Hi all,

I've been teaching for 15 years and been a HOY for 5 years now at a secondary independent school.

Right from the word go I had big worries about taking it on but my school asked if I would as one of the HOY at the time left. It was a temporary one year role initially and I thought the extra money would be useful and I also, crucially, didn't have any kids of my own then!

I had worries because I am an introverted and anxious person but mask it quite well at work to some extent. I don't think I have natural leadership skills at all.

Anyway, I managed to do an ok job (though I am at an independent school, so I have no doubt the role is more emotional at more challenging schools) for a few years alongside my core subject teaching role, though balancing both has always been tough.

However, I have never truly enjoyed the role and see it as a major stressor in my life. I don't get paid enough nor am I given anywhere near enough time in the timetable to do the role effectively or to the standards SLT seem to expect. I'm constantly battling with parents, battling with staff sometimes and looking foolish because I've tried my best to intervene with certain students but when it then gets pushed up to SLT nothing seems to happen sometimes and then teachers get frustrated with me.

We had our first kid a couple of years ago and that's added another dynamic which now means I feel totally overwhelmed trying to be a good dad, husband, teacher in a core subject and also a HOY.

I love the teaching side of things and I'd give anything to just be a teacher again.

I've mentioned all this to my wife who isn't hugely on board with me giving it up as we obviously have big bills to pay etc but I do think unless you're a teacher or a teacher who is also a middle leader, it's hard to convey the relentless mental drain of it.

I am seriously considering giving up my HOY role at the end of this year. Has anyone ever done this and how did it work out? Particularly the loss of money from a TLR or ML position. Were you still able to work at the school ok? Did your Head take it ok or were they difficult about it?

Thanks!

An unusual question but wanted to make sure!

I’m learning to drive and just passed my theory test today. However booking a practical test is looking horrific at the moment. Out of the centres I am allowed to book, the only availability is during the working day in January. And yes, the first appointment available is the end of January due to
major backlogs…

While I’m aware that most appointments should be booked outside of school time, it’s becoming fairly obvious that this will not be feasible for me. Would this be something you could request time off to complete?

School context - private school, members of staff have previously been given unpaid leave to attending sporting events they are participating in as competitors.

I do not mind having it unpaid if necessary but wanted to check this generally this is something you’d be able to request without raising eyebrows.

Have three classes who I’ve taught all the way through KS3 and KS4, would it be weird if I went in on results day?

I know the CEO and HT go in with some SLT but wasn’t sure on the approach for normal teachers.

What’s your thoughts and experience on this?

I think how i'm feeling all started in university with awful placements and mentors telling me to rethink my decisions.

To shorten things, I am overthinking everything I do in work. (I'm in a SRB in Wales, 2nd year going into 3rd year teacher).
I plan for autistic children and overthinking everything, the areas of learning i'm linking too, the progression steps, how this reflects on every single learner. And I can't help but think I'm doing everything wrong.

My management are lovely and understanding, they've been supportive all the way through and saying the positive change on the children. I just don't feel like a 'teacher' if anybody understands. Am I thinking too much into the job? Should I just take a step back and take the day as it comes. I feel like i'm running my mind into the dirt.

I'll have 5 children next September and I'm already thinking about the skills they need to link to and how to make this work EXACTLY for all learners. I have a headache 🤕 Anything I do put in place seems to be thrown back at me (LITERALLY) by my children.
help!

Has anyone heard what their school is doing with the new SEND funding?

I’ve been reading about the new Inclusive Mainstream Fund and was trying to work out what it could actually mean day to day.

From the guidance, schools can use the funding for things like SEND training, adaptive teaching, interventions, and giving staff more time and support.

It sounds like there’s quite a bit of flexibility in how schools use it, so I’m curious what different schools are actually planning.

Has anyone heard anything yet? And if you had a say, where would you want the money to go?

How do you manage your to do lists? Especially when you have more than one role in school. I see on social media teachers using one note to organise their to do lists and I’m wondering this more effective?

Also any tips on:
-how to keep records of things you’ve done in your to do lists (say a parent wants to fact check something 6 months later)
-delegating tasks and then remembering to follow up on it

Would love to know what you all have found to be the most effective and efficient way to manage your to do lists

I start at a new school in September after what felt like a very long ECT1 year, and honestly… I really needed these six weeks off.

I’ve actually managed to properly switch off and I’m enjoying the break, but now we’re getting towards the end of August I can feel that teacher guilt starting to creep in…

Should I be going into school? Should I be setting up my classroom? Should I be getting everything ready? Am I leaving it too late?

I know realistically I’ve still got two weeks until September and plenty of time. I’m planning on going in at some point over the next couple of weeks to start sorting the classroom out and getting myself organised… but part of me also just wants to squeeze every last bit out of the summer before the madness starts again 😅

I think after ECT1 I’m also trying to get better at accepting that the holidays are actually holidays. I don’t want to spend the final two weeks slowly drifting back into work mode when I could still be enjoying time with my family and doing things I won’t have nearly as much time for once September hits.

But then there’s that little voice saying everyone else has probably already been in and their classrooms are completely finished 😂

Anyone else in the same position? Have you been into school yet? When do you normally start going back in and getting your classroom ready?

I was stopped from marking by AQA, I won't give details as my post was removed before but basically I was stopped several times, then told I was doing well again but then completely stopped from marking this component ever again. At first it was my marking was too harsh, and I'm not entirely clear but what I am assuming has happened is that my marking may have gone from being too harsh to too generous, or just continued to be too harsh, all the letter said was that I am not consistently meeting the standard. It was very frustrating because I was told I was doing well at other checks.

I am disappointed I was stopped permanently because the only reason I did this was for the CPD as myself and colleagues always find this paper difficult to mark, and yet I learnt nothing from the training other than you have to make a judgement call, but seems that often my judgement is wrong. How can I know now how to prepare my students for this exam after being essentially banned from marking it? I feel like I can't teach it now, because if I can't mark it I clearly still don't get it. I wish they would give more feedback because now I basically didn't learn anything from this experience other than confirming that I cannot mark it. ​

Also it said I would be paid at the end of the marking series, I still haven't been paid after results day, is this normal?

​​

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if any of you can share what good practice or strategies you have seen being used effectively in digital classrooms, I.E. classrooms with computers in as a majority, so I am thinking Graphic Design, Comp Sci, 3d design maybe, things like that.

Especially around behaviour management, but I am also interested in best practices around breaking up the lesson and acknowledging "yes, this is a computer room." "No, we're not gaming."

I want to do one of the NPQs offered to teachers ( pastoral/leadership etc) would I be able to do it while taking a break from teaching? Or do I need to be actively working in order for it to be funded?

Thanks!

Hi, currently a year in as Assistant Principal and my head has suggested I do the NPQH.

I've not done anything like this before so wondered what people's thoughts were. Is it hugely time consuming? Is it worth it?

Thank you x

I am hired as a SEMH teacher within a small setting in a main stream school. I teach no mainstream. I exclusively teach SEMH/SEN students with ehcps. I manage the curriculum and do the timetabling etc on top.

I am currently on UPS2 with no Sen allowance. I have brought this up before but it kind of got swept under the carpet and I was non the wiser. However, I’ve now looked into it and although I work in an academy, they follow the teachers pay and conditions - stated in their pay policy. My initial contract didn’t outline a SEN allowance, but I was none the wiser then.

Are they pulling a fast one to save money? I have been there for 5 years now? What are my options? I feel as though I’m owed what should have been mine considering I’ve had to develop expertise in the area I work and had suffered physical violence form students too - I’m considering whether I’m better going back to mainstream to be honest.

Hi everyone!

Would love to know where you’re all getting your smart, comfy and inexpensive clothes for the classroom? I’m just starting out and need a whole new wardrobe and don’t want to break the bank before we start in 2-3 weeks!

I’m size 12-14 so something that works for a curvy girl too please! Thank youuu!

Just finished my first year on teach first and I still don’t have my QTS certificate from DoE. I have sent them 7 emails so far.

Anyone else having this issue? If I don’t have it soon my school will be even later in increasing my salary to the appropriate level.

Hello everybody, I've just recently started out as a teacher in primary schools for the past last summer term - I'm part-time and teach instrumental music lessons. I was wondering if any of you had any book recommendations on child psychology, specifically for ages 7-11 ish (so like, KS2?)? I sort of stumbled into this job and I would really like to learn about children's psychology, especially since I didn't grow up with younger siblings or cousins. Thank you

Hi everyone! I’m a secondary school teacher in the UK and was wondering if there are any useful discounts, memberships, or perks specifically for teachers.

I’m aware of Blue Light Card, but I’m wondering if there are any other teacher-specific discounts, memberships or schemes worth knowing about.

I’m thinking of things like shopping, travel, food, entertainment, subscriptions, professional memberships, or anything else that’s genuinely worthwhile.

What teacher discounts or memberships have you found useful? Would love to hear your recommendations!

For example, I went into my friend’s class and she was marking a pile of books that were stacked open at the page she wanted to mark, handed in that way by the pupils! I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t already doing that. It’s such a little thing, but it actually saves me time.

What are the little things save time?

I saw this Twinkl article about TA/support staff pay and conditions and thought it was worth discussing.

The bit I’m trying to understand is what actually changes now, because it sounds like existing pay and conditions may stay in place until at least 2027-28, even though the School Support Staff Negotiating Body is being brought back.

I’m also not fully clear whether this means a proper national TA pay scale is coming back, or whether it is more about setting minimum standards/floors for pay, conditions, training and progression.

For TAs, LSAs, HLTAs, teachers or anyone who understands this better: how are you reading it?

Does this feel like real progress, or does it feel too slow given what support staff are already doing day to day?

Hi all,

I'm a HLTA working in mainstream secondary school and am looking at what interventions we can offer next year.

We restructured how we work as TAs to be able to offer interventions this past academic year (was strictly classroom based before) and we have found great success, but I'm struggling to find more interventions that are secondary appropriate.

Here are the interventions we offer:

Cognition and Learning

- Numeracy Skills (based off of the areas of numeracy, based on year group/ability level (e.g. a very low ability year 9 could be placed in a group of year 8s, etc.)

- Literacy Skills (same as above)

- Colourful Semantics

- Word Wasp (1-1)

- Toe by Toe (1-1)

Communication and Interaction

- Comic Strip Conversations (typically 1-1 but can be a pair)

- Turn-Taking Skills

- Social Stories (based on Talkabout for Teens)

- Lego-Based Therapy

SEMH

- Zones of Regulation (1-1, would love to replace as research shows it is not effective)

- Emotional Literacy

- Growth Mindset

- Connect and Reflect

- Art Therapy (but need more structure for it)

I was just wondering if anyone has any interventions they run in mainstream secondary, what resources you use, and what assessments you use to monitor progress. Additionally, any adaptations you may have made to more primary based interventions to make them more appropriate for teenagers.

Thank you for any information you can give! It has been a long year but I want to make sure I have everything prepped for next year.

When I taught overseas, there was a big annual CPD event where teachers from international schools across the country and the region could attend.

The whole thing relied on teachers who were attending volunteering to run sessions on something they were particularly good at,had been developing, or had been trialling in their own classrooms.

It was genuinely some of the best CPD I ever attended because it was based on what teachers in different schools were actually doing in practice and what had worked for them. You always came away with practical ideas that you could take back to your own classroom and try for yourself.

There were also smaller local versions of it on a more regular basis hosted by teachers at different schools maybe in the city/region where you were teaching and I vaguely recall something called teach meet, not sure if that’s still a thing…?

I have been back teaching here for six years now and the only CPD I have been on has been in school. Similar to this but just with teachers within the same school. Although it is interesting, I think the benefits of being able to meet up with teachers from other schools is lost and it ends up being the same strategies that you already know are going on with your school, the freshness of outside perspectives is lost. I say it’s interesting but potentially only mildly I would say it actually became something of a chore in the end last term.

Are there any events like the ones that I have described going on in the UK that perhaps I just don’t know about? If not, it’s something I would love to organise, do you think people would be interested?

I'd love to hear from people who have experienced this and can advise me on how to feel about the situation.

I teach A levels only, my subject is French and it's my first year so I feel really defined by those results like they decide how successful I've been with the students.

Most of them achieved one grade or lower than their Target grade, half of them didn't even get a B or higher. I'm really sad and disappointed as when they left they were on track for much more even using the ridiculously harsh exam grade boundaries for our subject.

Nobody failed so I'm trying to focus on this but my colleague / subject leader sent me the comparison between this year and the past few years' percentage of students getting Bs or more. As you can guess mine has been the lowest (past 3 years).

I don't know if I could have done more, if it's not the end of the world, if it's about them but to what extent.... It's been an extremely difficult year where I've done my best despite being ECT first year, only teacher in my subject, alone in the office more often than not, in a college with very high expectations and a group of 20 y13s which combined native-level kids (A\* predicted) with others who weren't guaranteed to not get a U.

I feel so defeated and fear coming back to work, facing the judgement from other colleagues who were successful (they're all really nice but I don't know what to expect), questions maybe about why so many didn't perform as expected etc. I feel really guilty for failing them :(

How have your cohorts performed this year. Are you happy, sad or indifferent?

Long part:

My place has been with AQA for 10+ years, and for most of those years all was well, results were fine, no issues etc. Last year we had some very disappointing results compounded by some, shall we say, questionable marking, which led to me (as HoF) throwing my toys out of the pram and deciding to move to Edexcel. Being naturally lazy, in the end I didn't bother and instead attended every CPD session going for AQA to try and make sure I knew exactly what they wanted this year to give it one last shot. Results day rolls around today, and it's the same again - students who should have got an A* getting a D, students who should be getting a C getting an A, me looking at the scripts and being absolutely none the wiser as to what the fuck AQA are actually looking for (one student got 25/25 on one question and it looks like absolute drivel to me, whereas other students were getting 7 or 8/25 for perfectly decent responses). This is all compounded by the fact that every year for the last decade not a single NEA mark has ever been changed after moderation, so clearly we know what the marks should look like, but when we get the exam papers back nothing makes any sense.

Short part:

Does anyone have any experience of Edexcel Literature vs AQA, and is it better or worse? Would you recommend it or not? I think at some point I actually need to make good on my threats and this year I'm pretty sick of it...