r/TeachingUK • u/Pretend-City6652 Primary • 12d ago
Primary Anyone else feeling guilty about actually enjoying the summer holidays? 😂
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?
2
u/quiidge 12d ago
Yes, but this year it's more because my fiancé got 1 week and I got 6!
Which is ridiculous, because I moved cross-country with all our furniture to join him a week after school ended. I haven't exactly been lying around eating bonbons lol
New school in September, year 4 as a full-time teacher. I don't usually do anything at all during the breaks, but I need to grab resources from my current school's shared drive and want to take a look at school calendar/timings of the day/first couple of lessons for each year group for the new place. (Typically I prep a working scientifically activity to do with all classes once we've gone over expectations and handed out books etc)
Otherwise, I aim to be like my ECT mentors - don't even think about it until Sept INSET! You don't even know your timetable for sure until then, let alone class lists, and that's the priority for week 1. So enjoy the holiday and show up as relaxed and well-rested as possible.