STEM SUSSEX

What is your background in STEM?

As a trainee teacher about to start a PGCE, I want to be involved in voluntary work in and around schools. Through my university, I’ve been advised to join STEM Sussex and am now glad I can be an Ambassador. I’m going for my first day with STEM Sussex in July.

Tell us a bit about your job history

I am/was a television producer specialising in live sport. I started out in 1993 with Sky Sports working on football, sports news, golf and various other sports. In 1995 I joined the Golf Production team as an assistant producer and travelled all over the world covering Sky’s extensive Golf output.  I loved working on the big tournaments especially the US Open and the USPGA (2 of the 4 majors) and felt Sky gave a new look at Golf and made it busier and more in depth.
I left Sky in December 1998 as I needed a fresh challenge, and as a language graduate decided to join Eurosport International in Paris. I was their main football producer working on all their football output including Eurogoals, World Cup qualifiers, the African Nations Cup and Euro 2000. As a Spanish/French speaker I was very useful to the company and could operate as a cameraman, producer, editor and reporter, so flexibility was a key asset too.  
My girlfriend now wife fell pregnant in the autumn of 2000 so I decided to come back to the UK in April 2001 and I’ve freelanced ever since working on various projects including British Touring Cars, Tour de France and Football World Cups.
For the last 2 years, I have been looking at other areas of personal development and have decided to become a Maths teacher. Having completed my SKE (Subject Knowledge Enhancement) in Mathematics, I start my PGCE in September 2010.

Were you able to find a job easily when you wanted to?

In TV, it was fairly easy to find work as Sports television was quite specialised and companies wanted people with experience and knowledge of the sport involved. Also I tended to work for people who had contacted me and so I didn’t chase the work very much.
Starting out however in 1993 was harder. I was basically a runner at Sky Sports for nearly a year working mad hours and long shifts. It was good fun but a lot of contemporaries didn’t make it through. I took me about a year to actually get into Sky as it’s pretty competitive.

What do you do at the moment (in broad terms)?

I’m a trainee teacher learning Mathematics and Pedagogy simultaneously.

What skills do you use in your job?

Skills transferred from previous work:

• Communication – key skill for working in education. In my work, the ability to effectively communicate was of paramount importance. In a live sports environment, you had to be constantly talking with your director, gallery staff and video tape truck.
• Flexibility – If something wasn’t working or you were having problems, you had to adapt very, very quickly as sometimes you were live on air. This can also be related to working with children – you have to analyse quickly if something isn’t working.
• Working as part of a team – You had to be able to get on with all your colleagues as otherwise things would not work out properly and correctly. Teaching is an individual pursuit but you have to work as part of a team both in the classroom and staffroom.

Give some examples of things you do in your day to day work

In TV, I would prepare packages that would be transmitted in long or short formats. Sometimes Highlights of a sport in say 60 minutes, reduced from sometimes 10 hours (for golf tournaments)  or Filming a 30 minute documentary on e.g. David Beckham gathering interviews and certain clips of football matches– At other times I might prepare a 30 second  Promotion which would air on the channel rather than as an insert in a Programme.
Now however I am looking at how children learn and how you can motivate and engage them. Maths can sometimes cause the shutters to come down and learning how to excite children about Maths will be part of my ongoing personal development.

How has your perception of STEM changed when moving between education and work?

To be honest, I knew nothing about STEM before I became I started my teacher training. However I can now see the importance of Maths, Engineering and Science and can see that allowing children an insight into related careers could be of great benefit.

What do you do in your spare time?

Tennis, gym, swimming, dog walking, playing with 9 year old son.