Ruth's career to date with LNW

This academic year, Learn North West were delighted to formally appoint Ruth Pearson as one of our teaching partners, here Ruth talks about her career to date and what it is like working with LNW.

I began my career in Year 3 and quickly took on additional responsibilities, becoming the History Lead for the school that I was working in. My career then led me into Early Years, where I became a Reception teacher—an incredibly rewarding role and one that brought with it professional growth opportunities - I became the Reading Lead and the Read Write Inc Phonics Lead, supporting literacy development across the school. Whilst I loved teaching and found great satisfaction in helping children grow, the increasing number of roles I had taken on made it harder to maintain a healthy work-life balance. My days were full and rewarding, but often left little time for myself and after five and a half years in this role, I decided I wanted to pursue education and teaching in a different way.

I have always loved teaching, and there’s nothing more rewarding to me than helping children reach their potential. As a child who sometimes found school challenging, I’ve always wanted to support children in finding their confidence and voice in the classroom. I knew I wanted to stay working within the education sector but was unsure how to do this outside of a full-time teaching role in a school. This is where Learn North West came in.

I joined LNW in October 2023, working at first just a few hours a week after school. I quickly realised this was somewhere I could thrive—both professionally and personally—as part of an incredible team of hardworking and dedicated teachers. Soon after, I made the decision to leave my position in school and join LNW full time, and it has been the best decision I’ve ever made. Now a Partner of LNW, I have such a varied timetable, flexibility and the space to throw myself into new roles leading key aspects of the business offering, developing myself as an educator as well as a business leader. This year, alongside my tutoring timetable at the LNW classroom, I have loved taking on the role of KS1 lead, as well as leading the Y4 in school curriculum at St Vincent's Catholic Primary School where we run a bespoke 11+ course for children in Year 4 and 5.

A day in the life of me:

A typical day for me might include a walk or a gym session in the morning (crazy, I know!), followed by an online English tutoring session with a student in China. Then I head to the office—or sometimes work from home—to take care of admin or planning, working on curriculum plans and resources or consulting with parents and clients before teaching my lovely students from 4–8pm on my teaching days. Three days a week I head to St Vincent's to work with the Y4 and Y5 children there and each day is refreshingly varied. I genuinely enjoy teaching all my groups—whether it’s my super Year 2s, my dedicated 11+ learners, or the fabulous Year 4 children - it is an absolute joy.

One of the best things about this career move has been the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with children and their families—something that can sometimes be difficult to fully achieve in a busy school setting due to large class sizes and other responsibilities. I’ve also been able to take part in ongoing professional development, all while maintaining a healthier work-life balance; next week I'm off to Lisbon in term time for a short break and the team will be covering my classes - something I would have never been able to do before. The role has opened doors to connect professionally with other teachers and schools and I’ve made some wonderful new friends along the way.

Most of all, I’ve felt truly supported and valued by the incredible LNW team, who have welcomed me with open arms and made this next chapter in my career such a joy.