Back to school for hard-working pair

Hamida Patel and Safiya Laher have both qualified as teachers this year.

Safiya will join Warwick Road Junior, Infant and Nursery School in September.

But she’s already a familiar face there as it’s the school she went to as a child.

The 22-year-old will begin teaching class four this autumn, 11 years after leaving as a pupil.

It’s a change of direction for Safiya, who studied law at university.

She said: “I volunteered at Warwick Road in my second year and really enjoyed it and decided not to go into law.”

Safiya, of Bradford Road, Batley, said it was strange returning to the Batley Carr school as a teacher.

“But I knew the community, the layout and a lot of the parents so that helped,” she said.

She added that she owed a lot to teacher Kathryn Lampert and headteacher Ayub Bismillah.

For Hamida, who started her career as a teaching assistant at Warwick Road aged 18, the road to qualifying was a tough one.

The mother-of-two studied for a foundation degree and a BA in education and training before qualifying as a teacher through the Graduate Teacher Programme.

She said: “It’s been really hard but I’ve had support from my husband Yusuf, my mum and dad and the kids supported me as well.

“You work in a placement then there’s essays, marking, planning and data reports.

“I had the experience, I just needed the piece of paper to say I’m a teacher.”

Hamida, 44, of Rink Terrace, Batley Carr, is now looking for her first teaching job and said she had been supported by mentors Safina Hussain, Misbah Dar and headteacher Mr Bismillah.