Christina's story

I am currently at Cheslyn Hay Sport and Community High School, a comprehensive school with approximately 1300 students including 215 in the Sixth Form. It is located on the South Staffordshire/Walsall border and has a catchment area of both local areas and further afield.

What's your job role?

I went down the Lead Partner route and specialised in Social Sciences. This encompasses Sociology, Psychology, Health and Social Care and Child Care and Development and is spread across a variety of qualifications including GCSE, A Level and various levels of BTEC. At my current NQT post I also teach KS3 Humanities and have several History classes.

Describe what a day in your life may include?

I typically arrive at school between 7:15am (when I’m hyper organised!) and 7.30am. Why so early you ask? Because it’s nice to have that 30 minutes before the kids start to arrive to read through your emails, have a cup of tea and start the day calmly – it really does make all the difference!

We have staff briefing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings to fill us in on anything important and notices for our tutor groups.
From 8.30am – 9:00am every day I am with my tutor group, which I absolutely love. I sign home learning journals, give out notices, check uniform and generally try to give them a positive start to the day. If there are no action items then we’ll generally just have a chat and they fill me in on what they’re doing during the day. I love this part of being a teacher – the positive relationships with the kids. It puts a smile on my face.

We have a school day comprised of five lessons and although I’m usually based in my own classroom, sometimes I have to move about. It’s getting easier now that I’m gradually establishing myself with the pupils and they’ve started to hold doors open and offer to carry things – very sweet really! I love walking through the corridors and hearing “Hi Miss!”

It can be a bit difficult to transition from an A level lesson to a Year 7 lesson in the space of about 2 minutes, but I’m learning. Starter activities have become very important in my planning so that I as well as the kids, am able to understand and contextualise the lesson. I teach, they learn, they leave.

What is it about your subject that you love teaching and why is it so important for young people to have that knowledge?

I absolutely love Sociology. I remember being at sixth form and having the most inspiring, motivating teacher you could ever hope to have, and she made me fall in love with it. I love reframing issues in a way that the pupils have never thought of before. I love watching their faces as they question each other’s opinions and views, and I love watching the transition from quiet bystander in a classroom to fully fledged debater.

As my favourite Sociologist/Philosopher Michel Foucault once said, “Knowledge is power.” The more you know, the more educated you are, the stronger position you will put yourself in for things like university and career aspirations. Without knowledge we’re just empty canvases, unable to differentiate our opinions, beliefs and values from anyone else.

Knowledge makes us who we are as a species and who we are as individuals. It’s the privilege of a teacher to be able to add a little colour to those canvases and that’s what I love about it.

What is it about the age group that you teach that you enjoy and why?

I like teaching the older students because I like to challenge them and their opinions. The older students are just starting to figure out who they are and I aspire to be a positive energy in their lives to ensure that their self-esteem and confidence is through the roof.

What are the best reasons to go into teaching?

Don’t do it for the holidays. It’s not a good enough reason and your lack of genuine interest in the kids will start to show eventually and they will pick up on it. If you’re not that bothered then there’s no WAY they will be!

What moment makes it all worth it?

“Thank you Miss Muller.”

What is the best advice you can give to a new trainee to get through their first year?

Don’t get overwhelmed. Take a step back, a deep breath and make a list. You can only do one thing at a time so don’t stress yourself out trying to do a million things at once (it pains me to say that as it turns out my mother was right all along!)

I was so focused on trying to be perfect in 10 different ways that I was missing the basics. Nail the basics and the rest will fall into place.

What advice would you offer people thinking about becoming a teacher?

Do your research first. Look in to not only the routes into teacher training, but the nature of the job itself. Look at the government policies and keep up to date with them – what do they require? How does it affect the job?

Talk to a teacher and ask them to run through the basics with you. If you decide to become a teacher and you already have knowledge of key aspects of the profession it makes the transition into the classroom a little easier.

James's story

I'm at The Polesworth School, a large town school with 1500 students studying Key Stage 3-5 and Ofsted graded in March 2015 as "Outstanding".

What's your job role?

I'm a Science Teacher, Chemistry specialist

Why did you decide to become a teacher? Is teaching what you expected?

I have always enjoyed learning and the processes involved in passing on knowledge to others. During my time at university and throughout my PhD I always spent time with undergraduate students helping them understand the degree course content. Teaching is both exactly what I expected and nothing like what I expected! It is a brilliant, fun, challenging and difficult career that pushes you to the edge and makes you laugh out loud all in the space of 1 hour!

Why would you recommend your lead partners to do Partner Led training?

I completed the Partner Led route with my current employer and thoroughly enjoyed the training experience. The school provides excellent provision for trainees and support, a process I am very involved with as an NQT to help and tailor advice to new trainees.

What is it about your subject that you love teaching and why is it so important for young people to have that knowledge?

Science is all around us, part of us and in everything we care about. Students can sometimes have preconceived ideas about Science being boring or dull or unimportant. Changing this misconception is vital to maintaining a strong and developing society and it is our responsibility to ensure the engineers and scientists of the future are not put off by bad teaching and poor lessons.

What is it about the age group that you teach that you enjoy and why?

I love teaching Key Stage 3 due to their eagerness and enjoyment of learning but my passion is teaching Key Stage 5. Wrestling with difficult concepts and challenging students to succeed is a passion for me.

What single misperception about teaching would you like to change and why?

It's an 8:30-3 job! Yes, school hours are between those hours but planning, marking and preparation means you have to work far past these times and on weekends.

What moment makes it all worth it?

That eureka (!) moment when a student of any age understands something for the first time or the gratitude on results day from Year 11 pupils able to move forward with their lives because of your hard work and support.

The best moments of my career so far

When does teaching give you the most satisfaction? What makes it all worthwhile?

Our alumni said this...

At the end of my NQT year, the parents of a child with SEN in my class came up to me in the playground, gave me a big hug and thanked me for all the help I had given their son, along with a beautiful card from the child saying thank you for enabling him to show his parents what he could do. I nearly cried!

Laura, Primary Class 3 Teacher

I remember a Y11 student - NEVER did his homework, messed about, made stupid comments and had been doing so for the last two years. He was told that I have never given up on on him and he turned to me and said 'Thank you'. It was quite a shock and I had to have a moment to take it in.

Carly, History Teacher

I was spotted by an ex-student in town who thanked me for inspiring her confidence to apply to be on the school council- and being appointed as head girl. Your words really can make the difference.

Rosie, Biology Teacher

I used to have my classroom 'trashed' on many occasions by a particularly challenging child who had a tricky home life and an array of special needs. After one such occasion, when my displays were in tatters, my lesson had been abandoned and the rest of the class sent to another colleague, I was sat on the floor in the corridor with him trying to establish what the problem was. Just then he turned to me and said, "you're the best teacher I ever had Miss, you just get me, no one else has ever got me before." It's moments like that when you think...this is why I do it!

Claire, Primary Year 3 Teacher

"I had a student who almost seemed incapable of good behaviour. One day I got him to raise his hand, wait his turn, sit through a full hour, not get angry and not fight or swear. It was that day and all the others since, where he proved everyone wrong and I knew teaching is worth it all. Even though he has gone away, I know I made him see the good in achieving and being a better person. He certainly improved!
Kala, Primary Literacy Teacher

My best moment was seeing a response from a student who had dyslexia after I had marked his book. He said he loved History and he felt much more confident and happy in my lessons because of the help I had given him. He'd written 'Thank You!' in big letters and drawn a smiley face. It was a lovely moment.

Cathy, History Teacher

Due to staff shortages, I took over KS5 intervention for a hugely underperforming cohort - one year into my career (over 94% below target at AS level). I ate, slept and breathed KS5 Literature. Despite only having just got my first Y12 class, I had to get the team, senior leaders, students and parents on-board to improve things, which was terrifying. The moment those results came in, knowing every red on the spreadsheet turned to green was another student that could head off to their choice of University, was out of this world. Those changes made life-altering differences.

Gemma, Head of English, KS3 - 5

Last week a Year 13 student told me she applied to university to study nursing, I'm not sure I could have felt any prouder. When I met her back in Year 10 she was expecting a F in her GCSE maths and being kicked out of pretty much every lesson. After two years of hard work from both of us she was not only staying in her lessons (well almost all of them) but attending extra revision after school most days and got herself a C at GCSE!! Her work ethos stayed through sixth form and I couldn't be happier for her!

Sophie, Specialist Leader of Education for Mathematics and Numeracy (11-18)

Results day! As a teacher you spend all year planning, marking, giving feedback and all the other usual tasks that sometimes you wonder why you let yourself in for! The answer did come to me on my first results day however, seeing my students elated at what they had achieved and pumped up about the future they were creating for themselves. It was an amazing feeling. It did make me realise that there were only a few professions where you could feel this ... Teaching is one of them!

Yasser, Lecturer, Business Studies and Economics - Sixth Form