Dominic Taylor

Dominic is a PGCE student who studied his Level 6 qualification at Newcastle College University Centre. Find out more about how his passion for teaching and helping others.

Why did you go into teaching?

My teaching course is amazing to put it bluntly! The teachers were really welcoming, they are really helpful. My assigned mentor is an amazing mentor, I couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

Tell us about your mentor and placement.

My mentor is an English teacher, and that is my placement at Newcastle College as the SEND English teacher for second-year students. My mentor has really helped me in terms of establishing the rapport with students, the lesson planning, to work with the students with different disabilities, so it has been really great when it comes to my mentor and placement, because with English it’s a very difficult subject to teach, so my mentor has made it really accessible to teach that to my students.

How do you feel when your students achieve?

My students have recently passed their E2/E3 exams, and they call came to me saying “I passed! I passed!” and it’s the best feeling ever when they pass. It’s this overwhelming pride. The students, everything about them, they way the work in class, their humour, the rapport you have with the students. You can have a difficult day going into school, and one student can brighten up your day. It’s an amazing job!

What advice would you give others thinking about getting into teaching?

Definitely worth going into it, but you’ll really want to consider your specialism. I took a year off because I was uncertain what my specialism was going to be – I was stuck between English, Maths and SEND. When I went into the College for Autistic Teenagers and Adults, I realised that SEND was my specialism, so I do recommend going into teaching, but take time to consider your specialism.