My Internship Abroad : Junior School in Penarth, UK

I completed my internship at the Junior School in Penarth. I completed my internship at the Junior School in Penarth. After I passed my bachelor's degree at the university successfully, I wanted to gather practical school experience in an English speaking country, which I could use in my future job as an English teacher. I consulted Studentsgoabroad.com to organize my internship. In order to support the search for an internship actively, I send in a CV and cover letter. After I had a successful phone interview with the headmaster of the school, it was not difficult for me to accept the placement having been offered to me.

Now it was time to plan my stay. I checked some accommodation options on the internet and immediately found a shared room that I could rent for my stay abroad. My roommate turned out to be very straightforward and friendly, which really was a relieve. They helped me to get a card for my phone and gave me advice when I needed them. I also bought a 3-month ticket for the train, which I took to school every day.

The school is a co-educational school in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan. It is located about 5 miles from the Welsh capital Cardiff and is composed of the Junior and Senior School. The Junior School includes kindergarten and preschool and classes 1 to 5. The Senior School is equivalent to a High School. The relatively small school (about 70 students in the Junior School) is nationally known for its high level of performance and consistently excellent academic results of their students.

My internship actually started before the actual term. Therefore, I worked in the "holiday club" before my actual start as a teaching assistant. This was a great experience for the beginning. I had the chance to get to know my students in a relaxed environment and to get used to everybody. After the official start of the term, I got my own schedule. I should teach in different classes of the Westbourne Junior Highschool. I have worked in the Nursery, the reception classes and in classes 1 to 5. According to the internship contract, my duties as a teaching assistant comprised to assist the teacher in the classroom, to supervise small groups or individually and to help individual students studying. Over time, my mission field has expanded. I got more and more independent in my daily work with students and even took over parts of lessons. I helped to design worksheets and was in frequent communication with the teachers about the upcoming schedule. I could work especially independent in mathematics, in which I also wrote my bachelor thesis. This encouraged me to apply different teaching methods in the early stages of teaching. Besides the regular subjects, I could organize small lessons in the subject of German Language. For me, it was very interesting to see the curiosity and delight the students have responded with to my little German lessons. I could teach the students a lot of new words and phrases.

My daily life in the UK was new to me, because I had never lived in an apartment before. But I felt comfortable from the beginning. I got along with my roommate very well and every now and then we spend some time together. I had the opportunity to get to know her friends.

General Cardiff offers numerous recreational opportunities. In addition to typical tourist attractions such as Cardiff Castle and several museums, there are numerous shopping and many great little bars and pubs in Cardiff, where you can spend nice evenings in a typical British pub. I also took the train to visit other sights like Swansea, Oxford, Bath, and Manchester, and I had the opportunity to experience the UK in its diversity.