Diary of an NQT
SEN SEN
Bring out the half-time oranges
WRITING THIS week, I find myself coming to Such things are relative however, and although
the realisation that I am now half way through my my day was bad on my own NQT scale, it pales into
NQT year. insignificance compared to those who actually
It’s a shock to think that I arrive here in have some levels of responsibility around
what seems like no time at all. But upon the school.
looking back, I realise that the weeks Sifting through the ashes of Black
Deciphering dyslexia
have slowly been passing by, along Wednesday it would seem that I just
with their trials and tribulations. had a bad day – and full recovery will
Development seems a little like be made.
ageing; you don’t notice the day- The frustrations at colleagues and
Coventry University
to-day changes and only realise parents that succeeded in causing me
how far you’ve come once you to retire to a darkened, empty room
look back at that photo from two for a “cooling-off” lunch break, are
has produced a new
years ago. The arrival at school not really on a par with the issues
of some new PGCE students some of my friends have had to deal resource to help teachers
gave me such a comparison this with recently at school.
week. In hindsight, I cannot complain
understand the different
Our new placement students at all.
arrived and reminded me of how I It’s alarming how short a week really
was last year – enthusiastic, keen and is and it is not until you hold that week
symptoms of dyslexia.
intense in noting down every piece of at half-term preciously in your hands that
advice that was ever given (anyone who you see how it slips through your fingers
Andree Woodcock
has recently completed their PGCE so quickly.
will know that these mountainous An enjoyable week has culminated in explains
volumes compile what is termed as a return to stress, as I ponder how I am
“evidence”). now going to start my second half of the
Looking at them made me NQT year. ROBLEMS WITH different forms of
appreciate how much I now do by Lessons learnt from the first half
instinct, by myself, and without the should undoubtedly steady the ship over
stabilisers of a 24-hour mentor! these next six months, but I can also be
There can be no doubt that our new sure that the odd spanner in the works will
trainees are far more competent than I arise too.
ever was, but it has re-assured me in my So be it. I return to school refreshed after P
dyslexia affect one in 10 children and
hamper their learning, self-esteem and
job prospects – but information on
diagnosing dyslexia and other reading
problems remains a complex issue.
Work by our research team at the
personal development to see how far I’ve a short break and look forward to the hardcore Coventry University Design and Ergonomics Research
come in these first six months. holidaying of Easter! Centre, alongside optometry expert Ian Jordan, has led
The half-term has been such a welcome But until then there’s work to be done and to the creation of a new resource (Demystifying Visual
break. I can safely say that the last week before the I’m determined to continue improving, as my Dyslexia) to help teachers and parents understand the
break saw me hit a bit of an all-time low. retrospective evaluation of my “NQT first half” different symptoms, and how these affect children
What I now call “Black Wednesday” lives long assures me I have already. – explaining as it does what they actually see when
in my painful memory and could surely have been they try to read.
enough to see me up and leave the profession for • Matt Connett is a newly qualified teacher of English Despite the lack of training or particular expertise,
good, with nothing but a two-finger salute from the at Shenfield High, a training school in Brentwood in teachers are expected to have an awareness and
window of my car, disappearing into the sunset. Essex. He returns next week. understanding of dyslexia and recognise problems
when they occur, as well as providing support and
pointing the way to professional remedies.
Too often, advice which is given with all the
best intentions can be contradictory and sometimes
Moral support
damaging to the pupil. For example, it is often said
they will “grow out of it” and no particular action
is taken. In some cases this may be influenced by
Mentors: The NQT lifesavers
financial considerations, particularly if a school has to As a child enters school, visual processing becomes
find money from an already stretched budget to pay for more demanding. As well as the emotional upheaval,
assessment and treatment. there is the physical challenge that is often caused
Dyslexia is a varied condition with compIex causes by the design of the classroom. The types of lighting
AS WELL as providing services to help improve the But of course those teachers who take on and symptoms – but it is important that teachers are (with low-frequency fluorescent lamps) are particularly
lives of individuals, Teacher Support Network also mentoring responsibilities are no strangers to these better informed to the point where they are able to make problematical for some. Many children see these
engages with other organisations within education challenges themselves. common sense judgements, give advice to parents, and lights flickering, constantly, and live in a stroboscopic
and government itself, whether in local authorities Although experience in the classroom means think about their classroom environment and how it classroom, where teaching techniques and materials
or Westminster Palace, to discuss the needs of teachers are more likely to have developed affects learning for some. such as whiteboards, paper type, font style and size,
teachers. mechanisms for dealing with workload, pupil Way back when, the development of the human can create the worst possible reinforcement of the
You may have read about the contribution that our behaviour or problems with parents, the nature of visual and auditory systems was governed by the need “environmental injury”.
charity made to the House of Commons Children, schools means that these problems can culminate to eat, shelter and produce healthy offspring. The visual It is little wonder that, for some, school life is a
Schools and Families Select Committee’s work in a seemingly insurmountable combination demands were likely to be gender-linked, with the male miserable time. In general, the teaching profession
on false allegations made against teachers of pressures at any time in a teacher’s being more likely to be the hunter and the female the does not realise the unpleasant physical time some
earlier in the year. More recently we career. gatherer and child-rearer. pupils undergo and will be horrified when they realise
helped its chair, Barry Sheerman MP, Mentors themselves need In an evolutionary context, if we consider the visual that their classroom and their teaching materials and
and his fellow committee members support, and it is the responsibilities techniques can contribute to the real problems some
during their investigation into the of schools, with the support of children endure.
training provided to teachers by government, to provide it.
contributing written evidence of our For this reason, we were
understanding of the subject and its pleased to read the commitment
impact on the health of teachers. in the Select Committee’s
Their report was published earlier report to ensuring the provision
this month. of such support. Among their
‘
Too often, advice
Dyslexia: The symptoms
which is given with all
1, Fixation
Fixation problems are common, particularly at a young
the best intentions can
age, and are characterised by the child having to
Training is of course a vital recommendations, the committee look away from the page, poor concentration, and an
ingredient to teachers being able to fulfil said that those who mentor trainees
their responsibilities to the best of their on school placement should have at
be contradictory and
inability to maintain focus on an individual word.
Their eyes often appear to “bounce” around the
abilities. The pressures of school life and least three years’ teaching experience
the ever-changing nature of curricula and should have completed specific sometimes damaging
page, or they look away, as they read.
Fixation develops with age; at five, many will find
and initiatives as well as the constant mentor training. it difficult to maintain gaze on a word, at eight, most
influx of new pupils means that even Effective training for NQT
to the pupil. For
should be capable – but many are not.
the most experienced teacher can mentors is an integral element in The treatments for fixation difficulties depend on
benefit immeasurably from support in providing new teachers with the
developing an understanding of new support they need, developing their
example, it is often said
the cause. The normal optometric treatment (assuming
there is no refractive problem) is to use convergence
issues, techniques, targets or legislation. skills and preventing them becoming
For this very reason, among the manifold overwhelmed and unhappy with their they will ‘grow out of
exercises; colour prescribing can often stop symptoms,
and the use of a visual tracking magnifier will often be
responsibilities of teachers, the mentoring of jobs. It is also vital to making sure that of great benefit.
new teachers is among the most important. mentors themselves are not put under
it’ and no particular
NQTs who contact Teacher Support Network undue pressure because of the additional
2, Tracking
repeatedly emphasise the importance of their responsibilities they have taken on.
relationship with their mentor. In all, the training programmes in any
action is taken
Tracking is the act of moving the position of gaze
The assistance they provide in developing an school community must meet the needs of
understanding of the responsibilities of teaching, teachers at any stage in their career, from new
the needs, educational or not, of their pupils and the arrivals to senior or experienced staff, in order to needs of a hunter or gatherer, they obviously
unique characteristics of their school community can
make or break a new arrival’s ability to develop and
’
along the line of print and from one line to another. If
a child has tracking problems, then there is always a
visual difficulty. There are many reasons for tracking
are not the problems and the treatment will reflect the cause of the
improve the emotional wellbeing of staff and sustain same as a modern office worker. problem.
levels of educational standards. In this context, there is one crucial difference Treatments include colour filters, overlays, occlusion,
their enthusiasm for the job. One teacher we recently While we will always be on hand to help between boys and girls. Gatherers (girls) spend a lot of retinal rivalry modification, and exercises. Factors that
spoke to called his mentor a lifesaver, without whom individual teachers experiencing difficulties, we are their life with their visual system working within arm influence tracking difficulties in the classroom include
he would probably have packed it in during the first pleased to have had a influence on the government’s length, the hunters’ (boys) visual system is used for font dimensions, the distance of the book from the
term. position towards training and hope that the distance viewing. Is this why the visual systems have child, the lighting in the classroom and the physical
However, far too many NQTs tell us that a lack committee’s recommendations help improve the developed in such a way as to make boys four times as dimensions of the paragraph.
of support from their mentors is causing them great provision of training to mentors across the country. likely as girls to show symptoms of visual dyslexia?
difficulty. Without the invaluable guiding hand that Compare the visual tasks of a hunter with the modern
3, Inversions and reversals
a mentor provides, teachers can find the challenges • Julian Stanley is chief executive of the Teacher school child. Virtually all critical information in school A common early problem is that of visual reversal or
of the profession, which can be so much more Support Network. Visit www.teachersupport.info or work is presented to the child in their central visual areas. inversions of letters or words. A child often sees words
pronounced when they are first experienced, even call 08000 562 261 (England), 08000 855088 (Wales). It is surprising that so few children have major problems or letters the wrong way round. This common and yet
more difficult to cope with. Moral support returns in two weeks. because it is a completely different environment from that frequently ignored symptom must be differentiated
to which our visual system is optimally tuned. from the sequential memory effect, in which some
8 SecEd • February 25 2010
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