Halima Khan has just begun her first teaching job – inspired by a chance meeting with her own primary school teacher.
And this week her new class of seven and eight year olds, at Cringleford Primary School, near Norwich, was joined by the Bishop of Norwich.
Bishop Graham was delighted to meet Halima, who was supported by the bursary during her training and into her first job in one of his diocese’s schools.
The £5,000 bursary is awarded to a UK minority ethnic student training at the University of East Anglia to become a primary school teacher.
Halima said one of her lecturers suggested she should apply and it had particularly helped her as a mature student. “This bursary took the financial stress off my shoulders and allowed me to completely focus on my learning and school placements. The bursary allowed me the time and mental energy to best support and teach the children in my class, and put me in the best position moving forward in my first teaching role.
“I decided early on that I enjoyed working at Church of England schools, and align with the values and style of teaching. The bursary and support from the diocese just reinforced this decision,” said 29-year-old Halima.
“I decided to train to be a teacher when I bumped into my Year 2 teacher from Mundford Primary School at a garden centre in between Covid lockdowns. Not only did she recognise my face (over 20 years later), but she remembered my name and took genuine interest in what I was doing and how I had been over the years.
“I reflected, then, on the impact that some of my most inspiring teachers have had on me, and I realised that I wanted to inspire children in the same way.”
Halima graduated with a first class degree in history in 2019 and specialised in English for her PGCE. An avid reader, she is particularly looking forward to promoting reading for pleasure in her new classroom.
Bishop of Norwich the Rt Revd Graham Usher said: “It was a joy to meet Halima in her first few days as a primary teacher. The children in her class will benefit from her care, enthusiasm and dedication, and I’m so glad that I’ve been able to support her into her new career.”
He joined the class for a religious education lesson and Q&A session, answering questions about everything from his pets (100,000 bees and two springer spaniels) to who was the oldest person he had baptised and how God had enough power to create the world.
The bursary is funded by the Anne French Memorial Trust which supports the ministry of the Bishop of Norwich, clergy in the Diocese of Norwich, and projects across Norfolk. It is awarded to a minority ethnic student on a post-graduate primary school teacher training course at the University of East Anglia. The trustees approved five annual awards to address the need to recruit teachers from UK minority ethnic backgrounds to better match the 16,000-plus children taught in the 110 Church of England schools and academies across the Diocese of Norwich.
