Andrea Provan, teacher of PE at St John Bosco Arts College

Many teachers will say they were inspired to enter the profession by a teacher they had in school and for Andrea Provan, she is no exception.

“My PE teacher was the person who inspired me,” Andrea explains. “For me, school wasn’t my favourite place but he was the one who pushed me to do things, for example when everyone was deciding to go to university, and I didn’t think that was something I wanted to do, he had a chat with me and explained what my other options are.”

As a child, Andrea and her family moved around as her dad was in the army. She has lived in Scotland, Yorkshire and Cyprus – where her parents still live now. From Year 4 up until Year 13, she went to school on the beautiful Mediterranean island.

With the support of her favourite teacher, Andrea realised that sport was what she loved and took that further to study sport science at Liverpool John Moores University.

She adds: “When I finished my degree, I didn’t really know what to do with it, but I realised that I would love to have the same effect on children that my teacher had on me. I wanted to be there for those who may not want to be in school and to be that person that they can speak to and rely on.” a master’s in education as an ECT (early

Since then, Andrea has done a PGDE in physical education and has recently completed a master’s in education practice. Her future goal is to embark on a doctorate in education.

Having just finished her second year as an ECT (early career teacher),

Andrea is relishing in her role as a PE teacher at the Croxteth secondary school.

“Before I joined, I was very familiar with John Bosco Arts College because of its fantastic reputation in the city and, of course, the PE facilities are second to none – I really couldn’t miss the opportunity of working here. As soon as I met the headteacher, Mr Gidman, and other members of staff I knew this was the school for me,” she comments.

Her position also encompasses the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award which she is extremely passionate about and is keen to encourage participation from students in Year 9 and above.

Andrea says: “We have had 21 students complete their bronze award in Rivington recently and they absolutely loved it. They’re so eager to do their silver award already!”

As a new teacher, forming meaningful relationships with staff and students can take some time but for Andrea, she found that St John Bosco Arts College welcomed her with open arms which she puts down to the school’s shared values of Love, Faith, Community, Respect and Hope.

“I have great relationships with other departments and that doesn’t always happen in schools,” Andrea concludes. “If there is good staff morale, then this filters down and in turn, you have happy children who love coming to school. I find this really helps spread the coming to school. I find this ethos. if you show the children respect, they it

“Having respectful relationships is particularly key in teaching because if you show the children respect, they will give it back to you and that’s what you want to instil from a young age.”