Annie Gallagher is an alumna of BA (Hons) Childhood Development and Playwork, graduating in 2021. She now works as the Pastoral Head of Year at a Secondary School, and credits a lot of her career success to her course at Leeds Beckett. In this blog, she talks through what her job involves and reflects on her time at university.

Course: BA (Hons) Childhood Development and Playwork

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’ve been doing since you graduated?

I am now 26, and graduated from Leeds Beckett three years ago, where I studied Childhood Development and Playwork. 

My placement during my first year inspired me to reach my current job role. During my placement I worked at a Special Needs Outreach Service in Bradford, which inspired me to work with more vulnerable children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This gave me the foundation to understand what support schools have in place for children with special educational needs, which then lead me to look at pastoral roles in mainstream schools and how they adapted their learning environment for children’s specific needs. 

Tell us a bit more about your current role and why it’s amazing.

I have been in my current role since graduating two and a half years ago. I work in a secondary school in Doncaster as a Pastoral Head of Year for Year 10. Since starting this job my passion for mental health has grown, especially now working with young people. The school is located within a vulnerable area of Doncaster, and I sometimes face challenges because of this. 

A normal working day for me is to ensure that all children within the year group are all happy and feel safe whilst at school. I will then ensure interventions have taken place for the students who need it. This can vary from mental health support, bereavement support, behaviour reviews/behaviour support sessions and much more.

How did your course at Leeds Beckett help you get to where you are today? 

My course at Leeds Beckett inspired me to go down the pastoral/behavioural pathway of education. The module ‘Therapeutic Playwork’ during my third year inspired me a lot and had me thinking about my career beyond Leeds Beckett. The module dug deeper into more of the therapeutic side of children’s development, including trauma they may have experienced and how this can affect them as they get older. In my current role I see how certain ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) during early childhood can affect them as they reach secondary school.

What support or opportunities did you receive at Leeds Beckett that have helped shaped your career? 

One thing that stands out to me the most about my experience at Leeds Beckett is that my confidence increased, especially when presenting. During my course we had to individually present, as well as in groups, and initially my confidence whilst presenting may not have been the best. However, the course provided the skills and key pointers to use when presenting to a crowd of people. Now during my current role, I present to teachers how to best support students within my year group, in order to help keep students within the learning environment.

Can you tell us about a project, piece of work or experience from university that you’re proud of?

My dissertation is something that has inspired me and the path I have chosen for my career. I researched language development in children and how adults help their development. Even though the work I do is predominantly with secondary school students, from September I am working with year 7 to help the transition from primary to secondary school. My dissertation helped me get to where I am today and made me see how I want to make an impact on children’s lives.

What would you say to someone considering studying your course?

Definitely consider studying this course, there are so many paths you can go down. There is not one particular career outcome from this degree, it has the opportunity to open so many doors and enables you to develop your career through many different avenues. 

One thing I would do now that I didn’t when I was at Leeds Beckett is study abroad and take that opportunity!

What’s next for you? 

I am currently looking at studying a master’s back at Leeds Beckett in children’s mental health.