Diary of an NQT Counting down the days


IT WOULD seem that it is not just the teachers who are all but ready to pack up for summer now, it’s the students too. A lethargy and unenthused return from half-term


has seen both of us start to count down the weeks to the end of the school year. This is making teaching quite


difficult. Students aren’t really switched on and low-level disruption is causing problems in the classroom. I’m sure that I am less patient


to deal with it too and so, with a weakened tolerance, I am getting a little annoyed at the maturity levels in my classes. Having a reduced timetable


makes it all the easier to deal with however, and what with many trips also running this week, I feel like I’ve barely taught! This time has been greeted


enthusiastically and has seen me get up-to-date with the ever-critical levels of marking. This week saw a milestone


reached. I attended my last NQT assessment meeting. Once every half-term, we meet


to discuss progress, issues, and to put together a report on progress. Just today I received my final


report, recommending me for passing my NQT year! This, meaningless, piece of paper is


heavy though, weighed down with the experiences and trials of the year and I feel proud to think that I am just that final step away from completing this year and being a fully qualified teacher at last. I thought the World Cup, although a distraction at work, could not possibly be tainted. I have been


looking forward to it like a seven-year-old boy for the past year! However, in lessons, it is becoming a bit of a


distraction for the kids. Constant score updates on phones, and chatting about the previous games, are giving the students the ammunition they need for the off-task chatting I have already mentioned. It’s alright for me, I’m a typical male


and into football, but it must be hell for those of you that are not; you cannot escape it! While I can have brief


conversations on this topic, and am actually more than interested in these score updates, they are affecting lessons negatively. However hard I try, I cannot escape looking forward to the


summer holidays now. Although I will have to be swatting up on our new GCSE syllabus and also the A level course I will be launched into


teaching next year, there should well be time for some relaxation and the chance to recharge ready for round two in September. It’s nice to be, as everyone seems to be doing, counting down the weeks to the holidays. In just five weeks now we will be finished with the NQT year and also teaching in general for six long weeks


and I personally cannot wait. Bring on the sun, holidays and free time away from children, school and targets.


• Matt Connett is a newly qualified teacher of English at Shenfield High, a training school in Brentwood in Essex. He returns next week. This week SecEd carries our regular bi-annual NQT special, which features an extended diary entry from Mr Connett. Turn to pages 16 to 23.


Coping with change Moral support


IN THE past few weeks it has become clear to me that there is more than a little confusion and anxiety about the new coalition government’s plans for the education sector. With agency A or department B facing closure,


rationalisation or efficiency cuts as part of broader austerity measures, it is a particularly unsettling time for teachers. Academies and free schools are in; Becta and


the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) are out. The GTCE, which was set up a decade ago with a remit to act as the profession’s police force, is to be axed amid claims that it has failed to improve classroom standards or provide value for money. The curriculum is to change


significantly, while iGCSEs are to be offered to state school pupils for the first time. Likened to the old-style O levels the new exam will be available for state heads to roll out from September. Academies and free schools,


which will have greater control over their own finances and may have fewer links with local authorities, are popular with some in politics and education and less popular with others. But what about teachers? What impact will these rapid


changes have on the day-to-day working conditions of teachers? What will they mean for the pay of teachers? Will teachers be expected to work longer days to properly implement these changes? The truth is that because of the unique


and hugely important position of the education sector to any successful society, community and economy, it is often the first area to come under the spotlight. When a new administration wants to showcase


its fresh political thinking and make its mark, invariably the education sector becomes the flag- bearer and undergoes radical, fundamental change. It becomes a victim of its importance, an


importance that means that change is rarely gradual; more often than not it is a case of revolution rather than evolution. At Teacher Support Network we are not about


party politics, we are an apolitical organisation that is interested in working with all stakeholders to improve the lot of teachers, and through extension, pupils and parents.


The hue of the administration is not as important


as the health, wellbeing and status of teachers, and these rapid changes to the way teachers work can, if not managed properly, have a detrimental effect on the mental and physical health of teachers and further erode the status of the profession. There is a real danger that the threat of change


in the workplace can lead to increased levels of stress, so it is essential for teachers that they are able to cope effectively and see these changes as an opportunity.


We have developed a number of strategies and tools to help those affected by these rapid changes in their working lives. We advise teachers to maintain


strong relationships with your colleagues, to share information with each other, and also to provide mutual support. You are not alone! It is also important to try not


to let work concerns have too great an impact on your personal life. Talk to family and friends about the situation and allow them


to help you through it. Undertake any necessary or available training to ensure you are able to respond effectively to change. And remember, workplace


change does not have to create stress and confusion. It can be an opportunity to acquire new skills, achieve career progression, and embrace a new way of working. As long as you remain flexible and responsive, you should be able to adapt to the new situation and ensure that you make the most of any new opportunities


that are presented to you. Regardless of the changes that have come,


or the ones that may come in the future, whether they be applauded by teachers and educationalists or resisted as ill-conceived, there is one stark and important fact that has to be remembered, no school model, may it be an academy or a free school, will succeed without healthy, motivated and engaged teachers at its heart.


• 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.


EXTENDED SERVICES Doing th


New research from the CfBT Education Trust looks at how


schools are using social enterprise business models to fund extended services and what the keys to success are with this approach. Neil McIntosh explains


E


XTENDED SERVICES are a big part of a modern school community. By the end of 2010 it is expected that all schools in the UK will be offering some form of extended services – whether this is breakfast clubs for school pupils or a larger provision for


the whole community to benefit from. As well as adding value to the educational services


provided by the school for its pupils, extended services are also working to tackle wide-ranging social issues including health and wellbeing, poverty and community cohesion. While more than £1.3 billion has so far been


invested in extended services by the government, there are no further funds identified to support extended services beyond 2011. With all the hard work and great progress that has been made in this area it would be a shame to drop extended services due to a lack of public funding; instead schools need to be looking at ways in which they can make their extended services provision financially sustainable. In a new report, Extended Services: Ensuring


Sustainability using the Social Enterprise Model, the CfBT Education Trust looked at how schools are using the social enterprise business model to fund extended services. The research shows that there are a number of schools already embracing the idea of enterprise and that by following a few critical success factors this model could work in all schools. So what exactly is social enterprise? Social


enterprises are driven and led by the local community to address a particular social need. All profit made from the business is re-invested back into the community for social gain, and as the business model combines the achievement of both profit and social gain it works to become sustainable in the long term. There are two main ways in which schools can


engage with social enterprise; either in partnership with an existing social enterprise working in the local community, or by establishing a new social enterprise owned and managed by the school. During our research we found good examples


of both methods, what is most important is that the outcomes of the social enterprise directly meet the needs of the school and its community. One example of a social enterprise working in


partnership with schools to deliver extended services is Magic Breakfast, operating in schools in London and Yorkshire. Magic Breakfast delivers free healthy breakfast


food, parent nutrition education and school social enterprise training, and is currently supporting 53 primary schools with more than 50 per cent of their


‘ 8


Serving the community: The hair salon at Beacon Hill High School in Blackpool operates three-days-a-week as a commercial salon, and three-days-a-week as a training salon for school pupils, an example of how enterprise and extended services can combine


pupils on free school meals. Its strapline “fuel for learning” emphasises the link between extended hours provision and improved school performance. This service is partially funded by the work of


Magic Outcomes Ltd, a training provider for bluechip companies offering social leadership development and partnership programmes. Typically one leadership programme funds one new breakfast club for a year. Magic Breakfast has delivered more than a million free breakfasts since 2002 and by relieving schools of


The most important thing to remember when engaging with social enterprise is to keep the


social need of the school and the local community at the heart of it all. Extended services have been


a great asset to schools across the UK and through careful management they need not die out due to a lack of public funding


’ SecEd • June 24 2010


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