Hi, well I have been slightly delayed in getting my blog updated. I suddenly got rather busy, and then we had half term; we had a pretty good holiday, with only one incident requiring a hospital visit.

My eldest daughter hurt her hand running down the stairs; she had a couple of swollen and bruised fingers, and after a few hours and some x-rays, we found out she had chipped a piece of bone in one of the fingers, which required several of her fingers to be strapped together.

Careers adviser

The week before half term I went to see a careers adviser at nextstep, to discuss potential areas of teaching and training with both adults and children. We talked about what I have been doing and the qualifications that I've gained, and we also spoke about the directions I could go in with what I already have.

I think that the problem that I have with making decisions is that I look at jobs and training opportunities with thoughts of job security and juggling the children, especially around long holidays, as I would like a job that can fit with this.

Adult education

Even though I really enjoy running the adult groups that I do, I am not sure if adult education is the way to go. At the moment I do it voluntarily, and I can work around my other commitments.

I have some friends that have been in adult education and then gone on to do other things, as most community-based adult education relies on funding, and has not provided a secure income. I think this is one of the things putting me off adult education.

Working with children

Working with children looks to be about the best option, as it fits in with school hours and holidays and can be a permanent placement, with the option of further progression.

I am going to be volunteering one morning a week at my children's school until the end of term. I want to experience all key stages to see if I prefer working with children of a certain age group or if this is something that I want to undertake.

Training and progression

I have also spoken with the school's parent and wider community leaders, about the possibility of doing teaching assistant training and progression routes. They have said that this would not be a problem if I chose to do it.

Back to my meeting with the careers adviser - they were a great help and gave me lots of information on other possible avenues, such as mentoring and youth work, or becoming a trainer. Also, once I have got through all the paperwork, I can go back if I require any more information.

The information in this blog entry is a personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of Oxfam or the European Commission.