Languages 2014

As a teacher trained in secondary languages, I often find myself blustering through the primary curriculum followed by a trail of self-doubt and insecurity. I might be able to blag my way through English and humanities, but what on Earth gives me the right to teach maths or P.E.?

Most of the time, I remind myself that teaching skills are transferable. Yes, you need to adapt, but the fundamentals are the same; good progress, pupil talk, higher order thinking skills, VAK approach. I'm constantly learning (or deepening my knowledge), particularly in specific curriculum areas, and have made a lot of progress in the time I've been working with my lovely Y3 class, but I'm still in awe of the skills demonstrated by my primary trained colleagues.

However, in various staffroom discussions, I began to realise that the way I feel about primary teaching is how most of my co-workers feel about teaching languages. Many of them currently avoid it, using excuses like, "we couldn't fit it in" (in fairness, we do have abnormally short afternoons which are taken up with so many other subjects) amongst other things, and consoling themselves with the knowledge that my MFL club constitutes access to language learning.

But September 2014 is coming, and with it comes the new curriculum.

I am by no means an expert, and definitely not in Spanish (the chosen foreign language of my school). I was a French and German specialist, but I have a vague idea of what Ofsted are looking for in a language classroom, thanks to the constant threat of HMI in previous schools.

So, the standard 80:20 pupil:teacher talk ratio, rapid progess, at least 50% target language (including pupil talk), normal classroom commands and questions done in target language, learner autonomy in communication, application of grammatical concepts...

How do you create learner autonomy and promote language use in a classroom where the teacher is not confident or willing in using target language themselves? There are only two teachers in the school (myself not included) who speak some rusty Spanish and they only teach it under protest.

The first task, evidently, is to raise confidence in staff. Yes, you could employ a native speaker or language specialist to get the job done, but if you are going to integrate the principles of language learning throughout the curriculum (as suggested), then the rest of the staff need to get confident too. 

Schools simply don't have the money, resources or time to spend on sending every member of staff on a course. What needs to be done is ready to go lesson plans, with target language included, for every member of staff. Linked with that needs to be target language sheets for pupils so that they can ask to go to the toilet, if they can borrow a rubber, if they can get a drink (rather like most secondary schools already do).

Yes, it's time consuming, but it's worth it. You simply cannot get the required percentage of target language without the right scaffolding, support and confidence on both sides. It's not enough to have enthusiastic learners, or just enthusiastic teachers, you need both. And you need to give them the tools.

As for 80:20, why is it that primary teachers go into a blind panic about this? They are amazing at planning literacy lessons or numeracy lessons that are pupil centred. But ask most of them to do the same thing in a foreign language, and they lose the ability to think straight. That treasure hunt that you did for science? Yeah, that works for French too. And the Tarsia activity you did in history? Perfect for German! You know how you use chunking grids for practising with different connectives? Use that too!

For me, the area it gets really tricky is rapid progress. I've seen so many lessons at primary level focused on greetings, with no progression over the half term, just repetition. It's fine for playing with language and getting used to some of the sounds, but for the new curriculum, it will need a complete overhaul.

In my class, I have girl whose mother is a native speaker. I have been given all sorts of advice from my colleagues, such as "She'll enjoy the games, leave her to it" and "Use her as a translator, it shows progress in a different skill", but I'm not convinced by any of these.

If I leave this girl to the games, she shows no progress at all (except, perhaps, in her enjoyment of language). If I use her as a translator, then how do I prove her progress in Spanish? How is her skill measurable in interpreting single words and short exchanges for her peers?

On the other hand, this girl has not done much written work in Spanish. She currently tries to write things phonetically, using English rules (which works sometimes, but not with ll, y or v) and she rarely uses connectives. She gets her tenses mixed up too when writing, which shows a whole area where we could differentiate appropriately, stretch her and show good progress.

But how many members of staff in primary schools have the skills and ability to do this? I'm currently struggling, and get by through my knowledge of language teaching and my networks that I've developed over the years. Ideally, schools would be able to access this sort of expertise through their local secondary schools, but in cases where the primary curriculum is in a different language to that taught at KS3, this is not necessarily going to work either.

The new curriculum for language teaching has the potential to work. But only if the curriculum is directed by someone with the time and skills to support everyone appropriately, and if there are suitable links in place. Teachers need to stop seeing foreign language as a scary, unteachable concept, and realise that they already have most of the skills in place. Above all, for this to work, we need to co-operate, network and be a little more confident.

The Right School

"Wow, it's been four months since I first interviewed you... It's just flown by!" my boss (who isn't really my boss and it's complicated, but I still call him my boss because he's awesome) told me.

This was a staff night out on the last day of term. Quite sedate really, but the first staff night out I've been on since I lived in Dunstable (and those were merely after-school pub sessions or nights in the school hall), because I've never been counted as one of the staff before, no matter how long I've worked at a school.

In some ways, he's right. This term has flown by quickly, before I even realised it was happening. But, on the other hand, it feels like I've been at that school for years, like I'm as much part of the furniture as everyone else. I love it so much and it's been such an integral part of my healing process and personal journey.

Before starting at that place, I'd all but given up hope with teaching. I felt like I was useless, had nothing to offer, and like the detractors who blamed me for my experience of violence (and accused me of being unfit to work with young people) were probably right. I had no self-esteem, no confidence in my abilities.

Mr Boss Man once asked why I was so worried about a lesson observation, when I had been so chilled at interview... The truth was that I never expected to get a job. I couldn't for one second believe that anyone would actually want me, so I wasn't overly worried about rejection when I expected it anyway.

Being at this school has taught me so much. Firstly, that I do have the organisational skills to cope with this job, though it does take an awful lot more effort for me to keep on top of things than for some people! And that I'm not the messiest / most disorganised person in the school. It's a close run thing, but knowing that scatty people can get far in this profession keeps me sane!

It's taught me that I do have strengths in this job. I am good at languages and music (obviously), but my language work has given me a head start in teaching English. I've discovered that I adapt quickly, that I learn from training and work to meet my targets. I've also learnt where I can give extra to the school, in terms of clubs and things. I've found that I'm good at scaffolding and differentiation. It's not something I thought I was very good at, but it seems to come easily, as do pupil-led lessons.

I've learnt that I'm stronger than I think I am. With so many children from difficult backgrounds, I was bound to come into contact with stories similar to mine. I didn't think I'd cope with that, but I did, I am, I can. It's really empowering to know that my experience gives me perspective, strength and empathy, rather than the weakness and hindrance that I thought it would.

And, most importantly (possibly), is that I've found out how to love a job and commit to it - throw myself in entirely - without sacrificing myself and my emotions. Too often, in the past, the only time I would really work as hard as I could was to escape the pain and flashbacks. Now, I throw myself in because I want the children to learn and have fun, I want to do my best for them and for the school.

I've still got a long way to go. Observations seem to cause severe allergic reactions (well, nervous breakdowns) and I need to get the hang of this work-life balance thing... but I've discovered how much I can do with the support and input of the right school.

And, for the first time in forever, I feel truly happy.



This didn't really fit in anywhere above, but I wanted to say it anyway... the people I work with are amazing and supportive. The school is the wonderful, nurturing environment that it is because of the fantastic men and women working in there are so compassionate. I have wonderful TAs in my classroom, reassuring me constantly, a beautiful colleague in the other Year 3 class who has coped so well with a newbie, a brilliant senior leadership team and, just generally, the best colleagues a girl could ask for. The school wouldn't be what it is without them, and I wouldn't be who I am without them either!

New Year, New Job

So I've been quiet recently. Really quiet. It's been a difficult few months between the rollercoaster events of last summer, the decision to take a break from unit Guiding and many other things. I fully intended to blog more this new year, but every year brings fresh challenges and 2014's is in the shape of a new job.

I'm now the proud teacher of a Year 3 class. For those in the know, Year 3 is for children aged 7-8 and is the third year (obviously) of compulsory education here in the UK. It's a bit of a culture shock for me, being secondary trained. I have had primary experience before, but mainly with years 4-6, not year 3.

Not only have I already had to deal with planning for so many different subjects, get to know twenty four new people, but I've had to deal with an exclusion, several internal exclusions, interventions, provision maps and all sorts of weird and wonderful things that I've not had to sort before. I've written a scheme of work for gymnastics (yes, me!), set up a languages club that has got TWENTY TWO participants... and that's only from the lower school! It's an eye-opener.

My class is brilliant. I'd say that I've got a couple of characters, but they all are... in their own way. I have the little girl who never speaks (except to crack the most amazing sarcastic joke once a week!), the boy who strangles girls in the playground, the girl whose prized possession is a rock her uncle gave her as a gift... she's been told it's a dinosaur egg! I've got a boy who never speaks, smiles and often refuses to come into the classroom who came up to me this morning, sat down and asked me if he could do show and tell, and I've got a little boy who greets me every day with a hug, holds my hand and tells me that I belong to class one and they all love me.

Each and every child in my class is different, and I love getting to know them little by little. But I also love the little reflections of myself that I see in them and their behaviour. Not because they've picked it up from me (they've not had me long enough for that) but because their reactions challenge me and my own. 

Last week, I had one child really unsettled on the carpet. This particular child sits with his back to the door and is constantly glancing behind him at the door. Knowing my own discomfort at sitting with my back to a door, I moved him where he could see it, and now he sits there with absolutely no problem.

This morning, we did an activity where each person had a sheet of paper and it was passed round the circle so everyone could write something nice about them (they had to write something positive about themselves too!). Once people got their own paper back, we discussed how it made them feel to read the comments. Many of them said that they were happy or proud, some even said "relieved". One told us that he felt loved. But two girls said they were embarrassed and one boy said he was uncomfortable. We explored those feelings a little later, but it made me think about my paper too. I was quick to be dismissive and say that they only wrote because they had to... but that's not what the exercise was about!

Yesterday, I had an observation. It didn't go brilliantly, mainly due to the behaviour in my lower ability group. They were excited and engaged, but a little too excited and engaged (they wouldn't listen to me once they got going!). We did spend a lesson today going over behaviour and presentation, and there was a big improvement. Understandably, I was really upset by this yesterday. Whilst I was sobbing at lunch, my TA came over, gave me a hug and told me to stop being so hard on myself and that there were great things about the lesson. Of course, I wouldn't accept it. Actually, I wouldn't even accept the praise from the head, who insisted that there was no way that observation was going to meet the criteria, really...

But the thing that made it funny was the reaction of a little girl in my class. She's a superstar and one of our gifted and talented children. But if she gets anything wrong (or not exactly perfect!), she bursts into tears. I've chatted to her about high expectations and believing in herself and all these other things... Yesterday, she looked at me and solemnly said, "Miss H, you're as bad as I am. You set yourself expectations that you can never live up to. No-one can." Out of the mouths of babes...!

I love working at this school. It's supportive, fun, challenging. The staff are all welcoming and wonderful. The head is constantly providing advice, reading material, backing me up on various decisions. I have colleagues who make me cups of tea, check I'm eating, text me in the evening and at weekends to say thanks for a great day or just to say they're thinking of me after a rough one. It's nurturing and wonderful.

And whilst noting the nurturing environment and challenging myself, the changes I'm seeing in myself are incredible too. Yes, I was terrified yesterday, but I never had a panic attack. I'm alone in the office with the (male) head on a daily basis - tonight we were the only two left in the building. I get hugs and cuddles and hand-holding constantly, whether it's from my colleagues or from my children. I still don't like it if someone gets me from behind (my TA learnt this the hard way!) but I'm taking the physical contact without panicking or even flinching.

Now we just have to get that work-life balance stuff sorted!

Unblurring the Lines

Once again, I find myself proud to be a part of Girlguiding, as we have just undersigned the Telegraph's campaign for better sex education in schools as part of the national curriculum. I agree, as I have stated in support of Campaign For Consent, that better sex and relationship education in this country. But a conversation that came out of this discussion had me worried.

It was suggested that the issues of consent, sexual assault and rape should be addressed as sex education, under that banner. Although enthusiastic consent can be partly discussed in terms of healthy relationships, I don't feel comfortable with this overarching banner.

Why not? Because it seems to fit, doesn't it?

Well, yes. And that is part of the problem that needs to be addressed. Our society currently has such a phenomenal misunderstanding of what rape, sexual assault and consent are, that it is not just a part of "sex education". 

We need to show that sexual assault and rape do not equate to sex in any way. Penetration does not equal intercourse. The blurred lines between sexual encounters and sexual assault in our society are harmful to those who experience it and to those around them. In a world that classes rape as a sexual act, women who feel they are unattractive cannot fathom that they might have been assaulted, or feel ridiculous for reporting it. In a world that classes rape as a sexual act, it is glorified and revered in the media. And in a world that classes rape as a sexual act, both men and women are reduced to the worst possible stereotypes of their genders. If these beliefs and reactions are prevalent in society, they are perpetuated and reinforced, leading to a seemingly unbreakable chain.

By including rape, sexual violence and consent as part of sex education in schools, rather than as part of the wider PSHCE (personal, social, health and citizenship education) curriculum, we risk reinforcing the notion that violence is a sexual act rather than one of control. We create yet another generation who fail to see the distinction, and we fail in our duty of empowerment.

When I took my Senior Section members to the Nottingham Rape Crisis Centre in July, they thought they were pretty clued up. But even they assumed that a woman could not be raped by her partner, as she had already consented to sex. They assumed that if a woman consented, then changed her mind, the man had every right to continue, as she had agreed to sex initially. These are the effects of the blurred lines caused by classing rape as a sexual act rather than one of power and control.

It is important that young people are aware of consent within relationships and, with that in mind, it should be discussed as part of healthy relationship education, but much better that than reducing a serious, violent crime to "sex" once again.

How to Spot a Guide

Back in 2010, not long after rejoining Girlguiding, we celebrated "Vision". Vision was our centenary finale, celebrating 100 years of the UK's largest charity for girls and young women, and ringing in the next hundred! In Nottingham, Vision was a wonderful event with several thousand members in the city centre. My Brownies rode in on an old London Routemaster, decorated in centenary coloured ribbons and bows - they felt like princesses on a parade!

The following day, I was teaching in a local primary school, a lovely CoE school in the village down the road. I had always noticed certain characters in the school, that they had a certain quiet self-assurance about them and a gift for group work that was particularly impressive amongst the younger ones who often struggle to share and work together. That day, the headteacher had a very special theme for the assembly; he asked that everyone who had their special item in their pockets stand up and put them on. Suddenly, these girls who I had seen as emotionally developed beyond their years all stood up. And the items they put on were their pink neckerchiefs from Vision the night before.

It was this assembly that started me thinking about Girlguiding and the many benefits that we offer young people. Because as much as it's seen to be about the activities (whether they be adventurous ones or more service based), there is something running deeper than that.

In a secondary school I taught at not long after, I had a similar experience. I was teaching music and each group had to put together a composition. They had their task and success criteria, but were largely left to their own development. Those groups with Guides in them had the organisational skills to break the task down, to assign roles, and the confidence to assert themselves as well as support others in their group who were more nervous.

Similarly, this last summer, my new GCSE German group had two young ladies who I instantly recognised to be Senior Section members, before they even told me. How could this be possible?

It's because, right from the start, we use our five essentials. A varied and balanced programme is just one of the five, and it is important to give our girls challenge, variation and opportunity. But we look after each member as an individual to build their self-esteem. It is often thought by education professionals and behavioural psychologists that children with higher self-esteem and stronger support networks tend to thrive at school, that they are calmer, more thoughtful and engage more consistently with their work. We teach them to work in small groups, both as leaders and as team members. Sometimes this involves team games, sometimes it involves problem solving and sometimes, as with my Rangers, it involves them each planning an evening for the other girls. And we also ask our members to govern themselves as much as they can, as early as they can. It may mean choosing their favourite activity, or a sixer that takes a register each meeting, or it could be a Senior Section member taking some responsibility for the unit budget. But they are making the decisions, they are leading, they are learning to look after others as well as themselves.

Girlguiding has a holistic approach to child development - teaching about relevant issues in a non-formal environment, offering new activities as well as encouraging transferable skills. And part of this holistic approach, of course, is our fifth essential, the framework for our organisation - our Promise. We show girls that their beliefs and their own world views are important, that to look out and understand and help the world, they need to look in and understand themselves too. We teach them the importance of community, help them explore morality, honesty, how to overcome challenges, what it really means to try their best.

One of the additional key elements of Girlguiding's ability to develop the girl, in my experience, lies in the simple fact that it's not school. I have worked with Rainbows, Brownies and Guides who have struggled academically for various reasons, but have thrived in Guiding without the pressure and expectations that accompany targets, assessments, constant reminders about spelling and punctuation. I have worked with several of my Brownies and been surprised by the notes left for me by their class teachers and even said, "Did you know that L is really good at this?" And the knowledge that they are valued members of a community, that they have their own strengths and abilities, builds their confidence at school and helps them face their everyday challenges with grace and determination.

And, of course, the girl's unit - whether it be Rainbows, Brownies, Guides or Senior Section - is a safe, girl-only space. So often there is a huge gender-divide in the classroom, one that is often (consciously or not) compounded by the staff in there who reinforce the stereotypes and the thought that boys should be louder, more boisterous, more confident. Girlguiding allows development space away from these stereotypes and pressure. 

If only every girl got that chance.

Campaign 4 Consent

Yesterday, I was asked to write about why I support "Campaign 4 Consent", this was my rather long and comprehensive response...

Eight years ago, I was raped.

It took me, perhaps surprisingly, quite a while to realise what had happened to me. And even then, I seemed to try giving him excuses – it was my fault because of how I was dressed, it was my fault because I went to his house alone, it was my fault because I should have known better.

The police were just as bad, they reinforced this view and added to it that I was English and everyone knows English girls are asking for it. My mother laughed and told me that I should be grateful that anyone showed any interest in me, because I’m hardly good looking.

This emphasis on physical attraction is harmful to everybody. It often leaves those who have experienced sexual assault doubting their experience (“it couldn’t have been rape – I’m not pretty enough”) and it reduces men to a violent stereotype who have no control over their own bodies. This just isn’t true. Rape is all about control, not attraction, and it is about a minority of men who knowingly exert that control.

The myths surrounding rape are widespread and lead to a culture of victim-blaming and dangerous misunderstanding. If we are going to end this disgusting abuse of power, we need to start by educating young people about the reality of sexual assault.

Despite my experience, or perhaps because of it, two years later I achieved my life’s ambition of becoming a teacher. I was fortunate on my course, as I specialised in counselling and pastoral care, getting a lot of input on how to support pupils in disclosure and their personal needs. But only 1/8^th of the cohort did this course and there was absolutely no training on how to deliver sex and relationship education.

In my experience, this lack of training leads to a lack of confidence amongst teachers. Lessons on STIs become an embarrassing joke in the staffroom, as do those on breast cancer, prostate cancer and other such topics. We are increasingly asked to take on extra responsibilities, many of which we don’t understand and often ones where there is no textbook to read up on the night before.

We need access to training, whether that be in school CPD time, or external courses. Training on how to deliver this education in a safe, supportive environment, training on how to deal with awkward questions. We live in fear of disciplinary procedures due to one conversation gone wrong – we need the support of our unions and our headteachers in providing an honest and open classroom where pupils can ask their questions.

As teachers, we currently have the option to refuse delivery of sex education – the only teachers required to impart this area of the curriculum by law are biology teachers. Given that 1 in 4 women are said to experience sexual assault in their lifetime, I strongly believe that it is essential to retain this “option”, though all teachers should have access to adequate training and be encouraged to take it. I remember that in my first few years of teaching, every mention of rape, assault, even sex, could reduce me to tears or a panic attack. That didn’t make me any less of a teacher, it just meant that I needed to care for my needs too. Insisting that every teacher MUST undergo this training and must deliver consent education is harmful to the emotional and psychological wellbeing of the professionals involved and would also undermine the basic principle of consent, safety and development that we are trying to instill.

Every year, I head pupils joking about rape, discussing articles in the media, boys saying, “I would have raped her” or girls telling each other, “it was her fault for dressing like a slut”… but the tides are changing and I’m hearing increasing numbers of young people shouting out about the injustice, or at the very least, questioning their own understanding.

It’s time to change, time to support that questioning and challenge our young people to engage with these issues. We need to teach them the reality of consent, that it is an enthusiastic yes rather than the absence of a no, that rape is about control not attraction, that it is ALWAYS the fault of the perpetrator. We need to show them the options available to them, how to go about reporting, what counselling services are available and we need to liaise better with local and national bodies who can support us in our endeavour.

And if you want proof of the power of knowledge and a healthy relationship with yourself and those around you, I will leave you with one more thought. I was raped a second time, two weeks ago. This time, I know where to go, I am not blaming anyone but him and I am still standing strong and speaking out. A little knowledge can change lives.

Nine Worlds

This weekend, I was privileged enough to speak at the Nine Worlds (London Geekfest) convention on behalf of Girlguiding. In many ways, it was an absolute dream come true, and it was as inspiring and thought-provoking as it was exhausting!

I have been a long-time science-fiction fan, having grown up on the staple diet of Star Trek, Seaquest and Quantum Leap before expanding into my own fandoms. I've been attending conventions as a fan for eight years and have been crewing them for about five. I am no stranger to the convention world!

But this was the first time that I was invited down as a speaker, which was both flattering and terrifying. When I saw my name billed as a guest alongside people I admire (Laurie Penny, Paul Cornell, Robert Rankin, Kai Owen, Chris Barrie, Rhianna Pratchett - the list is endless!), it literally reduced me to tears. The sheer impact of what I was doing was phenomenal.

Me with Philippa Hibbs from NMP3

I arrived at the venue on Saturday morning for a panel called "Take Back The Net", which was all about online feminism and using the internet for advocacy. I was speaking alongside Philippa Hibbs from No More Page Three, Robyn Exton (the founder of Dattch) and Lilli Evans who founded the Twitter Youth Feminist Army. The panel itself was both interesting and challenging, not only asking about what our organisations are doing (if any Girlguiding people were playing buzzword bingo in the audience, full house would have been achieved in 30 seconds), but asking what we thought the current landscape looked like, what we thought the important tools were for change and what the future of advocacy is. Wow! 

It was an incredibly supportive and inclusive environment. Although some of us disagreed on certain aspects, we are all wanting change and social justice. I was very relieved when I got a round of applause after speaking about feminism not just being a female issue - I was a little worried my slightly awkward attempt at non-binary gender identity inclusiveness had just offended half the room!

Next was a non-Guiding break - I was lucky enough to get to moderate (host, for non-geeks out there) a panel on feminism in the Whedonverse. It including discussions on whether strong female roles could necessarily be called feminist, consent and rape culture in Dollhouse, the Smurfette principle in Avengers Assemble, recasting of male roles as female in Much Ado About Nothing and much more. I had thought the Take Back The Net panel was packed, with people sat on the floor and spilling out, but Big Damn Heroines had people turned away - it was CRAZY!

Cake is always a winner!

Back to Guiding after Whedon, and I ran a session for children, looking at gender stereotypes. It wasn't very well attended, but the children I had were also interested in advocacy, so while doing our activities we discussed how they could campaign in their schools back home. We looked at professions and gender, with a whole host of science-fiction characters who break traditional gender roles (Roslin as president, River as warrior, Strax as nanny and Rory as nurse, to name a few) and I was encouraged to see young people thinking more about stance and confidence than gender when trying to match roles to people. We did some construction but also cake decorating, played a game about inclusiveness and generally had a lot of fun!

At least the presentation
looked professional!

There was plenty of free time on Sunday to look around and do what I wanted, before going to my final workshop. This time, I was running a workshop on advocacy. Although I used a Girlguiding format (as the more recognisable brand for people), it drew on WAGGGS seminars and methodology. We looked at the three part process of advocacy (speak out, take action, educate) and the WAGGGS eight step methodology for achieving that. We worked on how to engage men in feminist advocacy, the importance of using media and how to create partnerships. I was blown away at the insight of the participants and flattered that people like Lili and Josie, who are working on large-scale advocacy campaigns themselves, came to the session looking for inspiration and advice.

But although those were the formal bits of my presence at Nine Worlds, a lot of the interesting impact happened outside that time. Conversations about Girlguiding and inclusiveness (how many times have I used that word today?), people who thought we were only open to straight, white, Christian girls. Conversations with people who would love to get involved but felt alienated, conversations with people who didn't realise the advocacy work we're doing as an organisation. It really challenged people about how they thought about us, and made a lot of people see that we are normal people behind the uniform!

One wonderful example of this was a chat I had with Philippa from No More Page Three, who admitted that when Girlguiding first signed up to the campaign, she was was worried and dubious. It was when she went and did some real research that she got on board with it, and said that she hopes more people will do the same this weekend, because Girlguiding isn't what people seem to think it is.

I honestly would encourage people to get out there and speak at events. Obviously, it needs running by the relevant commissioners or whoever, but the more we reach out in arenas that aren't traditionally seen as our "domain" and we show what Girlguiding is REALLY about, the more impact we will have.

Thankfully, Nine Worlds want me back next year. As long as the lovely folk at CHQ are alright with that (and probably even if they're not!), I will be there with bells on. In the meantime, I want more opportunities to get out there and talk - bring it on!

Workshops

September 24th will see me running two workshops here in Nottingham. They will both be based upon a combination of Girlguiding and teaching experience, and will be suitable for anyone working with young people of the cited age range, whether youth leaders, teachers or other professionals.

I'm really grateful to the team at Nottingham Women's Centre and at the WEA in Nottingham, whose generousity has meant that I'm able to offer these important workshops free of charge!

Human Rights & Gender Equality (9.30am – 12.00pm) 

A practical workshop for those working with young people aged 7-13 about discussing rights, relationships and gender stereotypes. The session will involve games and activities, as well as evaluation techniques and practical information on how to involve parents and establish safe space.

 Breaking the Taboo (1.30pm – 4.00pm) 

A practical workshop for those working with young people aged 14+ about discussing violence, sexting, consent and healthy relationships. The session will involve activities and discussions, including how to engage boys in gender equality, as well as offer practical information on agencies, resources and how to measure outcomes.


Both of these workshops will take place at the WEA o Mapperley Road in Nottingham and have places for twelve participants.

A Day In The Life...

Sometimes, I really wish that society understood a teacher's workload. I'm not saying that we work harder than other professionals at all, but I do think that we are dismissed by too many as a group of lazy, whining slackers who are undeserving of the professional status we have.

The latest point of contention seems to be a "four hour day", as it is being termed. However, this is not an accurate description of what has been suggested.

In fact, what has been requested is twenty hours of contact time a week, which equates to four hours a day. This is not a four hour day, but four hours of teaching time. Perhaps, to understand the real impact of this, I ought to explain how a day works for me.

At a primary school, like any school, my first day is planned for me. I arrive at 8.15, familiarise myself with the day's planning, and then double check any information about key pupils. Children begin to arrive at 8.45/8.50 and I then teach straight through until about 10.30, at which point I'm usually on break duty. Not actual break for me, because I'm supervising children. I teach again until lunchtime, at which point I need to set up the classroom for the afternoon session, gather resources, resolve issues from the morning session, supervise colouring club / reading club. This means I eat my lunch whilst working, as I don't actually get a break. Again. I teach the afternoon session until 3.15/3.30 (depending on the school) and then can't get on until the last child has been collected and gone.

So what? It's only 3.45.

Well, at 3.45, I sit down to do the marking. Generally, numeracy / maths is the easiest marking, which takes about an hour and a bit to mark a class of 25 pupils. Why so long? Because as well as "ticking" and correcting, I need to write an individual comment on each pupil's work. This isn't simply "very good, Johnny", but related to the learning objective for that lesson.

First, I have to say what they have done well and what progress they have made to achieving the learning objective. It could be that they are starting to understand the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages, it could be that they are converting fractions, decimals and percentages with ease, it might just be that they understand that a percentage is always less than a whole unit. Sometimes, you have to be very creative.

Next, I comment on how they can improve their work. This isn't just "better handwriting, please", but it's related to that learning objective again. So if that pupil is beginning to understand simple lines of symmetry, it might be a challenge about multiple lines of symmetry. If the work has been about co-ordinates, it might be a translation challenge. Always something that will stretch and challenge the individual pupil and help them attain that learning objective more fully.

Which is damned hard when you don't know the kids.

On most pieces, as well, I then need to assess which national curriculum level they are working at and write a comment about why they are there and how to build on it. If I'm really clever, I can combine that with the stuff above.

So now it's 4.50 and I've done maths. Cool.

Next up, it's literacy. Now, this is a longer one, marking wise. I need to check everything from spelling, punctuation and grammar, through to content and structure. I can easily spend ten minutes on each child's piece of work here, especially if it's a longer piece of writing. Again, I have to do my "bubble and block" (the positive and the target), as well as levelling and corrections. And as writing is often so subjective, it usually needs another more personal interaction there.

At 6.10pm (on a good day), I've marked my work up until lunchtime. By this point, the site manager is starting to get concerned that the supply teacher is STILL here.

If I'm lucky, then I've had either ICT, music, dance, PE or a practical science afternoon. Even art and PSHE are easy enough to mark or level. I can usually get through that in half an hour to forty five minutes. If it's history, geography, written science or similar, then I'm back to bubbles, blocks, levels and all the rest of it.

Normally, I leave a primary school between 6.45 and 7.30pm, depending on the afternoon lessons. It's not much longer than a "normal person's" working day, at this point.

I get in about half an hour later and grab some food, then sit on my computer. This is where I start planning for the following day. I need to plan literacy, maths and two afternoon sessions. Once I've decided what I'm teaching (this will depend on the learning objective and learning outcomes), I need to create the "input" resource (usually a PowerPoint), as well as resources for the learning and exploration. Everything needs to be delicately chosen so that it is using the right buzzword of the moment (higher cognitive learning objectives seem to be favourable at the moment - create, explore, analyse etc) whilst remaining accessible to the pupils.

And one worksheet just isn't enough. Because one worksheet won't stretch your high ability pupils, or be accessible to your low ability ones. So you need to create three or four different worksheets, each designed specifically for the group in mind.

Yes, there are websites like TES, which are a God-send. But these are, usually, just a rough idea. Each teacher has their own style and it doesn't work to just teach using borrowed resources. It's like wearing someone else's reading glasses. They might help a bit, but they will never be as good as ones designed for you. So once you've found something there, you still need to tweak it and play with it, adapt it for your group.

Generally speaking, with the time you spend searching on TES, as well as adapting, you will probably spend more time doing it that way. But the base inspiration will result in better quality resources and better learning for your class, so you do it.

Bearing in mind that you need to plan the lesson (20mins per lesson if inspired! An hour to plan the day), then create resources (an hour for first worksheet, 15mins for each differentiation, 30 mins for PowerPoint), you're looking at about two hours per lesson for maths and literacy, then whatever your afternoon lessons are. Possibly up to 10 hours prep time needed!

But I don't have that when preparing for the following day, because that would take me to something like 5am. Instead, I cut corners and do what I can, setting myself a time limit. I fall into bed at about 1 or 2am, grateful that I'm not a primary teacher full time!

Most people believe the myth that secondary teaching is harder. Certainly, the pupils are more problematic if you don't have the relationship with them, and there is more pressure with GCSE results. But the workload is marginally less.

Because we have specialist subjects, we can roughly "parallel plan". This means that my Y9 first language German class might be learning the same thing as my two Y8 second language German classes and I can adapt the lesson accordingly. It can cut planning for 25 lessons down considerably, especially if you have several classes in the same year group. And, which French and German, you can adapt some resources so that you have the same stuff in both languages. Score.

Marking's still a bitch, but every job has its downfall. And without marking, we couldn't see the impact of our teaching or adjust our lesson planning accordingly.

What people don't see with teaching is that our time in the classroom is but the tip of the iceberg. We have to plan the lessons, create the resources that we are using (it's not enough to photocopy from a book!), we need to mark and assess, we need to input data, attend meetings, monitor behaviour, reflect on individual education plans for pupils with special needs. There is so much more to teaching than standing in a classroom.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I wouldn't change it for the world, because I get to help and inspire young people every day of my life. And I do find time to volunteer too, though it does sometimes mean cutting corners with work.

But realistically, if I'm doing my job properly, and not letting these young people down, then I am never going to have time for a relationship. I am never going to have time for a family. I am never going to have time to see my friends, other than in those holidays.

Which is another point. Yes, we do get long periods of non-contact time. I do, however, call it non-contact time. Because, during that time, we have budgets to catch up with, curriculum area development plans to review, marking to catch up with, training and professional development to look at, planning to do, resources to create, classrooms and displays to update and redecorate. As a supply teacher I end up at work in those holidays, so goodness knows how full-time members of staff feel.

I see teachers with families and wonder how they do it. How do they juggle this professional life with having a husband / wife / partner / children? The answer, in many cases, is that they are not managing it, really. They are either not spending time with their little ones, or they're not spending the time they ought to be doing work. Or they're managing everything, but constantly stressed, tired and miserable,

By asking for four hour days, unions aren't being lazy or unrealistic, they are actually being more realistic than they've ever been. They're saying that you need to reduce the workload somehow. That's either going to be in terms of hours, or in terms of the expectations (marking etc). Because whilst teaching stays the way it is, it is going to become increasingly difficult to recruit or retain good teachers. People won't do a job that they see as thankless and soul-destroying. And it is a perception, because teaching is a wonderful profession. We just need to find the balance again.

The Genius Teacher

The following is an "article" written by one of my primary pupils this week. The task was to write a newspaper article. As L (a very low ability pupil) hadn't been on the class residential to PGL, she chose to write about me. I felt I had to share (I have corrected and names have been changed, obviously).

This week at Anytown Primary School, Year 6's teacher has been dreadfully ill. Luckily, Class 6 was saved when Miss TJ kindly stepped in.

Miss TJ does a lot for the class, such as;

• she puts up with them
• she makes learning fun
• she makes sure we're not being silly

Generally, Miss TJ has been working through SATs work with them. For example, with adjectives, she got the class into a circle and they had to find an adjective that started with the same letter as their name - a fine example of alliteration. She used games like this to introduce each section of maths and literacy lessons, allowing time to get focused.

If any schools are in need of a good supply teacher, Miss TJ should be the first on their list. L says, "She's the same good standard as Miss H. Everyone likes her, including me. She has high standards, but is understanding when we have problems and explains things very clearly."

Would you hire her?

✓ Experienced

✓ Kind

✓ Always happy

If you are interested, please call 123-456-789

Honestly, this piece brought me to tears. So beautiful! I really hope I get to teach at that school again. As for L, I think she's got a promising career ahead of her!