Charlotte Lister

Nursery Assistant/MA student at Leeds Trinity

Without the help and support from the Placement team, quick responses and help with my DBS I don’t think I would have managed to achieve all that I did.

Why I chose to attend Leeds Trinity

When I was in High school, I never believed I would be able to ever go to university as I never thought I was good enough. I was always scraping by for grades and I worked so hard to get to where I was. After I completed my GCSEs, I could not believe I had the grades I needed for Sixth Form. In Sixth Form I struggled a lot with exams and the same throughout college, which made it difficult for me to believe I could ever go to university. This was until I found the perfect course at Leeds Trinity which was all coursework based and one I knew I could excel in.

Studying Working with Children, Young People and Families was a course that had no exams, just coursework and work placements. This is the main reason I chose Leeds Trinity but alongside this I knew I worked much better in smaller groups. I had seen other universities and became worried of being in a large group. Then I saw that at Leeds Trinity the lectures were in classroom-based groups of maximum 30 people - it was then I knew Leeds Trinity was the perfect university for me.

What I enjoyed most about studying at Leeds Trinity

Leeds Trinity is an amazing university. They managed to ensure the students still had the best university experience during the coronavirus pandemic. I enjoyed the different social activities and clubs the University offers including the Chaplaincy which has done many different events and helped me to re-discover my faith whilst at the University. I always felt very welcome to attend anything at the University and enjoyed the range of events in the campus bar.

Valuable placement opportunities

The Placement team at Leeds Trinity are incredible and I found the placement information on the website invaluable. This really helped me to decide what placement I would like to do and the team did all they could to make sure that despite Covid-19 there were still valuable opportunities available.  I completed a placement in Chapel Allerton Primary School, and it was amazing. Without the help and support from the Placement team, quick responses and help with my DBS I don’t think I would have managed to achieve all that I did.

What I enjoyed most about my course

I was unsure of what career I wanted to follow after I graduated but this interesting and exciting degree helped me to figure that out. Working with Children, Young People and Families is such a broad course that you learn so much over the three years. I enjoyed the diverse range of topics throughout the three years and the different approaches, learning styles and assignments.

I never believed teaching would be so exciting and so much fun, so I enjoyed everything about my course. The lecturers I had at University were so easy to get along with and speak to if I had any problems and this made my time at Leeds Trinity so enjoyable.

Leaving university with new skills

I believe I have become more confident through university and that many of the skills I have learnt are skills for life. I have become much more organised, able to manage my time effectively, solve problems without the help of others, being more independent and I have gained an open mind to deal with delicate situations.

My career after graduation

After completing my course I took on a roll in a nursery as I wanted to gain more experience working with children. It’s great to be able to speak to parents without worrying about what to say or how to approach them. I have managed to understand why children behave a certain way and what causes certain behaviour traits within a child.

I’m looking forward to embarking on a Masters at Leeds Trinity in Family Support, as I want to become a family support worker with children that may have been abused. I decided to undertake a topic in safeguarding as this is the career I want to pursue.

My advice to prospective students thinking about doing a similar course

If you want to do the same course I would suggest looking into placements as you start the course and think of the experience you would like for your future role. Leeds Trinity is amazing at finding you the right placement, but it is so important to gain as much from your placement as possible.

Put in all the hours to do extra reading, proofread and proofread again because the assignments are so important. Last of all, when you are doing your dissertation make sure it is on a topic you enjoy, motivating you to complete your best work and help get the best result possible.