Studying sport at ARU

Once I decided to go into teaching and train to be a PE teacher, it was a matter of seeing what universities could offer. Anglia Ruskin's Sport and Exercise Sciences offer really stood out to me.

Before university I studied a level 3 National Diploma in Sports Performance and Excellence at Colne Community School and College in Colchester, Essex.

At the time the college appealed to me because their football academy enabled me to do my studies during the morning while training and playing football during the evenings, with matches every Wednesday. This was important to me as football is a big part of my life.

It was at this time that I realised I wanted to have a career within the sports sector, it was just deciding how I wanted to go about it. I could either go down the coaching route and progress through coaching badges or go to university and do a three-year sports degree. A degree would qualify me to do a PGCE which, if successful, would allow mean to officially work at a school as a physical education teacher. With this in mind I decided to go down the teaching route.

I attended several open days to get a feel for university life with universities such as Loughborough, Bangor, University of Suffolk, Essex University and of course Anglia Ruskin. It was at this point I knew that Anglia Ruskin was the university for me.

The open lecture held by Dan Gordon is what made this university stand out to me. Dan talked about all that Anglia Ruskin had to offer, such as Compass House (a newly built facility for the sports and exercise science sector) and their partnership with several different sports clubs like Cambridge United, Histon FC and MK Dons. With the degree itself, Sports Coaching and Physical Education fitted me very well, as I was able to then decide after my degree which career path I wanted to go down which was re-assuring.

My first day at university was a rather daunting one as expected, moving to a completely new environment knowing no-one was something I hadn’t experience before but the university really helped with the social side of this. Hosting two taster sessions before university started allowed me to find a friendship group with similar interests to me.

Lessons were mixed between both sports science and sports coaching and physical education, so I was able to get an understanding of what it would be like if I was to do the other degree. In my second year everything got that bit more real and I decided it was important to not only to do well in my degree but at the same time gain some additional experience and skills to make myself stand out. Anglia Ruskin provided me with all the tools to do so.  The employment bureau and mentors have helped me find jobs and work experience which are suited to my area of study. Thanks to Anglia Ruskin and its connections with the community I was able to get a placement at a local school which is helping me gain hands-on knowledge of what it would be like to be a PE teacher. Getting this placement will also benefit me in the next academic year. The head teacher of the school has allowed me to work with the students for my dissertation based on my good relationship with the school and members of staff.

So looking to the future I’m planning to work at the school for an additional two years, this being my third year and if successful, again when I am doing my PGCE. I am looking to gain a wider range of coaching badges such as trampoline, rugby, basketball, netball just to broaden my skills and knowledge of the area.

By Connor
BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching and Physical Education student