Matthew Craig, Patrician Secondary School, Newbridge, Co Kildare

FOR MY work experience, I was working in my old primary school (St Patrick’s NS). It brought back a lot of memories, most of them good. I was working in second class for the most part, which wasn’t too bad. I spent time helping correct homework, change library books, and other odd jobs like that. I learned how to work a photocopier, and did a bit of work in the school garden.

The school itself has changed a lot (the only thing that hasn’t really changed are the teachers), they’ve got a lot of new equipment like interactive whiteboards and an inside sports hall.

It was kind of weird to see things from a teacher’s perspective. The kids were well behaved, which is the opposite from secondary school. I also found out that teachers aren’t what I thought they were. They actually have more of a life than you would think: I found that out from sitting in the corner off the staff room eavesdropping on their conversations.

What I got most out of it was that I found out that I don’t want to be primary schoolteacher, but I might like teaching in a secondary school for four or five years, and then move on to a different job. I would be working with more mature kids, and would also be able to teach the subjects I wanted to.