We caught up with Christobel back in 2018, when she was completing her trainee year as a maths teacher at Manchester Academy. Here's what she said:
Hello, my name is Christobel Gondwe, and I'm a trainee teacher of mathematics at Manchester Academy.
My background is mainly to do with research. I did my undergraduate degree at Manchester, then I did my master's, and I've just finished my PhD.
I found, compared to other training programmes that I'd looked at, I felt that United Teaching provided a more of a comprehensive and holistic teaching approach - it wasn't just about learning to impart knowledge, it was about developing as a teacher.
I'm training to teach maths in secondary. It's absolutely fantastic, I've got so much support - I've got the Principal, the Head of Department just dropping into my lessons, making sure I'm OK. Any time I need any resource, or I need to check up on something I'm not sure about, I can just walk into a classroom and ask one of my colleagues. I know support can be a big concern for a lot of training teachers, but the level of support I've received with United Learning is exceptional.