A teaching secondment with Welsh Water – by Sian Williams

Let us start at the beginning. Myself and my colleague Lee are the 69th and 70th Welsh Water Seconded Teachers in the last two decades or so. As a not-for-profit utility company, education is an important cog in the wheel, particularly as it encourages the next generation to make little changes that will help the environment and focus on sustainability.

For anybody from my profession looking to become the 71st, 72nd and 73rd seconded teacher, let me tell you, the first week is nothing if not full-on.  From health and safety guidance and conversations, to information about performance commitments, booking procedures, session content, outdoor learning training – I could go on and on and it is fair to say that I felt a little overwhelmed at times! Luckily however, my education team colleagues, Sion and Claire were at hand to reassure me that this was normal and that things would soon settle down. And settle down they did. What I soon realised, was that aside from the new environment, colleagues and routines, the key objectives of my day-to-day functions remained the same - the well-being and attainment of pupils. My bread and butter.

I was fortunate enough to have a great teaching colleague, Lee. We clicked immediately and were able to support each other (mainly virtually) throughout the year, particularly as our skillset complimented each other so well.  This was key, not least because things were to proceed with a very different approach to the one I had anticipated. I imagined welcoming classes of happy children to the Education Centre, seeing astonished faces when I took them on the tour of the Wastewater Treatment Works and sharing the thrill of looking at a freshwater shrimp under the microscope. 

However, this was not to be. The continued impact of Coronavirus made sure of that. The education sector has faced numerous challenges over the past year, and as a team, we had to adapt quickly to offer as much support to the profession as possible. 

Information and Communication Technology dependence grew ten-fold.  Before I knew it, we were creating electronic resources, developing virtual learning platforms, producing and editing educational short clips and standing live in front of a video-camera - ready to deliver my assemblies to schools full of eagerly awaiting pupils via Microsoft Teams. I can sympathise with colleagues from the education sector, who feel that at times their role as class teachers have been misconstrued with that of a children’s TV presenter over the past year. In my case however, I may have found a new vocation in life! 

Despite the different and challenging teaching approach that we have developed this year, it has been thrilling and rewarding. The live interaction, the laughter at our videos, the rapport with pupils and my new-found skills, have all made it worthwhile.

When I first started with Welsh Water I was really lacking in self-belief and self-confidence. During my time with the company, although I have often been pushed well out of my comfort zone, I have grown in confidence and am extremely proud of what I - and the team, have achieved. For one, I cannot wait to share my newly developed skills with my class when I return to school – their education will be all the better for it. This amazing experience has also shown me how much I absolutely love teaching. Who would have thought that teaching about water could be so exciting – and nothing builds excitement quite so much in the class as a subtle mention of ‘poo power’!

Being part of this fantastic team has had such a positive effect on me. I am far happier and genuinely excited about what the next few months will bring!