My HOD and second, both new, dislike me. There's been little things (snide jokes, mean emails, gossip which gets back to me etc). Today I needed to have my exercise books for an observation and a book look. I put the books in the second's room (where I teach that class). Later today, they were missing. I know I'm going to look bad in my observation as the students were working on lined paper and I couldn't get the books to the book look. I mentioned it to the SLT who are checking the books and they just turned away.

I feel like the HOD or second took my books and hid them. It sounds absolutely bonkers to say. But I didn't put the books somewhere and forget within a few hours. I even checked every room (apart from the HODs and English office) in case I had, somehow, put the books in a random room. But I hadn't. They're just gone.

I've spoken to my rep and have been told to write down everything. I've also handed in my notice because I'm very depressed working here.

I have until January.

Should I just get over it and keep my head down, or say something?

Any of you on a 2 week half term? I know a school who takes a week off the Easter holiday to extend the oct half term

I personally don't think we need two weeks just after returning from the summer, wouldn't mind a 3 week xmas break though or a week between oct and dec.

What are your thoughts?

I’m in my tenth year of teaching maths in a very deprived inner London school. I have such a passion for the classroom and became second in my subject a year ago.

However, we’ve recently come under new leadership (the school wasn’t great before, but it’s awful now) and we’ve lost a lot of staff, including my HOD. Our turnover is very pretty high, but the only things that was keeping me going was a strong department and taking my top set class (which I’ve taught since yr7) through to yr11. They were taken away from me due to more “senior” staff needing to be with lower ability students, as our results are shocking.

Now we’ve got no HOD until after Christmas, the behaviour is awful, SLT are useless and tokenistic initiatives are being introduced that are a complete waste of time.

I’m pretty positive and open-minded, but after five years here, it’s a joke now.

I’m juggling trying to “manage” the dwindling English team (alongside an incompetent interim who is also SLT), my sanity and staying hopeful.

I recently went to an interview, was shortlisted after the lesson, but didn’t make the cut. It was for a TLR position - so it was a bit more competitive. It’s really knocked me, I feel like I’ve seen what a beautiful school can be like.. and then the next day I had to walk back into school like my heart wasn’t broken.

A few of my colleagues have secured other jobs, and because I haven’t managed to, I don’t feel good enough, like I belong in a school like this and I’ll be stuck here.

I don’t know what I’m looking for really… just to vent, I suppose.

I am hating my current job — ECT2. Some of it is me, but I've never felt the school I am in is a happy place. I think I'm essentially giving everything to the job and getting nothing but negativity, despite the fact that the kids are learning. It's also too far — takes me an hour with variable traffic, and that's stressful.

I feel the notice periods are a trap in teaching. I badly want to resign for the January exit. But I currently don't have a job to move to. Yet I can all but guarantee some will come up next HT, and I won't be able to get the January start ones, because I'll be trapped by the autumn notice period, unless I resign soon.

Basically my question is "Save me!" Is there a way I can essentially guarantee an income for a good period of time after Xmas, if I were to resign? I don't want to identify myself much so let's just say I'm in a "shortage" area.

Hi all,

I’ve been voted in as my school’s new union rep, alongside a more experienced teacher who has agreed to be co-rep but will not be taking on the brunt of the job due to conflict of interest re their role.

The next round of training that I can attend will be in February but I anticipate that things will happen from now until then which will require me to have my “Union hat” on. I have already been approached by a couple of members of staff regarding things that they are going through and most are at the point of considering getting the union involved. Most of these conversations have happened in between lessons so I told many of them that we would pick this up when we both were available.

My question is, what should I do generally when approached by a member of staff over an issue they have, given that I don’t have training yet and am still fairly inexperienced in the world of work (ECT2) ? Luckily, my co-rep is very experienced and is already attending a meeting with one of our colleagues tomorrow, however, due to their workload, I cannot rely on them to be present with everything that occurs. I would also appreciate any general advice on taking on this role, must do’s, things to avoid etc. thanks!

Hello

I’ve become HOY for the first time this year, it’s my 6th year of teaching all at the same school. I thought that would make me ready but oh my goodness I’m so tired with this half term nearly over. They are Year 7 so there’s been lots of transition stuff and admin bits with settling them in, timetables and FSM and all that. The behaviour hasn’t been too bad, all pretty low level stuff that’s easily squashable. It’s the sheer weight of the emails, admin, the time spent taking statements etc that is killing me. I have 4 A Level classes, all essay based subjects and I feel like I’m doing them a massive disservice because my marking/planning is taking a huge hit.

Others who are HOY, does it get easier over time and how do you manage trying to be a good teacher- especially to the older ones who are relying on you for their A Level grades and university. I’m strongly considering dropping the position after the year is over, going back to classroom teacher and taking the salary hit. Not sure if it’s really worth it.

Hello!

I have just joined an agency and am cleared to work now. My first assignment will be my first time ever doing TA and i’m so nervous. I didn’t grow up in the UK so I am unfamiliar with schools here, and my anxiety is eating me up because I want to do a good job but feel a bit lost.

I have a few questions, which are probably quite specific and random, but knowing would really help my confidence on the day!

Where do I go when I arrive at the school, is there a front office I check into?

If a teacher is actively teaching, am I expected to stand off to the side or walk around making sure kids are paying attention?

If i’m on lunch duty or supervising outside play, what is the expectation of me there?

Otherwise I understand every class, teacher and school will have different expectations of me. I plan to just ask if they need anything from me if I feel like I don’t know what to do. Hopefully will get the first day over with soon so I can start settling into it all!

Hi, I’m an History ECT1 at a school with low outcomes, significant SEND & PP etc, we also have a settled GRT community and not all parents are particularly supportive. Behaviour is tricky, truancy is frequent and disillusionment with education is extremely high.

We have a behaviour policy, B1 (detention), B2 (lunch detention), B3 (removal from lesson). We also have an emergency alert system where we can call a member of SLT but I haven’t been finding this particularly reliable and sometimes they have bought pupils back into my room/not responded to alerts. I am finding that I am shouting more and more, as well as feeling like I’m often accidentally getting into “arguments” with pupils over behaviour sanctions. These are just a few of the issues I’m struggling with:

• When a behaviour sanction is given, pupils respond with shouting “what why” or backchat, they will then continue to raise their hands and ask when their detention is, or why they have it, that I’m being unfair, that they don’t care about sanctions, that I’m a bitch, shouting out if I ask them to put their hands down etc.

• Some of my classes it’s not one individual pupil but around 10 causing the disruption, it’s difficult to pinpoint and therefore give sanctions. If I do single out pupils they start saying “but that person was talking as well, what about them why are they not getting one, why just me”.

• Complete refusal to do work. I’ve tried a “what can I do to support approach” as well as the “that’s a detention” approach but some pupils refuse to do any work, and say “they can’t read” or “they don’t know” as an excuse not to work when I have modelled it, gone through it verbally etc multiple times. I find there are a number of pupils who pretend to be confused just to get out of the task.

• Generally feeling out of control with classes because I am new to the school. Some classes will settle/be quiet when I’ve asked for a member of SLT/another long term teacher for support, but as soon as they leave the room the poor behaviour starts again.

• When B3’s are given, some pupils will start to significantly disrupt the lesson, sometimes it takes SLT 20+ minutes to come and these pupils are running around, laughing, distracting the lesson even more. So I tried the opposite approach to not say they had been B3’d until SLT arrived, but then have been subtly told that “pupils need to know they have a B3 straight away”. I feel like I can’t win!

Does anyone have any behaviour advice? I would really like to improve and I think after the half term break might be a perfect chance for a reset …

HOD: I noticed you weren’t doing the thing
Me: I need to do the thing?
HOD: I spoke to some students who said you were not doing the thing
Me: I was not aware I needed to do the thing. Is it in the scheme of learning?
HOD: no
Me: …
HOD: we all just collectively started doing the thing as a department. It’s not an official requirement. I didn’t know if you didn’t do the thing in your last school, but the rest of us do the thing
Me: no I have not been doing the thing because I did not know I should be doing the thing
HOD: that’s ok, but just so you know, we all do the thing

?????

Hi, I am a current NQT on supply and was wondering if anyone knows when supply work will start picking up? I’m currently signed up with 3 different agencies, but so far have only worked 2 days since the start of term. For some context, I am a qualified secondary school teacher and there are a lot of secondary schools in my area. I have also been very open with my agencies about travelling further afield to a school.

I’m just so fed up of not being able to teach and also not having any money, because I’m barely getting any work. And then when I have gone into schools, I have had kids scream and shout at me for trying to teach them the work that has been set, despite using the school’s behaviour policy and making expectations clear. Have any other teachers on supply experienced this? And will work begin picking up after half term, or will it still be slow?

Also, do any supply teachers have any advice on how to make some money whilst having no work? I can’t really apply for many jobs elsewhere, because I have to make myself available daily in case I get a call to go in, but would ideally like to actually have an income! 😅

had a horrendous day as my first experience with OFSTED as an ECT1. An extra TA put in my room for the day so it looks like we’re in ratio. 2 teachers crying by lunch time. No one given anything but negative feedback. ofsted didn’t speak with anyone apart from SLT. SLT going to every observation with them & making comments to staff.

I was observed for 2 minutes & given negative feedback based on that, how is that fair? now being observed again tomorrow as OFSTED are unhappy with phonics across every class. Are all inspections like this?

We’ve just found out that our SLT are potentially looking at increasing our teaching load. Some of the departments (including ours) are unable to do any sports lessons (like supervising the gym while students use it) due to timetable constraints so we will be stuck with teaching an extra 11% of our timetable a week (and all the extra work like planning, marking, parents evenings, reports etc.). Just wanted to know what the expectation is for other independent school teachers. How many academic taught lessons are you expected to teach as a full time teacher?

Edit: Thanks for the insight. It’s really useful to know as independent schools don’t have the standardisation of teaching allocation like state schools do. Thankfully the SLT trying to implement an increase to our timetables seem to be backing down (they’ve come from a state school so are used to their teachers doing 90% allocation).

Hi all,

ECT 2 Here. I was recently told that i would not be returning to a long-term booking as the school said that I was too shouty. This was a really good place in Manchester, which I felt like I was struggling to fit in. I got told that i was too shouty and that I made a student cry. I wasn't told by the school directly but instead by my agency. On that same day I really struggled as I had a student who physically hit me. Obviously reported to appropriate people.

I don't know where to go from here as this is a low point for me especially since I really hate making children cry as it makes me cry.

Help and advice appreciated

Right, this is an incredibly random post but essentially I’ve won a cruise 😭 however, the departure date is July 17th 2027 and my school doesn’t break up for the six weeks until 22nd July. Do we think it’s reasonable to ask for unpaid leave for the last four days of term? I’ve read my school’s policy and it says it’s up to the head’s discretion and in exceptional circumstances, they can allow certain absences etc. I had a colleague (who has since left) who went to Australia for 2 weeks of the beginning of a term after her wedding, and this was granted as unpaid leave. It’s such a once in a lifetime kind of chance but I don’t want to get my hopes up.

There might be a relevant post to this already. I work in a village primary school and we are already feeling the brunt of the declining birth rate with one class already being combined. Having gone from 190 kids to 150.

Is anyone else experiencing the same?
What are the long term job opportunities going to be?

Today a year 9 student repeatedly called me a homophobic slur during my lesson. It was framed as: 'Sir, did you hear that? Johnny just called you a f.....'.

After the first time it was said to me, I asked him to stop repeating it, but unfortunately he went on to repeat this to me about 10 times. Only when I raised my voice and asked him to leave my room did he stop and leave. At the end of the lesson I asked if anyone who heard it could stay behind; I asked them not to repeat what they heard and that they may be contacted for statements.

I reported it in the usual way and contacted the HOY and my HOD. HOY offered to call home as I said I was too upset about it to do so.

I have had instances of discriminatory language before, but none this blatant and repetitive. I am quite surprised by it and upset about it.

How should my school support me from this point to teach this child again? At the moment I don't particularly want to welcome him back in my classroom.

I'm new to teaching FE and was gobsmacked by the behaviour in today's class (T Level Business). Some students found it acceptable to play music out loud on their phones, set off siren sounds on their phones, pull display photos down, and throw opened sugar sachets across the room. Fortunately I only have this class once a week, but I wondered what behaviour strategies you would even implement with a class like this.

I’m always curious about what other teachers have on their to do lists….currently I have so many things on mine! I’d love to feel better knowing what’s on yours 😉

My partner and I are both teachers (alt provision and secondary, respectively) and we’re considering adoption. We’re doing a lot of reading and research at this stage before we formally start the process. Does anyone have experience with how adoption interacts with your career as a teacher, including leave, parenting a child with trauma, and honouring other commitments?

I'm a trainee teacher (Teach First) so of course I'm still developing my teaching and knowledge, but despite teaching less periods than a qualified teacher, having no tutor group and no break duties, I feel absolutely exhausted at work every day. Does this get better with time and practice or is it just part of the job?

Second week of term (in my new school, nevertheless) and only now am I ready to talk about it 😆 we had been back for approximately 0.02 seconds and there they were…

An unfortunate coincidence of circumstances (I’m not in on Mondays and school forgot to call me) meant I found out with 30 mins to spare that Ofsted would be in my lesson. Cannot describe that feeling. Inspector was absolutely lovely and actually got involved with the lesson?! (Doing all the activities with the kids, offering the all-important visitor praise “Wow, I love how X is following your instructions”) Not what I was expecting at all. Was very proud of the kids though - mine find visitors challenging at the best of times but they were TROOPERS. 🥰

Baby’s first Ofsted over and out!

ECT2 here (secondary). Trained as a teacher because I enjoy teaching and supporting young people. Over the months, I find myself more and more focused on GCSE grades, grade boundaries, and exam results to the point where I start to see kids joining my class in terms of whether they will boost or hamper the results of the class. Shameful, I know. I realise that a big part of this is due to the school's excessive focus on results - it's the key thing they talk about on INSET days, and we are constantly bombarded by graphs, box plots, and progress 8 calculations, comparing results within and across schools in the academy. Reflecting on this yesterday, I realised that it has sucked the joy out of teaching for me. I still prepare good lessons and follow best practices in pedagogy, but the end goal feels very different now. The school sees students as data on a spreadsheet.

I was thinking it would be great to work in a school that doesn't focus excessively on scores. Yes, assessments are good feedback, and they are important. But a healthy balance could exist. But do such schools still exist?

Does your school have a directed time calendar available for staff? Mine doesn't and I have been told on the down low by a member of SLT that I am close to that they don't even have one. I want to ask for it (knowing they will either have to admit there isn't one or scramble to make 1) because I am fairly certain we go over the 1265 hours.

I am nervous because I know they are going to be funny about me asking but I am also sick of all the extra expectations outside of teaching. We do a lot of twilights, running an after school club each term is not optional and we are now being told we have to be in attendance for every home sporting event. This wasnt presented as directed time but "you're expected to be there" so I am planning to question it because I honestly have enough to do.

There is no union rep in my school to ask.

Hi all,

Recently been appointed HOY for year 8, it’s a very challenging year group let down by poor and inconsistent management the last year or so. They’ve never had a consistent leader since they’ve started so the behaviour is pretty bad.

A few questions about the role:

1. What is the workload like and how do you manage teaching along side? This is my first pastoral role

2. How do you manage improving behaviour across the year group

3. What rewards / initiatives do you find impactful

4. Is it worth the stress lol?

Thanks

The School Teachers' Review Body speak to teachers every year as part of finding out the views of the workforce which helps inform their recommendations to the Education Secretary for pay and conditions. They came to my school recently.

What I found interesting is that they brought up the idea of 20% PPA before we did. It wasn't out of the blue, granted, we were talking about workload and how the demands of each lesson have increased. Someone on their side suggested if not having enough PPA is what staff are more concerned about over pay.

They seemed slightly surprised none of us felt that positive about the the two-year pay deal guaranteeing 3.5% this year and 3% next year.

Obviously all the teachers present said that pay is always a concern and isn't high enough but the consensus seemed to be that right at this moment, workload is the bigger issue.

Interested to hear others' thoughts. Should there be more of a movement towards guaranteeing 20% PPA?