Merlyn Gains Confidence and Plans for a Future in Teaching

Merlyn moved to the UK two and a half years ago with her two children and is now looking to upskill and find a job with the support of Grow. Although she has not worked in the UK yet, she volunteers every afternoon at her children’s school and her dream is to get into paid work as a Teaching Assistant. Grow is helping her grow her skills and confidence along the way.

Merlyn said “I found out about the Grow programme through the Hillingdon Council website while I was searching for jobs and courses. I hadn’t worked in the UK before, but I am volunteering at my children’s school, and I wanted to find a job or take some training that could help me get started.

In India, I did my post-graduation in Zoology and a Master of Philosophy in Education. But when I applied for jobs here in the UK, employers told me I needed to do relevant courses or qualifications in the UK. That’s when I contacted Grow and joined the programme.

Since joining Grow, I’ve attended the Bootcamp, some online sessions such as the Coffee Mornings, and a one-day Leadership Training course in Paddington run by PDT. The Leadership course taught me about the different styles of leadership and how to be confident as a leader. I enjoyed it very much.

I’m interested in working in a school, especially as a Teaching Assistant. I am interested in undertaking more courses, especially courses that will enable me to work in schools. I already have about four months of volunteering experience at my children’s school where I volunteer every weekday from 1pm to 3.20pm. I work with small groups of children, helping them with simple maths like addition and subtraction and with grammar in English. I enjoy it so much and it’s helping me get ready for a paid job in the future.

Grow has given me confidence and made me feel supported. I check the Grow app which is great for giving me job ideas as one of the things I’ve found difficult is understanding roles in jobs and whether I am suited to them. The Grow app helps with this because it provides advice about different jobs and what they are. My goal is to get a job that fits around my children and gives me the chance to use the skills I already have and having the support of Grow to help me on this journey is so helpful.