Karen Baker

I have lived in Singapore for the past 15 years, I am now in Madrid. 

 I teach grades 1 & 2 and am currently looking for full time employment in the PYP or IPC.

 11th July  2022

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to apply for the position of Class Teacher KS1 and 2. I have just finished a contract with the Overseas Family School in Singapore, working as a Grade 1 Maternity Cover Teacher, where I was part of an amazing grade 1 team. 

OFS is an IPC/IB school based in Singapore. It has 3,000 students ranging from all over the world. The grade 1 curriculum consists of many rigorous, engaging and globally relevant Units of Work. Each thematic IPC Unit of Work is designed around a clear process of learning with a student-led enquiry approach and students are taught to make connections across various subjects, through multiple perspectives. As a team, we each contributed weekly for home learning, spelling and maths. As a grade 1 teacher, I have found that it is crucial to have a nurturing and attentive relationship with your students. I firmly believe it is very important to support, inspire and motivate your students every step of the way on their learning journey. Communication with parents about their child was kept up via Zoom, as well as a weekly newsletter that was sent out every Friday. 

 Previously I was working at Invictus International school teaching a grade 1 class where I taught and planned for the IPC, Maths and English curriculum. As part of the grade 1 team, we collaborated to create resources for differentiation and how to best target these within our classrooms. Together we created assessments for the IPC, Maths and English curriculum and have also put together a marking scheme. 

 At One World International School (OWIS) I worked as a grade 2 PYP Teacher. I was responsible for all the standard roles that a teacher carries out, such as assessments, keeping records of student progress as well as keeping portfolios of student work to share with parents, planning with differentiation for the different abilities and teaching Art. I am experienced in the use of a PYP rubric for tracking student progress and I have also had extensive experience in meeting and communicating with parents, both face-to-face as well as via written reports and emails. I have also worked closely with the ESL and learning support teachers in dealing with some challenging situations with parents and have enjoyed an excellent collaboration with them to ensure the best outcomes for their children.

I enjoy working in a team and always try to share resources and be creative to design fun, engaging and educational activities for my students. I have enjoyed wonderful, positive relationships with teaching colleagues and assistants in the past and always ensure that I treat others with respect. I firmly believe that technology can be used effectively to promote learning, and I have used an interactive whiteboard, tablet and iPad within the classroom. I regularly use suitable YouTube videos and other online resources, such as Maths and Phonics games to bring learning alive within the classroom. I always research my lessons extensively and bring innovative and fun ideas into my teaching.

The modules that I covered in the Nottingham PGCEi prepared me with many skills that are necessary for me to work as a classroom teacher, such as lesson planning and differentiation, the importance of classroom environment, rote learning vs. conceptual learning, approaches to teaching and developing student’s framework, investigating student understanding, evaluation and the philosophy and pedagogy of teaching. 

As the Winstedt delegate at the EARCOS conference in March 2018, which was a special needs focused event organised by SENIA, I was excited to be able to further my professional development in the field of special needs education, which also brings many skills that can be applied to learners of any ability. Having taught at a special educational needs school; I have gained valuable experience in working with students who learn differently. I also have some background with English Language Learners; I am TEFL qualified and worked as an English Language teacher in Vietnam before transitioning into kindergarten and then Primary.

I am very willing to participate in all aspects of the curriculum; for example, I helped to run the Girl Scouts ECA at Winstedt and I have taught a yoga class as well as a Lego ECA at OWIS. I have organised and helped run many trips and excursions within Singapore, including the Science Centre, Science Museum, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Treetop Forest Adventure Obstacle Course, NUS Museum, and many more.

 I have taken advantage of the many professional development opportunities that have been offered to me in recent years, such as training in the PYP, IPC, Words their Way, Big Write, Nelson Cursive, Read & Write, Inc. (Ruth Miskin) and Targeting Maths. I would be very enthusiastic to participate in any of the PD offered and would embrace the opportunity to further myself both professionally and academically. Working at Blue House I also received training and insights into the Reggio Emilia method of education, which still informs my practice to this day.

Differentiation has been a central focus in lesson planning in collaboration with my fellow teachers, where we plan to meet the needs of our diverse learners in terms of desired outcomes. Beginning with observations and then assessments. I have experience in using the PM benchmarking reading assessment, RAZ reading online assessments and the Oxford Owl reading, spelling and comprehension assessments. I have attended all meetings as a member of the teaching staff at OFS and have taken the opportunity to voice my ideas as well as to keep informed of important developments and initiatives that the school is involved in. I was actively involved in the school student council at Winstead, helping the children to develop their leadership and communication skills and to participate in a mock democracy, to make their voices heard.

In summary, I feel that I would be a real asset to Maxwell School. My genuine love for children and my caring, supportive nature helps me to foster positive relationships with my students, which I believe to be key to successful learning. Through reflective practise and continuous professional development, I have been constantly developing my practice and my ongoing search for new and exciting teaching ideas keeps my classroom a fun and inspiring place to learn.

Sincerely,

Karen Baker

I have a BA (honours) and a PGCEi