Diary of an NQT

Newly Qualified Traveller

AS YOU may have guessed from the absence of my diary entries for the past two weeks, I have been among the many thousands of teachers stranded abroad as a result of that now infamous volcano. Who would have thought that an end-of-term

break to Madrid would culminate in my 100 per cent attendance record going up in a cloud of ash and my Easter holiday enhanced by over a week? Enjoyable yet expensive, we

sailed into Portsmouth harbour two weeks after touching down in Madrid airport to dock back on to British soil and to clock back on to working life. A four day stay in Spain’s

capital had ended nicely and with cases packed, we took one final look around our hotel room to leave. Television in earshot, we heard

the sombre tones of breaking news and paused to see the unbelievable shot of the volcanic eruption. A sense of disbelief turned into sheer surrealism as we arrived at the airport to see a departure board laden with cancellations and a helpdesk strewn with confused people: Madrid would not let us leave! After returning there a few days

later, cancellations increasing, we queued along with 3,000 other stranded travellers – some who were ironically planning to fly to Iceland in an attempt to return to their native Denmark – for nearly six hours to exchange our tickets for standby seats on the next week’s flight. However, a week after our planned return, our

flight was again cancelled, and so we decided to follow government advice and head for the coast. My girlfriend and I, both teachers, were now

four days into making regular morning calls to our respective schools, leaving what seemed like bizarre messages regarding our absence. “Naturally our absence today is due to a volcanic eruption and we can’t possibly make it into school

this week and will just have to extend our holiday here in Spain. Thank you.” It sounded like one of those pathetic forged letters the kids write – you know, the ones signed “Peter’s mum”! We booked ourselves onto a train to

Bilbao and took a beautiful journey through the Spanish mountains before arriving at our port-side home. With our ferry not leaving for three days we guiltily enjoyed the sights (although those of you that made it into work following the Easter break will be glad to know it rained every day!). Sunday morning was greeted

with a relieved farewell to the sight of Spain disappearing into the horizon as our ferry left port and began its voyage across the Bay of

Biscay. Normally Sunday would be spent planning and anticipating the new school week. Last Sunday, however, began with whale and dolphin-watching and

ended with a bizarre school production- style cabaret. A bizarre experience was reaching new heights. Docking late Tuesday with a twinned

sense of relief and nationalist delight, we made our way to London and then, using our third metro system of the week,

made it home. After a few hours sleep and little time to re-adjust to a floor that wasn’t swaying, I made it into work on Wednesday afternoon last week to teach an inquisitive year 7 class, some

of whom were pleased that I would still be able to make their parents’ evening appointments later that day – how empathetic!

So while Easter was not as relaxing as I had

hoped and I have been literally thrown back into teaching, with little idea what country, time or transport I’m in, at least I am armed with a story to tell, if no tan to parade.

• Matt Connett is a newly qualified teacher of English at Shenfield High, a training school in Brentwood in Essex. He returns next week.

Getting the MPs behind us

Moral support

IT’S NEARLY over; battle buses have clocked up thousands of miles travelling the length and breadth of the country; rictus smiles have been fixed for countless photo opportunities and spin doctors have spun like there is no tomorrow. I, like a lot of the nation, have watched transfixed

as the question of education has become more and more central to the election politicking. I’ve become intrigued as party A spells out its plans for our schools and Party B rubbishes the plans while unfurling its own, while Party C, and that’s with a small c, states that its way is the only way. Well, we’re nearly at the finishing

line and we at Teacher Support Network wonder, as the parties jostle for position, just what the future holds for the education sector? Whatever lies ahead for teachers, we know they will rise above the political machinations of the day and continue to educate and inspire generations of young people. As a charity we have to be careful

not to cross any lines in the sand and enter the minefield of party politics. But that doesn’t mean we’ve been resting on our safe seats. We’ve seen this period, when politicians look to actively engage with people outside the Westminster village, as a real opportunity to build bridges with future MPs and policy-makers from across the political spectrum. To do this we’ve asked prospective

parliamentary candidates to sign up to our campaign to support teachers and commit to

the following pledge: “In order for teachers to deliver first class education they need the support of elected representatives who understand the scale of the challenges teachers face. Putting in place measures to support and improve teacher health, wellbeing and effectiveness should be at the heart of education policy. If elected, I will campaign for this principle to be central to future party and government policy because I believe great teaching is critical to the delivery of great education.”

To date, we have pledges of support from more than 150 candidates, which is wonderful, but we

aren’t going to stop there. We need your help to ensure that the next intake of MPs do their bit to support teacher wellbeing. Politicians can do huge amounts in their constituencies and nationally to improve the lives of teachers. We hope they will. To find out what you can do to help us with this agenda, visit our website (below). Here are a few comments from the candidates in

response to our pledge: “I work in the private sector and staff wellbeing is a big priority, not least because it directly affects productivity. Why should public sector staff be treated any differently or have lesser expectations when it comes to wellbeing?” “I would like to assure you

that I will put my soul and blood into the teachers’ cause as I am a teacher myself and have benefited from Teacher Support Network. This would be an ideal opportunity for me to pay my gratitude in kind. Looking forward to working

together on this noble cause.” Whatever the make-up of the

next administration they will have to tackle a range of challenges that, for the sake of effective teaching, need to be urgently addressed. They include how to ensure teaching staff are supported through any further structural change; how to ensure that any cuts to the public sector don’t adversely affect frontline staff and teacher effectiveness; adapting to social change and being ready to tackle new behavioural and technological challenges such as cyber-bullying; and ensuring the health and wellbeing of all teachers.

That’s just the start. As we stand on the brink of

a new Parliament, the need for the health, wellbeing and status of teachers to be at the heart of education policy has never been greater.

• Julian Stanley is chief executive of the Teacher Support Network. Visit www.teachersupport.info or call 08000 562 261 (England), 08000 855088 (Wales). Moral support returns in two weeks.

SCHOOL LIBRARIES

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