Teacher job shares

Posted on September 29, 2015
by Christine

Some schools have classrooms that are covered by a number of teachers at different times. This is known as a job share and usually it is two teachers splitting the days of hours of the day that they spend teaching in the classroom. It may be that the head teacher job shares with another member of staff allowing them time to complete the other responsibilities they have or that you have two part time staff looking after one class.

Working as part of a job share can have advantages as well as disadvantages both of which should be consider prior to taking this type of role. If you are sharing a class with someone you may not have as much control over how and when you teach certain subjects. You may also need to reply on the other teaching performing well to ensure that the pupils are educated to the level they need to be. With a job share though, you may have more flexibility allowing you to occasionally swap days round if you need time off.

Exam Results Day

Posted on August 30, 2015
by Christine

With A Level exam results released this week and GCSE’s following closely behind, it is no wonder many students are stressing about the results they will have obtained during these exams. Many students are relying on these results to get in to University, College or Sixth Form.

There is no point in worrying about your exam results during the build up to results day as you cannot change anything now. If you do not get the grades you need to attend your chosen university, then you can apply to go through clearing which is where you contact the uni explaining to them the results that you got and see if they will accept you. Most universities have very limited spaces, so this has to be done immediately in order to try and secure a placement.

You could always opt to repeat part or all of the year to allow you to re-sit the exams the following year, which means you will hopefully have the time to improve your grades.

Relax now exams are over

Posted on July 31, 2015
by Christine

With the summer holidays upon us, many students will be looking forward to spending some time relaxing following weeks and even months of exams prior to the break up. This is often the time that some pupils following their GCSE’s or A Levels chose to take a year out of education or work to travel around the world.

It is vital that following the stress of exams you take the time to relax and unwind. It may be that you still do not know what career path you wish to follow, but once you have had time to switch off you may find that it is a lot easier to consider all your options and work out your route into employment.

If you are worried about what to do once you have finished your exams then you could talk to a careers advisor who will be able to run through your options with you and assess which route may be best for your personal circumstances.

Managing your work load as a teacher

Posted on June 17, 2015
by Christine

Teachers have a huge amount of work to complete after the school day has finished and this can prove challenging for many, especially if they have a family or hobbies that they spend time doing out of work hours.

There is not only the marking of work to be done but also the planning and preparation for the following weeks / days’ work that needs to be completed in a certain way. If there is an Ofsted inspection looming this again adds more to a teachers work load along with report writing and parent’s evenings.

So how to you plan this all in still allowing yourself that all important down time. The key is preparation. Making your own timetable of when is work time and when is down time is vital to making sure that everything gets done as and when it should. It may be that when you have created your first timetable that it needs to be tweaked a number of times in the first few months to find a schedule that fits in with you.

Coping with stress as a teacher

Posted on May 29, 2015
by Christine

Recent studies have shown that a large percentage of teachers quit the profession within their first year of teaching due to high stress levels. This is an alarming statistic and really emphasise the pressure that teachers are under and confirms that something needs to be done to combat the issues.

As a teacher you may have many pressures such as classroom control issues, work load, review and Ofsted inspections along with expectations of the parents. If a teacher is not offered the correct help and support these stresses can soon mount up to become unmanageable.

Support should always be available internally from other colleagues and the head teacher but if you feel you cannot ask or are not getting the support needed from these people then you can get in touch with independent agencies that will help you. The NUT offer an advice line for teachers on a range of subjects and have some great tips on how to manage stress.