Making a Splash in Education

Posted at 3:20 pm on 19th June, 2018

Swim star and ex-student completes work experience at Wellacre

Wellacre has followed the career of British and National Swimming Champion Ben Kerry with great interest and pride after he left school in 2012.

His exciting journey has led Ben to Leeds Beckett University to study Primary Education and we were extremely glad to welcome him back for a two-week work placement and to learn more about the path he has taken following his time at Wellacre.

Principal Miss Wicks said:

“We were delighted to hear from Ben and to welcome him back for a work placement.  During his time as a student at Wellacre, Ben was a fantastic and passionate ambassador for his sport and used his experience to talk to his peers and local primary children to promote swimming and its many benefits.”

As part of the Salford City swim team, Ben trained nine times weekly and was committed to keeping on top of his talent as well as his school work!

Ben said:

“Wellacre staff supported me as a student, both in my swimming and my studies; I was recognised with a Gifted and Talented role and they encouraged me to promote my journey and inspire others to get into swimming with assemblies and local primary schools visits.”

“When I left Wellacre after my exams, I went to Trafford College to study BTEC Sport Science before taking two years out to focus on training for Olympic swimming.”

Ben travelled to the World Games in Brazil in 2014 and won two silvers and a bronze, and then on to Portugal for the European Championships where he collected two more silvers.  In British Swimming, he was two times British Champion and three times National Champion in the 200m butterfly.

He added:

“The time I spent competing was a great opportunity to travel and it taught me alot about time management, self-discipline and people skills.  I also began coaching and teaching swimming to children and young adults from 2 to 16 years. I enjoyed working with children and started to think about different careers paths and decided to go for a Primary Education degree.”

As part of Ben’s second year, there was a requirement to complete a two-week work experience in a Key Stage 3 setting to see the transition of pupils from Year 6 to 7.

Ben continued:

“I was keen to return to Wellacre and it’s been good to see many of the teachers still teaching here that taught me.  It was strange coming back; it felt like my first day back at high school but it’s been good to see it on the flip side and from a teacher’s point of view by going behind the scenes.

I’ve gained an insight into Year 7 life and the impact of the move from primary to secondary.  It’s been interesting to see how pupils settle and cope with new social setting, as well as watching the teaching styles and structure of lessons in a wide range of Year 7 lessons from Geography to Art.  It’s all been a good learning experience to take back to my degree.”