ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL SITS ENGLISH GCSE
MUM HAD SIX WEEKS TO SWOT UP
AN assistant principal who left school at 16 has taken her English GCSE exam 34 years later – and passed with flying colours.
Sharon Maloney, who works at Long Field Academy, in Melton, left school with just the lower CSE qualifications and no O-levels – the GCSE equivalent.
However, the 50-year-old took her exam in November last year, learning the entire syllabus in just six weeks and came out with a Grade 6.
Sharon said: “When I was a child, the schools weren’t as supportive of those who weren’t going to achieve as much.
“They focused on the ones who were easier to teach.
“Nowadays, there is extra support for those who struggle, there wasn’t that kind of support then.
“So instead of doing O-levels, I did the easier courses.”
After leaving school, Sharon worked in catering for 10 years, but ever since school she had a passion for teaching and decided she would make the huge career change.
She said: “I always wanted to be a teacher, but when I was at school, I realised I wasn’t academic enough.
“I did have a successful career in catering, but it wasn’t sustainable with children, so that’s when I started childminding.
“That made me want to go into education.”
Despite not having the qualifications normally required, Sharon completed a foundation degree and then a BA degree.
She added: “I worked at first as a teaching assistant in a local primary school, then went to manage an early years nursery.
“At the time, Leicestershire County Council was offering places on a foundation degree, and I was fortunate enough to get a place even though I didn’t have the English GCSE.
“That was very hard work, balancing the degree with a husband, raising two children and working fulltime.”
Eight years ago, Sharon began working at Long Field Academy in Melton and during her time there she has worked her way up through the ranks to become assistant principal.
She said: “I do work as an unqualified teacher, but I realised I needed to get the proper qualifications, and that meant I needed to take my English GCSE.”
The last time Sharon
Sharon Maloney, left
took an exam was in 2008, when she took her maths GCSE, and before that was when she took her CSEs as a teenager.
She said: “I came back last summer and decided I wanted to do the exam, and the next available one was in November.
“That only gave me six weeks to study.”
Sharon studied with the help of the school’s director of English studies, Rhea Fallows, and spent her free time at the weekends learning.
When the day of the exam finally came, Sharon said she was incredibly nervous as it had been such a long time.
She said: “I was nervous to go into that exam, and I did start to feel a bit poorly and stressed.
“I can’t remember what I wrote in the exam now, my mind went completely blank.”
Despite her nerves and lack of time to learn what teenagers have to learn in two years, Sharon passed with flying colours.
She plans on using her new qualification as a stepping stone to starting a PGCE qualification so she can become a fully fledged teacher at Long Field.
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There is extra support for those who struggle, there wasn’t that kind of support then