After leading a successful career in the retail and consumer banking sectors, I decided to turn my skills towards the teaching profession. I made this move based on my fervent and longstanding desire to work in a role in which I could help young children to fulfil their potential and make an active contribution to the school and the local community. Having grown up in Newham, and having also taught a Year Six class at a school in Dagenham, I am aware of the crucial cohesive role that primary schools play in bringing diverse communities together through creating vibrant and inclusive environments in which children from a wide range of backgrounds can develop. Now in the latter stages of my PGCE, and with the benefit of having completed classroom placements ' and also looking forward to the challenges of future ones ' I believe that, as a dedicated and capable early-career teacher, I would make an excellent addition to the teaching staff of your school. At all stages of my career, whether working in the private sector or in schools, I have prided myself on my dependability as a team member, something that is reflected in my consistently excellent attendance and punctuality record for the jobs and placements that I have held. During my teaching career so far I have always regarded it as my duty to ensure that I work firmly within the guidelines and policies of the school, to ensure that its overall vision and ethos can be successfully put into practice. Just as importantly, I am always willing and eager to learn from the feedback of colleagues and managers, viewing constructive criticism as an opportunity to improve my future performance and therefore contribute more fully to the team in the future. My desire to learn in this way extends to the way in which I evaluate my own professional performance. I firmly believe in the importance of self-reflection as a method of identifying one's own shortcomings; as a result of this disposition I am continually looking for ways in which I can improve as a teacher and a colleague.

It has been a pleasure to gain an in-depth knowledge of teaching theory and practice through completing my PGCE, especially when I have had the opportunity to deploy this knowledge in a classroom setting. I am looking forward to continually strengthening my teaching knowledge and understanding as my career progresses. One of the highlights so far for me in this journey has been the experience I have gained in teaching a wide range of subjects to a variety of age groups of children from diverse backgrounds. Whilst teaching in these settings I have improved several different strands of my teaching knowledge. For instance, I have developed a high-level of proficiency in a wide range of subjects, especially the core subjects of the curriculum; my aptitude and potential in these fields is demonstrated by the fact that I have already passed the literacy skills test, and will shortlytake the ICT and numeracy tests. Having gained experience of working at Key Stage Two level, I am looking forward to gaining experience of teaching Key Stage Onein the coming months of my PGCE. In the course of teaching I have put into practice strategies that have helped to ensure an optimal learning experience for the children under my care, such as making effective use of the plan-teach-assess-plan- cycle and deploying classroom management strategies that are suited to the learning outcomes and profiles of the class. Just as importantly, through my teaching placements I have gained a greater understanding of the ways in which to foster a classroom environment that both promotes diversity and values inclusion.

Since beginning the PGCE I have been eager to develop my professional skills ' in relation to duties both inside and outside of the classroom ' as fully as possible. I have been successful in devising and delivering imaginative and engaging lessons that both capture the children's interest and fulfil appropriate learning objectives. Indeed, it has been a pleasure to attempt novel teaching ideas and see them successfully unfold. When working with the class I have developed effective techniques in delivering student assessment and feedback that is tailored to factors such as the age and learning needs of the child. Similarly, I have enjoyed the challenges of implementing the behaviour management strategies that I have learnt through study and observation to ensure that the classroom environment is optimized for child learning and development. Throughout the period of my teaching placements I have worked in close conjunction with my mentor, classroom support staff and other teachers and strived to ensure that we work effectively as a team.

I also possess a wide range of skills that would allow me to successfully contribute to life at the school in several different areas. As a fluent speaker of Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi, and having been brought up in a multi-cultural setting, I am more than equal to the task of helping the school to function as a welcoming community to children from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, the twelve years of private-sector managerial experience that I acquired prior to becoming a teacher have made me adept at handling administrative and managerial tasks, ranging from briefing fellow staff members, organizing meetings, maintaining complex records and communicating with the public.

This Teaching personal statement example should provide inspiration to students applying for university to write a unique personal statement of their own.