Sophie Palmer

Sophie is a teacher at Cornfield School, a special school in Littlehampton for boys aged 8 to 16 with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. She has been on quite a journey since her days at Angmering School.

Sophie told us that she was a very difficult pupil in Years 7, 8 and 9 - rude to staff, truanting from lessons and close to being excluded. With lots of support, she did well in her GCSEs, and progressed to 6th form where she studied Geography, Sociology, Performing Arts and Drama. Sophie battled constantly with anxiety and low confidence and needed ongoing support from staff. She particularly struggled with exams: having meltdowns and feeling overwhelmed, and was often on the point of giving up rather than risking failure, but staff kept encouraging her to persevere and she came out with high grades in her A-levels in Summer 2018.

Sophie went to Brighton University to study Business Management, as she thought this would lead her to a well paid job in the future. But she realised it was not for her at the very first lecture, and went to the admissions office to ask about transferring to another course. She switched to a degree in Sociology and 3 years on, achieved a First Class Honours and an award for the highest grade in her cohort.

After graduating Sophie was again not sure about what she wanted to do, so signed up with an agency through Indeed and secured a job as a Teaching Assistant at Cornfield School. She discovered that she loved the job and a year later was offered an apprenticeship teacher training position. Sophie's personal difficulties have helped her to relate to the students at this school and to understand their experience of school from a different perspective.  

Sophie's advice for students who are struggling to stay motivated for the final push at this point in the year, is to think in terms of all that you have achieved so far. Don't waste the efforts of the last 18 months. Remember that you know more than you think, it's just about practice now. 

Sophie's journey is testament to what you can achieve with resilience and perseverance. She has ended up in a job she loves and is able to give back to students who find education challenging, just as she did.