“Don’t say that you always think you’ve done worse than you have, you said that in the mocks and you did great.” Ben put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

“Great? I scraped a D, Ben. A D! The only place I’ll be going in September will be the Job Centre, most likely with my mum.” The panic began to rise again. Naomi jumped down and opened a can of Coke as a distraction. 

“Mum’s going to be so disappointed. She wanted me to get into the sixth form and follow Golden Balls to university. I’m going to be stuck stewarding at the game until I’m 65, like Jimmy Mac.” She fought back tears. 

“Hey, hey come on.” Ben put his arms around her shoulders. “Elle, it’s alright to not have it all worked out yet. Just because my predicted grades are good, it doesn’t mean I know which path I’m going to take.

“Just try and chill a bit. You can only do your best.” Ben gave her a winning smile. He was doing everything right. Being a shoulder to cry on, offering good advice, giving her space, not being too pushy. By the end of the term, they’d be an item. He was sure of it. 

“Urgh, anyway, I can’t change it now, can I?” Naomi wiped her eyes and dropped her packet into the kitchen bin. “Come on, kick your arse on MarioKart?”

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Jun 09 2020
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Poverty

The council meeting had lasted more than two hours and Ellie was losing the will to live.

She was convinced that half the councillors only attended to nod off on the backbenches, completely out of touch with what was happening on the streets. She was sure a couple had even begun snoring at one point. 

One councillor, newly elected, had made an interesting case about poverty in the local area. The former football training ground, which had originally been earmarked for development into a community hub, had been sold on and planning permission for yet more ‘trendy’ commuter style apartments had been approved.

With more and more families struggling to cope with the economic downturn, bus companies were pulling the services into the rural market towns and villages and so finding accessible work was becoming almost impossible. 

The market town had a decent high street and a twice-weekly market. Handsomely stocked by surrounding farms, crafters and entrepreneurs selling everything from name-brand bleach to kids wellies and bedding plants. Sainsburys, a freezer shop, the inevitable Costa Coffee, and tourist appeasing fish and chip shops kept the town afloat. 

Antiques, handmade crafts, clothes, books, charity shops, and a generations-old toy emporium made up the rest of the high street. Summer brought the tourists to the castle ruins and river, but winters were hard on everybody. Ellie listened as the councillor spoke at length about a family facing eviction. 

“This could be any one of us. This lady is a single parent. She works a 12 hour day, 6 days a week. She doesn’t earn enough to run a car and so without the bus links she’ll lose her job. She’s a lad at university and a daughter at the high school, they both work part-time around studying because they know the pressure she’s under. 

“She’s behind with the rent because she’s having to pay for taxis to and from work. She’s on gas and electricity meters and paying the highest tariff. 

“She is just one of literally hundreds of local residents crying out for help. We need to acknowledge the fact that this isn’t a sleepy market village anymore and help to provide better opportunities for our residents and the kids coming out of the high school” 

Ellie wanted to stand up and applaud. She was right. The paper was constantly receiving calls from local residents complaining about the lack of jobs, how crap the transport links were, and the fact there’s nowhere for the teens to go. 

The Mayor offered her sympathies and said there were no quick fixes, again, a tired phrase peddled by the council since Ellie left uni more than ten years ago.

She was one of the few who came back instead of chasing the dream of a weekly column on a red top in London. As she listened to the lukewarm promises to take a closer look at a potential community hub and links with employment agencies, Ellie wondered if she’d made the right decision after all?

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Jul 18 2015
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Educating Caroline

The beauty of having a blog is being able to write and share the things I’m passionate about and topping that list is family. Earlier this week my extended family got together at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral to celebrate my younger sister Caroline and her graduation from John Moore’s University….with an impressive 2:1 in Psychology. Although she switched degree from Journalism after year one, I’ve no doubt Caroline will utilise her junior hack skills and psychometric testing methods to become the North West’s answer to April O’Neill (She watched a lot of Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and Diagnosis Murder as a kid)

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          Congratulations Caroline!!

I wish I’d known what I wanted to do from a young age, I’m envious of those who transition from school or university on a career path they are dedicated to and focused on. It’s taken me turning 32 to really knuckle down and decide what I want to do and more importantly what I can do with my future. Ultimately I want my kids to grow up seeing me work hard to meet my goals and for them to be proud of me. The greatest gift my Mum has given me is my work ethic, she too is a grafter and I want my kids to have that attitude towards getting what they want through hard work and effort.

Caroline, the youngest of three is the only one to complete a degree, as my older brother and I left education at HND level to pursue very different paths in the Civil Service and overseas. Typically we’ve come full circle and found the only way to truly get the work/life balance right is through ongoing learning and development and not by chasing the elusive 6 figure salary. The cost of education is soaring, and bursaries and grants are almost none existent for our age bracket making it practically impossible to take a career break to retrain. With yet more changes to the welfare system scheduled for the next academic year, the time to learn is now.

After much soul-searching, a number of Open University short courses and hundreds of emails to The City of Liverpool College, I am officially a proper, 100% student again in September as I embark on the NCTJ accreditation course and the first step to becoming a fully fledged Journalist. I’ve not been this excited since my friend Graeme told me Tom Hardy was in Size? on Bold Street! I’m already learning Teeline Shorthand and trying to get my head around McNae’s Law in Journalism tome….and despite it being challenging, it’s the most fun I’ve had in ages. AND…..the icing on the cake? Caroline and I are classmates……cue ‘You can’t sit with us’ meme’s a plenty on our Facebook accounts.

I’m ridiculously proud to say my brother is also returning to college in September to show the world what a truly gifted artist he is…no really we’re not just being supportive in that way families do….if he was crap we’d have told him by now! His earlier work in super car design,  still life and wicked comic illustrations are effortless and we’re all sick and tired of harping on about how he should do something with his talent. Finally, after 14 years in London, the daily slog of the civil service has ground him down to appreciate his natural flair and he’s raring to go. Watch this space for updates on his work…also if you want a 9ft tall My Little Pony/Marvel mural painting on your bedroom wall….he’s your guy!

So here’s to Caroline, so proud of you and love you very much. You’ve inspired me and Andy to try again x

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