Diary of an NQT An ‘awesome’ year


I WAS worried about the year 11 prom last week, and rightly so. Some of the students looked great and behaved brilliantly, but for others it seemed like they were auditioning for Greece Uncovered. Matters were not helped by an American


news crew turning up to film for a programme looking at proms “over here”. I knew what the crew was up to within minutes. They didn’t have a minder and so filmed exactly what they wanted to. I now wait for the inevitable car crash that will be the “fly on the wall” documentary starring our students. At the same time, while


for some of the parents it was the “most magical night of the year”, for others it seemed like it was simply pre-drinks entertainment, which also proved challenging. The year 13 leavers’ do


was much better, however, and involved fewer drunken students. I only stayed for an hour – just long enough to help hand out some joke prizes and say goodbye to a few of my classes (and watch the “Year 13 King” tipsily trip-up and crash into the head of 6th form as he went up to collect his award). And so the year is almost over. In the


past few weeks, I have seen several card stores promoting “thank a teacher” merchandise. I remember thanking my 6th form tutor when I was at school, but not every teacher. However, I have been surprised to receive thank


you cards from a number of students, both A level and GCSE, all containing really sweet messages thanking me for teaching them and running “memorable and fun” lessons.


Elsewhere, I received my new timetable this


week outlining next year’s lessons. It was great to see that I’ve retained a few of my classes, including my favourites. What was nice was that I’ve not just been given more science lessons but I’ve also been allocated a few “Learning to Learn” sessions. I’ve had a look at what I’ll be doing during these sessions and I think it’ll be awesome. However, the current year 9s hate them, but that is probably because they actually have to do something. I’ve also been given some


new groups which on paper look like they’ll be horrific, but I suppose it’s only fair as I did get a bit of an easy ride this year. Overall, I feel like I’ve


had a really great first year; it’s been busy and stressful at times, but hugely rewarding and satisfying. While I’m not looking forward to the increased workload in year two, I’ve begun to find that teaching lessons second


time round is much easier. Looking at the sets I’ll have next year, I’ll have to continue to maintain discipline. I’d like to increase the amount of motivation and effort my form shows, especially the year 9s and new year 8s. I’m also looking to increase my role within the


school and hopefully earn some extra money. If I had to sum up my year in a word, it would


be “awesome”!


• Our NQT diarist this year writes anonymously and is a teacher of science from a secondary school in the East of England. SecEd’s NQT Diary will return with a new diarist in September.


The perception of teachers Moral support


YOU CAN’T help but have noticed that teachers seem to be getting a raw deal in the press of late. While the strike action at the end of the last month involved all public sector workers, the focus was very much on teachers and although there appeared to be a lot of sympathy from parents, the media stories were primarily of school closures and disruptions. Education secretary Michael Gove was even quoted as saying that industrial action would result in respect for teachers being “taken back a little bit”. The pre-strike coverage prompted me


to ask the following questions: when does a teacher’s personal life affect their professional one? Do teachers lose or damage their professional standards when they act in an inappropriate manner outside of school? To find out more we asked


teachers for their experiences and how they felt the public perception of teachers could best be improved. Almost 80 per cent of the


teachers that responded to our survey felt that the media did not present a positive image of teachers. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) believed that more positive media coverage could help improve the public perception of teachers, while another quarter (23 per cent) thought publicity campaigns to raise awareness of teachers’ good work were necessary. One teacher said: “The press 99.9


per cent of the time only ever reports negatively about teachers. Celebration of teacher value, not just teacher awards, should be encouraged.” Another added: “I have to stay professional


as I believe that if parents of students see you, they want to see that you are respectable, professional and a good role model.” The respondents also thought that more powers


over behaviour in the school community, higher wages, and tougher entry requirements for teacher training would improve the perception of teachers. Interestingly, the majority of the teachers


disagreed that the way a teacher acts outside of school should have no impact on their role within school. One commented: “I would not even consider acting inappropriately. If I am expecting young people to respect me, I offer something for them to respect.”


Another teacher told us: “I do believe that we


have to set a very clear example in public, not least given the poor example set by so many other people.” Only two per cent of the teachers who took part


in the survey had ever been reprimanded for their actions outside of school. One admitted: “I once corrected a child in the street for jumping on top of a colleague’s car. I was reprimanded for this action.” Another recalled: “I was in between homes


and was living in a mobile home. The headteacher of my school at the time told me that it was not correct, professional or a good impression to give.” Yet, more than half (59 per cent)


of respondents to the self-selecting survey said they had adapted their behaviour outside of school, because they thought it would impact on their role in school. These teachers were most likely to adapt their behaviour out and about where they live, online when social networking, or during social


activities. “I have tried to stay away from


bars/clubs where I feel pupils would tend to go. This is despite the fact a lot of them are underage and I have more ‘right’ to be there than them,” one teacher complained. “It is inevitable one will meet, or


merely be seen by, pupils/colleagues from work while at large, say at the supermarket, and it seems reasonable


to be conscious always of the image one puts across,” commented another. It will, I am sure, be a debate that keeps going as the impact of the strikes, the cuts and the changes in education take effect. It is clear that more must be done to provide a positive portrayal of teachers both in the media


and with the public, although this can not be done alone. As one respondent commented: “It is the public who have a job of work to do to improve how they are perceived by us.” If you would like to comment on this issue, go to


our website (below). In the meantime, I wish you a very pleasant and, where possible, relaxing summer.


• Julian Stanley is chief executive of the Teacher Support Network. Visit www.teachersupport.info or call 08000 562 561 (England), 08000 855088 (Wales). Moral support returns in September.


BEST PRACTICE


The finals of a national competition to find the most


inspiring teachers in the country took place recently. Emma Lee-Potter meets Britain’s Dream Teachers


and imagination is absolutely key. The brownies and beach expedition were just two


of the innovative teaching ideas submitted to Britain’s Dream Teachers, a national video competition launched this spring by YouTube and TV chef Jamie Oliver to find the most inspiring teachers in the country. Working with subject experts at awarding body


W English


Edexcel and more than 1,000 students and teachers, YouTube identified a series of GCSE and Standard Grade topics in maths, English, history, physics, chemistry, biology and geography that 14 to 16-year- olds find tricky to understand. Teachers across the country were then challenged


to create a short video to explain the themes in an engaging way and thereby help youngsters succeed in their exams. Hundreds of teachers produced videos for the competition but the entries were eventually whittled down to seven winners, one for each subject. The winners were each awarded a £10,000 prize


– £2,000 for themselves, £1,000 to spend on ICT equipment and £7,000 for their schools. Matt Brittin, Google UK’s CEO, and music producer and DJ Jazzie B presented them with their awards in May at a ceremony at Google UK’s headquarters in London. Jazzie B, who tried his hand at teaching in Channel


4’s recent Jamie’s Dream School series, admitted he had found his own teaching experience “exhausting”, but added that his role in the programme had inspired him to become a mentor at a local school, starting next term. He told the ceremony: “I know from my personal


experience of being involved in Jamie’s Dream School that teaching is a challenge. I take my hat off to all the teachers here today. You are the heroes out there.”


Me Dream


already decided how to spend her prize for winning the history category. With the support of her school, she has organised


a visit to the battlefields of Belgium this summer for 36 pupils who will be studying history, geography, religious education or English at AS and A2 next year. In her video, she set out to help students analyse the


causes of historical events. Using yellow sticky notes, she explained how youngsters can arrange them in a diamond shape to put the causes of events like the rise of Stalin to power in 1928 in order of importance and thereby write an effective essay. “I wanted it to be simple and something that


Richard Pollott, who teaches English and music at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury, Kent, came up with a brilliant idea to help youngsters analyse poems that they have never seen before. A talented singer-songwriter, he sat down and wrote


his own performance poem in three hours flat. He then performed the poem rapper-style on video, outlining at top speed the six different questions (who, where, when, what, how and why) that pupils should consider when studying an unseen poem. “I had never found a good way to help students


study an unseen poem before and I wanted to come up with a zappy way to teach it,” he said. “When I tried it with my year 10s they gave me a round of applause and said ‘you should record that’, so that’s what I did.”


History


As head of geography at Priory School Specialist Sports College in Portsmouth, David Rogers was so busy that he did not have time to film his entry for the competition until a few hours before the deadline. Keen to find an effective way of teaching the


Amy Hughes, head of history at St Thomas More Catholic School in Wood Green, north London, has


8


process of long shore drift to pupils, he took a tripod and camera to a deserted beach at Goring-by-Sea, nearly 40 miles from his school. With only a few kite-surfers around, he used his surroundings to make a short film about long shore drift. Back at home he quickly added an explanatory diagram to the film and uploaded it to YouTube just before the cut-off time.


SecEd • July 7 2011


could be used in any subject,” said Ms Hughes. “The beauty of doing it this way is that you only need sticky notes and a pen. History is about making judgements and this helps students to make a decision about what they think are the key causes of events in history, from the most important to the least important and everything in between. My students have found it really helpful.”


Geography


HETHER THEY are using chocolate brownies to explain nuclear fission or explaining long shore drift from a windswept Sussex beach, teachers are adamant that capturing pupils’ interest


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