Page 45

STAFFROOM CONFIDENTIAL

Teachers’ tips
Last issue Rachel asked whether she should prioritise her ambition to become a headteacher or her plans to start a family.

Job share for a while
I was in a similar position and, to retain my senior post, decided to return to a job-share after maternity leave. When the time was right I increased my hours to full time and applied for promotion.

I am now a headteacher and have the necessary time to devote to the role, happy in the knowledge my daughter is independent. I can recommend this route as it allows the time to enjoy family life fully.
Name withheld

Don’t leave it too late
If you are sure you want a family, start trying sooner not later. I agonised over whether to climb the career ladder first or have a baby. I decided to try for a baby when I was 30 after 18 months as assistant head. It took me five years and three attempts at IVF to become pregnant.

Had I not eventually got pregnant I would always have wondered if it would have been easier had I tried when I was younger. I hope to climb the career ladder further when my daughter is older. You can progress in your job when your body is too old to have a baby.
Name withheld


Support network necessary
I am deputy head at a small school and applying for my first headship, having completed my National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) two years ago. I am 36 and mum to three children aged four, six and seven.

I am lucky to have a good family network close by, who take a full and active role in the upbringing of my children. Without this I could not have returned to work after each maternity leave and would never have been able to complete my NPQH.

I am glad I had my children before going into headship, as now they are all at school I can give the extra time that being a school leader requires. I am not sure how easy it would be to take time off and pick things up again as a head on maternity leave. As a teacher it was a challenge but manageable.
Sally, West Sussex

Next issue
My husband is being relocated to the north west next year for a work project lasting about 18 months. Rather than applying for a permanent position for such a short time, I’m thinking of doing supply teaching while we live there, but I’m concerned about whether there will be enough work available. I’m interested in the views of those with recent experience of supply teaching, as it’s 12 years since I last did it.
Debbie, Hampshire

Reader’s rant

Mixing it up

It’s not that I don’t understand the rationale behind setting. I simply don’t see that setting in English is of any benefit to pupils. Moreover, it is really harmful to those of lower ability.

During my training I worked in three schools; two taught mixed ability, one did not. Their results? The ‘setted’ school was by far the worst and one of the mixed ability schools was in the 90th percentile every year for A* to C at GCSE.

I don’t believe the staff in the schools were superior or inferior to one another. I appreciate too that setting versus mixed ability was not the only factor, but I do believe it is a major factor in the number of pupils who reach or better their targets. I do believe it is a major factor in ensuring that pupils remain level-headed and accepting of all ability levels. And I do believe it is essential to ensuring that ALL pupils have a positive experience during their time with us.

Setting chases borderline kids, mixed ability chases all kids. Setting is unfair, mixed ability ensures equal chances. Setting is about schools, mixed ability is about kids.

We learn to read and write by reading and writing. We learn better by reading more. Basically, we scavenge, steal and plagiarise in the pursuit of better English. We steal from parents, teachers, role-models, peers. In a mixed ability class you ‘steal’ from peers with the range of ability.

But what about those A*s with no-one better to steal from? I’m sure most teachers learn more about their subject from teaching it than they did before teaching. A* kids benefit from recasting their learning for their peers.

And consider the English curriculum. In Year 7 you learn how to read texts and discover hidden meanings, to spot and use authors’ tricks, to write advice, persuasion, description and more. In Year 11 you do the same. The skills don’t change, only pupils’ proficiency in using them.

Give an A* pupil the same book as an E pupil and the E learns new words the same as the A*. They pick out meanings both obvious and not, like the A*. They just don’t do it as well. And while the A* is reading, finding and explaining things, the E gets your help and attention.
Sounds like hard work? It is. Mixed ability teaching is more difficult. But that doesn’t matter. Kids do.

Setting isn’t evil. It is not propagated out of a desire to ruin children’s life chances. Setting makes sense in hierarchical subjects. But setting does not make sense in English, and it never will.

Christopher Board, by email

Send your contributions for 'A funny thing happened', 'The things pupils say', 'Teachers' tips' and 'Reader's rant' to The Teacher, NUT, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD or email them to teacher@nut.org.uk. Deadline for next issue: 11 December. Please include your contact details.