Every day in teaching is different
Putting in the time
“You've got to build relationships with the children. You've got to put that time in, whether it's at break time, chatting to them about the weekend, lunchtimes, playing a bit of sport with them. You have to invest in those conversations and get to know a bit about them. Take an interest in their personal lives and connect to them. Really sell that side of yourself, too, and talk to them about what you do. It really does make an impact on relationship building, and you can undoubtedly see the difference in how students approach you and behave. So, yeah, if I had one piece of advice, it's getting to know the children as well as you can and investing in them.”
Don’t forget the soft skills
“I was never the brightest at school. And that's what I try to tell students: that it's hard to be successful academically and you have to put a lot of work into it. But holistically, the other skills that we teach in school, like being on time and punctual, having good manners; these are skills that, for me, have served me well in my life.
It's not just what you know, but who you know outside of school too. You can be just as successful if you've got good morals and understand the importance of the basic life skills we teach in school, which are perhaps easier to be good at than how good you are at Pythagoras theorem and how well you can read poems.
Being a teacher is about developing that whole individual, to make sure they are academically successful and holistically prepared for life after school and entering the real world."
Resilience is the name of the game
“I think resilience is something that you need to have. You're going to have days; I have days still, and I've been in it 15 years, where they test you, and you've got to be able to put things in a box and understand that children make mistakes.
They're in an environment like school to make mistakes, and it's our job to make sure that they don't make them again and again. And if students are doing that, you can't take anything personally and you've got to be resilient and remind yourself that you're doing your best and you're working hard and have an open sort of mindset towards it. It is a challenge but it's so rewarding to see the other side of it when you've got students that come back a few years later and you think, "whoa, we made a difference.”
It’s ok to make mistakes
“Anyone new coming into the profession will soon realise you've got a good support network of staff around you. My best advice is going in at the deep end and being in a class and learning and understanding that you can make mistakes, and you will make mistakes, I still do 15 years on. You're learning every day, each lesson that you teach. You'll make a mistake and reflect on it. Self-reflection is what's really important. You've got to persevere and understand that you will have bumps in the road, but every day is a learning day.”
Set your boundaries from the start
“When I first started out as a teacher I thought, right, I want to be recognised as everyone's favourite teacher and I thought I'd go in and be sort of pally and friendly. But you soon realise you've got to make sure that there's that distance, and they know that what you say is final, and they can't cross that line. You're not there to be their friend, you're there to make an impact on their lives.
Something that I got taught early in my career, is that if you ignore something, you allow it. And that's how I live my day at school. I'm constantly walking around and if there's a student with a shirt out, you address it straight away. If they’re chewing gum, you address it straight away. Because if you ignore it, you're allowing that. It's not something that I thought I'd be like when I was a lot younger. But I think you soon learn that you've got to make sure that you start as strict as you can and ease off. You can't go in too easy because you'll find that the students will push you to your limits.
However, playing football with the students at lunchtime, they see a different side to me. They don't see Sergeant Major that’s stomping the corridors telling them to put their shirts in, they see that human side to me where football is a passion of mine. And that's how you build relationships with the students. It’s all about balance and setting your boundaries from the start.”