"I joined the UTC in September 2021 as a first year ECT in Engineering. I am now entering my second-year teaching and I couldn’t have chosen a better place to start my career. The staff and the students are what drive the UTC and make it an incredible place to work. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, creating a positive atmosphere throughout the whole building. The support I have received since starting had been incredible, especially from my department and the ECT programme. This support has allowed me to develop the student’s knowledge, curiosity and skills that will take them into the careers they strive for. Our ability and passion to offer the students more than just qualifications is the reason I joined the UTC. We provide them with the skills they need in the real world through our interactions with employers through projects, talks and mock interviews. These help the students build confidence whilst giving them the skills they need to work in various industries."
Cait Nortrop
Teacher of Engineering
"My journey at the UTC started before the building was completed and we were faced with the outbreak of COVID.
My DUTC journey started in the Engineering department as a lead teacher. We were a department of 3 with 2-year groups. Over the last 2 years the UTC has expanded with staff and students and as we have grown, so have I as a teacher and learnt so much through the development of DUTC. Year 2 of my journey was a quick change into acting CD due to unforeseen circumstances and was appointed as CD within the year. This was a crash course into middle leadership but was supported every step of the way through a supportive staff body and SLT Team, line manager and principal. The staff body and team at DUTC are like no other I have experienced; staff are so passionate about their specialisms and have bought into the vision and ethos of weaving our employer and industry experts into our everyday curriculum. I couldn’t have gone on this journey without such a supportive Engineering team and DUTC team. As we have started our third year, we are proud to be bursting at the seams at full capacity with a full 5-year groups with applications still coming in!. I am happy to be starting the new academic year ass an associate assistant principal with a focus on personal development with a team of 9 engineering staff. I always knew that this move to DUTC would be something exciting, new and different, but I never imagined the opportunities I have been given here at DUTC. I am proud to work here and proud of what we as a team have achieved over the last 3 years.
I love working at DUTC because of the staff that I work with, but also for my subject areas and specialism, it is so important that we are recognised and supported in our subject area which has not always been the case in some of our previous schools. The engineering team because of this support, have been allowed to design a curriculum weaved with employers, enriching the students with different still sets, software and aspirations. We have and will continue to see our students thrive here."
Natasha Naylor
Associate Assistant Principal for Personal Development
"The UTC has enabled me to develop professionally as both a teacher and as a leader. CPD is driven by staff and informed by research, this ensures that CPD is relevant to individual departments, without a "one size fits all" approach. Additionally leaders receive CPD to develop their leadership skills."
Jordan Gregory
Curriculum Director of Mathematics