Francesca Doughty

"I study Level 3 Public Services at East Sussex College, Hastings. I’ve loved every moment of it, because it’s shown that I can be independent , which i didn’t think I could be… until now."

I came to the Taster Days with my school and I also came to the Open Evening with my parents, to check it out and look around. I came to Public Services, met some of the teachers there and it seemed perfect. I was really intrigued by a lot of the trips that they had and the opportunities available.

I did work experience at the fire station in Hastings which revolved around helping some of the primary schools that came in. Each student was put on a separate station and teaching about things like voltage or what to do if there’s a fire. It gave me the opportunity to talk to some of the firefighters there and learn more about hat I could go into.

Firefighting can be hard to get into, but it’s given me a challenge I want to work towards.

At the college Open Event the fire department also came in which was another opportunity for me to talk to them. One of the firefighters said it took him seven years to get into it, so you have to be dedicated. Being female gives me the upper hand as I think it’s only around 3% of females working in the fire department,

I’ve struggled sometimes throughout the year with some personal issues, and my tutor’s always made himself available, which meant a lot to me. He’s even arranged to talk to my parents and things like that, if I need it, so it’s nice having that there. Adam’s always made sure I’m keeping on top of my work, which isn’t always easy as there’s lots to do. The tutors definitely help, more than I could imagine. It’s nice that they actually care about the course; you can tel that they do and that it’s their interest as well.

Last year we did lessons down at Horntye, and we did a lot of football, netball, basketball - a lot of team sports. We even did a teachers and student game of football. That was really good fun!

I’m dyslexic so I struggle with a lot of the coursework and how to tackle it. Pete set me up with some tutorial sessions in the library, so I had one-to-one support with how I form my assignments, which is what I needed help with, and the organisation of it all. I was a bit behind last year but they took me aside and told me how they can help me, and understood what I can do and what they can do.

If you want to get into the services, this course is perfect. You come out with the equivalent of three A-Levels, so even if you didn’t go into the services, it still looks good on your CV.

I think the teachers have done everything they can to teach me every part of the course, and they’ve definitely succeeded in that. I’ve really enjoyed it!