Stress- how to help new teachers

[Steventon]

I'm a secondary sch teacher.
My other half is going to be a primary school nqt in September. I'm also 3 months pregnant an we have a 3 yr old.
So last year he did a schools direct which was brutal for all of us. Hard for me because I had to pick up the slack everywhere in our life, as you know starting teaching Is all encompassing. He was stressed like never before. When th summer holidays arrived it was such a relief. An we have had a wonderful holiday. But now work is looming an he is freaking out. I don't know what to do. I'm dreading September as well but I know my school an I'm part time. I'm dreading more coping with the balancing act. What I'm asking is how can I help him? He's withdrawn he talks about dreading it. The school haven't given him an induction an he's got a tricky yr 5 class. I've told him to wait an see. But he's so stressed I don't know how to help.

[bumbleclat]

He can take one day at a time, I finished me NQT as a mature student last year and it really was t as bad as I thought.
Drop tidiness standards, order an online food shop, get a cleaner, block out Saturday's as days off for all and eat healthily would be my tips for you both.
Worst comes to worst he can do NQT part time.

[PumpkinPie2013]

Some amount of nerves and apprehension about being an NQT is, of course, completely normal, however, he does sound very stressed

He got through school direct so he is obviously capable! Is his job at the same school or a different one?

With regards to induction - are there any staff training days at the start of term? If so, he will hopefully feel a little more prepared after that.

Is his classroom sorted - if not, can he go in one day this week and get it organised so that he feels prepared?

Has he planned the first few days of.lessons? If not, perhaps doing that will help?

He will have an NQT mentor who should support him through the year so hopefully once term starts he will be able to ask them for advice.

Best of luck to him for the NQT year, I hope he has a successful and enjoyable year!

[Doowrah]

He will have one am ppa and one pm nqt time.

[SisterViktorine]

I would say he needs a platinum Twinkl membership and to invest in some good photocopiable resource books- and to not feel guilty about using them.

It's such a shame the profession has become this man-eating monster.

[Tillyscoutsmum]

I've just completed my NQT year (after a Schools Direct). I'm a lone parent to a 6 and 9 year old.

Firstly, I would say that the training year was WAY harder than the NQT year. There were a few occasions during my School Direct where I was so stressed that I seriously considered quitting but I can honestly say I enjoyed my NQT year.

Few tips - Agree about twinkl and TES membership. There are so many lesson plans and resources out there that just need tweaking.

Make the best of NQT and PPA time. It sounds slightly anal but I timetabled mine to avoid starting a bit of marking, then drifting into some planning, then chatting to colleagues and not actually getting anything done. Make sure he gets to watch lots of other teachers during his NQT time. I found that way more useful than most of the formal courses I attended.

Make sure he has a break in the day to eat and grab a coffee. It's tempting to stay in your class to mark/prep but you need to get some down time as well and it's a good opportunity to build relationships with colleagues (particular helpful ones!)

Depending on school policy, plan some 'sanity marking' lessons for busy times like parent's evenings or weeks where there is an observation. Find activities that don't need marking (games/whiteboard stuff that you can just put a printed note or photo in the books).

Set behaviour expectations and classroom rules from day one and stick to them. I think my biggest mistake last year was wanting the children to 'like' me and therefore probably not being tough enough on them when necessary.

Try and get some marking done during lessons. Not only is immediate and verbal feedback more effective, it means the marking load is reduced after school.

Make sure there are some evenings and a day at the weekend which are no work zones. Lower standards at home (cleaner, easy meals). I'm not sure how old your dc's are but if they can help, then rope them in (mine love being let loose on the laminator or helping sort/cut resources)

Good luck!

[Tillyscoutsmum]

Sorry - just saw the ages of your dc's. Perhaps avoid the laminator