I will not be dictated to by my job.

Wow, two weeks in already to this last term and only five weeks to go. Where has this time gone?

Not long until I can call myself a "proper" teacher. One more observation to go next week and a final assessment to be written about me and then I can be signed off from my NQT year. At times throughout this year I felt like giving up so many times and at points I'm not sure how I have got through it. I believe I've worked really hard on so many different aspects. There has been support from lots of people, however I have worked really well independently.

I'm not afraid to admit that I have really struggled at times. I knew it would be a huge learning curve for me. Move away from home, family and friends. Start in a brand new place and school, with new colleagues, however I've persevered and I'm almost there. I keep reminding the children that there isn't long until Year 4 and it is time to start growing up as they'll be head of the school.

I have had a few ask me if I'll teach them next year and I have been honest and said I will not, although I haven't said that I'm leaving at the end of the year. You are always told to not have any regrets and I have tested myself again and there are so many things that I am grateful for. There are so many people I would not have met if I hadn't moved and so many things I wouldn't have done.

Everything happens for a reason. This becomes ever more apparent everyday.

These two weeks we have been completing numerous assessments. Pennington (2019), suggests that baseline tests are completely inappropriate. Now this article is referring to Early Years, however it does has a broader scope. I have had various emails from my union asking me to vote against the tests. I do see the pros and cons from too many tests and for the younger children you can see the pressure. I also see the benefits why we test now. We completed a lot of assessments over the last two weeks (possibly too many), however I am just doing what I am asked to do. I already know the children whom will do well, those that will do alright and those that will struggle. This is an everyday occurrence. It just seems like so much time and effort from the children, me and the other adults. I have had to mark nearly 200 papers in the last two weeks and input all the data onto various websites. The hours I have spent seems ridiculous and everyday this week I have left school and carried on working at home.

Now let's add more into the equation. I am currently writing reports. Now I have eight left to write, however again this are time consuming and I can only really write these at home because I have no chance of writing these at school. With all the other daily processes of planning, marking, parents and rehearsals for the end of year production (which puts the fear of dread into me). Forget about my personal and social life. I will make time for myself and I will not be dictated to by my job. There is this constant reminder of work life balance and teachers wellbeing. Ovenden-Hope and Brimacombe (2018), write an interesting article suggesting that it is ok to recognise when to put yourself first. To not be afraid to speak up and that the government recognises the workload. Although, with regards to the latter, how many politicians have worked in a school? I am not sure how they can decide about workload. You can easily identify the areas of how to improve teachers wellbeing and I will continue to work to the best I can, however I have learnt to take time for myself. It may have taken me until the last term to work this out but I am becoming a stronger person for it.

Until next time...

Steve Maull.

An NQT

References:

Tanya Ovenden-Hope and Kate Brimacombe, (2018), Online at https://impact.chartered.college/article/ovenden-hope-etal-teacher-wellbeing-workload-why-work-life-balance-essential-teaching-profession/

Helen Pinnington, (2019), Online at https://www.tes.com/news/eyfs-3-reasons-we-said-no-baseline-pilot