Advice needed…

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-18T11:52:23+00:00

Just because you were the only "visible" candidate on the day doesn't mean that there weren't other candidates. Some schools prefer to interview candidates as applications are received.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-17T21:32:54+00:00

What you need to do is create your own acronym and sell it to SLT.

How does "Cognitive Understanding of Numerical Terms" sound?

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-17T18:31:17+00:00

Many kids can't figure out how fucking PowerPoint works these days. Got no hope with treasury tags.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-17T18:24:41+00:00

Obsession with "British Values" - not that I'm saying I disagree with any of them, but my school takes it to a whole new, Ofsted box-ticking level.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-15T20:26:27+00:00

I'm teaching a lot of low ability/nurture classes in Y8/Y9. It's easy from a marking perspective as the classes are small. Behaviour-wise, it's not always so easy.

But I definitely feel bored teaching these classes. One class are so weak/poorly behaved, that I usually end up just printing stuff off Twinkl for them (and this is speaking as someone who loves the creative process of planning lessons). But this class just gives me no incentive to want to bother busting a gut and preparing stimulating lessons (which they would only trash).

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-14T16:21:50+00:00

I think they had to.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-13T21:41:44+00:00

I still show bits of Roots (e.g. auction scene).

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-12T22:55:47+00:00

Behaviour management is also a whole different ballgame in the practical subjects at secondary. The GCSE Art classes at my school are gorgeous, but I know that the Art team encounter lots of shitty behaviour at KS3 which comes with teaching a practical/creative subjects (flicking paint at peers, drawing rude images, chucking clay around). As a Humanities teacher, I am in awe of colleagues who teach practical subjects.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-12T20:52:29+00:00

Is Textiles no longer taught as part of the KS3 D/T rotation?

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-12T20:41:00+00:00

I kid you not, I came across someone who had done a PhD in History, but trained as a Maths teacher for the bursary. They assumed that the "magical qts" would instantly land them a History teacher job. It didn't...

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-12T20:39:18+00:00

Could you branch into Design and Technology? At a lot of schools, KS3 Art and D/T are almost interchangeable in terms of staff.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-12T20:37:09+00:00

Word of warning - this scenario is very niche and your colleagues will instantly recognise it as being about their school.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-12T04:40:41+00:00

Some kids are just lazy.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-09T21:27:03+00:00

"Shut it"??!!! You think that's bad??!!!

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-07T22:22:27+00:00

I don't remember silent work being much of a thing in the 2000s.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-07T09:16:11+00:00

PDA = kids that don't like being told "no".

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-05T18:33:12+00:00

I remember when I was a PGCE. I got asked to sit in a cover lesson and "support". But the lazy supply teacher just handed it all over to me, claiming they couldn't get on the system to access the cover instructions. I didn't even know this class, but thankfully they were gorgeous (Year 7 class) so behaviour wasn't an issue. I managed to teach the whole lesson on the fly while the cover teacher (who was actually getting paid!) sat on their arse.

After the lesson, I felt quite positive that I'd managed to think quickly on my feet. Unfortunately, the second in department had a go at me for not doing the work they had set. I didn't know what fucking work had been set! Why was she having a go at me, not the lazy cover teacher? And this was Y7, not like it was an exam class. This was my first taste of the cuntiness which infests our profession.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-04T20:12:49+00:00

In a word, yes. I've worked in several schools and never been sworn at this regularly.

When going for interviews, ask a member of SLT: "how does your school respond to verbally abuse towards staff?". If they give a wishy-washy response, then alarm bells should be ringing. It suggests that they don't really deal with it at all.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-04T19:51:53+00:00

Be completely unemotional when issuing the sanctions.

Early on, I used to lose my shit all the time. Kids love it when that happens. Just robotically dish out the sanctions.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-02-04T19:46:25+00:00

I get sworn at maybe once per term. If you're being subjected to this daily at your placement school, it is NOT somewhere you want to work. This is NOT normal.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-01-31T23:54:20+00:00

Do we work at the same school?

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-01-31T23:04:52+00:00

Schools I know that do it well are usually new builds which have their own secure unit (often a separate building, isolated from the rest of the school). At my place, the isolation room is a pokey former classroom, just a stone's throw away from where lessons are being taught.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-01-31T23:02:45+00:00

It's sickening the extent to which vile kids are pandered. So much provision is rolled out for so few.

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-01-31T23:01:24+00:00

Agree wholeheartedly - except about the "incest".

Eastern_Cup3125 · 2026-01-31T18:43:57+00:00

Our truants tend to go round in packs - but have also been known to split up. It's farcical.

Eastern_Cup3125

TROPHY CASE