Here at the ESPFA we are so grateful to the amazing group of tutors that teach our students and deliver the BTEC course on the education side of the programme.
To showcase some of the excellent tutors the ESPFA boasts, we bring to you the second edition of ‘Tutors Tales’, a half-termly segment where we sit down with some of our tutors and highlight some of their achievements over past few years and share their backstory. In this term’s edition, we spoke to Swindon Supermarine tutor Sam Roberts, Runcorn Linnets tutor Andrew Tower and Carlton Town tutor, Megan Turner.
SAM ROBERTS - SWINDON SUPERMARINE: 'helping those achieve higher grades than they believe they can achieve is so rewarding'
Q: What made you want to become a Tutor for the ESPFA?
A: The fact I done something similar when I was younger, I felt I would suit the company very well. I've always wanted to move into a college background teaching BTEC at some point.
Q: What previous experience do you have as a Tutor?
I've been a tutor for about 8 years starting in business admin and after a year finally found a job with sport. Been tutoring learners of all ages within the leisure industry for 7 years.
Q: What is the most rewarding thing about being a tutor for the ESPFA?
A: Some students really want to excel and move into further education so helping those achieve higher grades than they believe they can achieve is so rewarding.
ANDREW TOWER - RUNCORN LINNETS: 'fantastic for them in terms of an incentive and being able to visualise genuine progression opportunities for their future'
Q: How did You get involved with the ESPFA?
A: I was approached by Mark Baker to take on the teaching in early 2019 and from an initial visit, meeting the previous tutor, the learners, and getting to better understand the overall ESPFA programme, it was immediately of interest to me and I started shortly after.
Q: What previous experience do you have as a Tutor?
A: I’ve delivered BTEC short courses, previously, when running a community programme at a non-league football club and really enjoyed the banter with the learners and trying to help them manage the transition between school and the workplace.
Q: How does the ESPFA help the students involved? Education/work experience/ Links to further education or university etc
A: ESPFA, invite respected companies offering scholarship opportunities abroad as well as partner with high profile universities such as Loughborough and UCFB in order to offer learners a first-class pathway for their next steps, which is fantastic for them in terms of an incentive and being able to visualise genuine progression opportunities for their future.
MEGAN TURNER - CARLTON TOWN: 'I’ve always wanted to make a difference in students education'
Q: What made you want to become a Tutor when you first started out?
A: I’ve always wanted to make a difference in students education and carry on being involved with sport.
Q:What was your first teaching/tutoring job and what was it like?
A: I was a teacher that travelled around different primary schools within Derby, Chesterfield, Nottingham and Sheffield teaching a variation of sports to young children.
Q: What made you want to become a Tutor for the ESPFA?
I thought that the course and units taught to students sounded interesting and was something I'd of been able to give a good input to with my personal training experience.