Wednesday 4 September 2013

Starting back at college

Last year I went back to college. I bit the bullet and decided to improve my maths. I got a grade D at GCSE and I could retake it for free thanks to my local council. As my GCSE was older than 3 years, I had to take a City and Guilds exam in Functional Maths first. This is a qualification in itself but also a bit of a refresher for people like me who have been out of the school system for many a year ! We took the exam in July and I was most pleased to receive my certificate the other day to say I'd passed. The college advised us that we could finish with that or continue with the GCSE which will be done over one year quite intensively. I have signed up for another year and start back next week. Although at times I found the class hard to fit in with my other commitments in adult life , I persevered. I only missed two classes in the year when I was ill and caught up quickly. I enjoyed being back in the class room environment, mixing with other people and doing the homework. I also liked receiving my homework back , more often than not, all correct and welcomed the encouragement from my tutor. I liked college so much that I toyed with the idea of also doing Sociology but decided against it this year. Because the Maths will be intensive I want to give it my full attention and get the best grade I can. I really want to improve upon my school grade to prove to my self albeit 20 years later that I could do it. I plan to do the other course next September as I want to continue learning but probably will be all Maths'd out by then and fancy a change. A big bonus for me is that I can understand and discuss my daughters homework with her, whereas before it was a bit daunting. It will be hard work for me over the next year but in real time its only until July with a few school holidays in between.

6 comments:

  1. Good luck with it. I absolutely loved the year I did at college doing a full time Access course so that I could go to uni. I agree with you about it being good to be back in the classroom. I studied Sociology when I was there. KL studied it at college and will be studying Sociology and English Lit at uni - starting this month!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loved reading this - good on you! I took some Open University courses pre-children but haven't done anything recently. It will take commitment, but you clearly have that, and it will be so very much worth it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well done - congratulations on the Maths!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations on your success in the refresher course - have fun this year! Jx

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should feel so proud of yourself! I would love to learn a language when I finally leave teaching.

    Sft x

    ReplyDelete