Growing Together ECF Pathways - Grace Gili-Ross

This week we hear from Grace Gili-Ross as part of our ECF Pathways series, one of our ECTs who has just completed the 2 year ECF programme, and is also completing her NPQ Leading Literacy, so a real literacy and teaching champion at Darwen Vale.

Grace Gili-Ross - Literacy Co-ordinator at Darwen Vale High School

My name is Grace Gili-Ross and I am currently a second year ECT English teacher and Literacy Co-ordinator at Darwen Vale High School. My career progression has been fuelled a deep love for my subject and a passion for education. After studying English at the University of Kent, I fell in love with my subject even more and decided to train to become a GCSE and A-Level teacher. During my hunt for a teaching position, I stumbled across and advert for Darwen Vale High School.

Intrigued, I visited and immediately fell in love with the school and its ethos. My greatest accomplishment, during my time as an ECT, came at the end of my first year at Vale where I was appointed the school’s Literacy Co-ordinator. This is a role that I never thought I could achieve so early in my career but, due to the dedication and support of my department and wider ECT team, I felt completely confident and prepared.

It cannot be overstated how much the ECF seminars and support through Aldridge and Teach First helped me to get to that point. The ECF seminars themselves went beyond theory and gave me focused and implementable advice that directly influenced my classroom and unequivocally shaped my practice.

Moreover, the mentors at Aldridge and within Darwen Vale have been a tremendous source of sustained encouragement throughout both my years as ECT and it is their expertise and feedback which leads me to wholeheartedly recommend completing the ECF with Aldridge and Teach First.