My rain role is as Product Development Lead - I am responsible for creating new cycling holidays and amending existing trips to ensure there is a wide range of fun adventure holidays for customers, including road, mountain bike, leisure, e-bike, gravel and family adventure trips. In summer, I also work as a cycle tour guide, taking customers on guided cycle rides across the UK and abroad.

As a Network Development Project Officer, I helped manage various projects across Northern England which aimed to increase uptake of sustainable travel, with an emphasis on cycling and walking. I investigated potential new active travel routes and looked at where impactful improvements could be made along existing routes, working on several infrastructure, construction and feasibility projects simultaneously with councils and landowners. Other responsibilities included contract writing, submitting planning permissions, initiating land negotiation discussions, writing web content, developing maps on GIS software, creating risk registers and safety documents, maintaining and improving relationships with local authorities, stakeholders and the public.

I work several weeks a year over the summer as a self-employed cycle tour guide, mechanic and support vehicle driver for Saddle Skedaddle across various UK locations. My main responsibilities include leading customers on road, leisure and mountain bike routes, ensuring safety and providing support and route guidance, assisting with bike maintenance issues, driving the support van, preparing lunches, and catering for clients’ needs. Tour lengths vary from weekends in the Lake District to 2-week Lands End to John O’Groats rides. The job requires me to adapt quickly and be resourceful in difficult situations (such as when accidents occur or there are logistical issues) and I remain calm and professional under stress.

After attaining QTS in 2018, I taught at various schools across the North East on long and short-term supply. Despite some schools lacking resources or clear instructions, I was confident teaching a variety of subjects, from French to PE, and maths to food technology, demonstrating my resourcefulness and quick-thinking skills. Although behaviour was often challenging, I was authoritative where necessary and confident taking control of unknown classes. I enjoyed working across a range of schools and am proud of my hard-work ethic and effectiveness working with difficult pupils, but I was constantly looking to improve my classroom management skills so actively attend continuing professional development sessions.

I worked as a cycle tour guide and support vehicle driver in Tuscany and the Italian Dolomites for groups of up to 16 clients. My main responsibilities included leading and directing clients on cycle routes, ensuring client safety, leading tours of towns and imparting my knowledge of the history and culture of each region, organising hotel and restaurant bookings, bike maintenance, and checking that clients were happy by catering for their needs in any way possible. I had to be adaptable and resourceful in difficult situations, such as when accidents occured or if clients found the tours too challenging. It was also important I remained calm and professional under stress as well as providing good service to meet the varying demands of all customers.

As a Co-Director and Activity Leader at this international summer school, I organised, coordinated and supervised 10-17 year olds in sports, activities and excursions. As the camp co-director, I was responsible for organising trips and airport transfers, timetabling, financial and staff issues and coordinating the programme. I also worked independently and had to be flexible as both a sports instructor and English teacher, and equally, I had to cooperate with colleagues during games and trips. I developed several key skills at Rossall, such as leadership, organisational skills and using my initiative.

I have recently completed a year studying a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (French) working as a teacher in two diverse schools in Yorkshire in challenging environments, preparing lessons, marking, preparing assessments, evaluations and parents’ evenings on top of university Master’s level assignments on pupil inclusion and progress, which has proved to be a demanding but rewarding experience.

I taught English as a foreign language at an Italian high school. Responsibilities included planning and delivering English and design-construction lessons, exam preparation classes, marking, and resolving work and behavioural issues. I had to be flexible and adapt quickly to changing classes and different subjects. I also worked part-time as a tutor for an adults’ beginners English class and other students. I had little support and few resources, so independently prepared and taught lessons, and hence, creativity and autonomy were crucial. Furthermore, living in a small bilingual city in the Italian Alps made me a stronger communicator and I had to adapt to a different lifestyle.

As an ambassador for languages at Leeds University, I regularly go into schools to give talks on why languages should be studied at GCSE, A-Level and beyond. Since I generally present to large groups of students for up to an hour, this has greatly improved my confidence in publicly speaking and my persuasive and argumentative skills. I also have to use my initiative by speaking spontaneously, and communicating effectively under pressure shows my professionalism.

Achieved 1st Class Hons with Distinction in Spoken Italian

One day a week I went into a secondary school to help teach French to students in Years 7 – 11. My role involved taking groups out of classes to improve their conversation and reading skills, running class starter activities, planning materials and activities and being a classroom assistant; answering questions, checking work and helping the students with their French as much as possible. The work was often strenuous, but enjoyable and very rewarding. Assistant teaching has improved my confidence, lesson planning and leadership skills, and I am now more patient and didactic.

I taught English as a foreign language to pupils in a secondary school and college in Tuscany, Italy. Although my official title was Language Assistant, I mostly taught full lessons to classes of students aged 12-18 and fulfilled teacher responsibilities such as planning, marking work, preparing students for exams and resolving problems such as misbehaviour and truancy. Teaching was often strenuous, but generally very enjoyable and I have become a more confident and patient leader as a result. Working and living alone in a small, remote Italian town was also challenging at times, but I have become much more adaptable and independent because of it. Before starting this job, I received TEFL training and had also previously experienced language assistant work at a Leeds secondary school (5 hours a week, October 2013 – April 2014).

I had several important roles whilst working in France at this busy summer holiday camp for both French and English school children. I was a group leader and took groups of French and English children to local towns, markets, an animal refuge and a cheese-making factory, whereat I led guided tours and helped translate whilst ensuring the children’s safety and wellbeing. I was also an activity leader, where I led and oversaw children’s outdoor activities including Aero-ball, team games, nightline and crafts sessions. For the final six weeks, as well as continuing my other roles, I was also an EFL teacher, for which I had to plan and teach lessons, tests and games 4 hours a day which were both educational and fun. Other roles I carried out comprised of office work, housekeeping, kitchen assistant and site work. Over the three months, I became a stronger, more autonomous leader and vastly improved my communication skills in both French and English.