I'm a Primary School Teacher, AMA

[solarpoweredmice]

I teach Year 1 and this is my first year teaching. I really enjoy reading the education threads on here from parents so just wanted to offer the other side of the story for anyone interested.

Is it a bit boring, teaching the same thing year after year?

@Lurking9to5

Is it a bit boring, teaching the same thing year after year?

Not OP but as they’re a new teacher they probably won’t know. It can be! Depends what it is really, some topics you’ll love, some things every class is different so it’s like a whole new topic, some things are always painful (eg time), some you do dread like oh not that again 😁 I was in the same year group for years and was excited to do supply this year and see some new topics!

@Lurking9to5

Is it a bit boring, teaching the same thing year after year?

I haven't been teaching long enough to answer that, but having re-taught some topics this year that I taught on placement, it hasn't felt boring as it's entirely different children.

Primary school teacher here, also in my first year of (qualified) teaching, I teach Y2!

Are there any children you don't like at all? If so, how do you deal with that?

Teacher of 14 years here. It doesn’t get boring as the government keep reinventing the wheel every 13 months to keep us on our toes!

How much training do you get on recognising additional needs? Is it ever suggested to you that for additional needs in the classroom, that it’s probably poor parenting? Full disclosure - I’m the mum of an autistic child and I’ve encountered some very funny attitudes

In your experience of kids what do parents of happy children do to make them happy/contented and keen to learn?

Read to and with them. Regularly. In my experience, most success comes down to that.

@Lurking9to5

Is it a bit boring, teaching the same thing year after year?

@LondonQueen are you enjoying it? Hope you are!

@HistoricMoment hmm, there are a few children who I don't find anything likeable about but equally I don't dislike them, I just get annoyed by their lack of listening. I try to be extra nice and kind to them because I wouldn't want them to pick up on the fact that I don't like them. The only time I've actively disliked a child was when a child was violent and acted inappropriately towards other children, which was 'dealt with' by getting outside help as there were clearly issues at home.

@Dolphinnoises I've had very minimal training, I'd like to think other schools are giving their ECTs better training than mine in that sense. It has been suggested that certain behaviours can be due to parenting, yes.

Sorry, didn't mean to quote a reply there!

@Southbucksldn I'd say the happiest children are the ones who have secure attachments to their parents and have been treated with respect. I've found most children are naturally keen to learn and are inquisitive about the world, but I would agree with the previous poster that reading can be extremely beneficial.

25 years at the chalkface here! As OP says, it is different children, so teaching the same thing doesn't get boring. But if you find yourself asking yourself 'Did I do this with these kids this year, or was that last year?' it's time to change topics or yeargroups or school.

Did you have to do an interview for Uni and if so did you have to prepare a lesson and ‘teach’ a group of 8 students a subject of your choice, my 17 year old daughter has to do this and is quite stressed. (Primary education studies)

My daughter is in reception. She really does love to learn. She is an all round happy child. We read every day and she reads to us most days. She is performing well academically so we have no concerns there.
I know year 1 will be very different for her, is there anything we should be doing to prepare her or give her a leg up so to speak?

She has formed a very close friendship with another child. This little girl is lovely and I get on very well with her mum too.
My daughter can be a little reserved and less confident than some children. I've have noticed this other child can be a little bossy.
I am concerned she is only really playing with 1 child, sometimes others if friend allows. Should I be worried about this or will it naturally sort itself out do you think?

I am pondering becoming a TA, this obviously needs a placement in a school. Do you look forward to the help of a Free pair of hands or do you get frustrated at having to "teach" them along with your 30 pupils?

I love it, best thing I have ever done!

@Thinkbiglittleone

I am pondering becoming a TA, this obviously needs a placement in a school. Do you look forward to the help of a Free pair of hands or do you get frustrated at having to "teach" them along with your 30 pupils?

I've got a placement/trainee TA working alongside my regular TA and he is fab, in the first week you could see his inexperience when dealing with the children etc but he has really grown now and is a very valued member of the classroom!

How much do you make?

@FAQs I had an interview for uni but I didn't have to prepare a lesson. I would suggest your daughter picks a subject she feels confident teaching (e.g. nothing too tricky) so that her subject knowledge isn't another stress. Good luck to her!

@lemondrop21 if she's happy and already performing well academically, I imagine that she will continue to do well in school. That being said, I'd say continue to read with her and also practice writing at home if you can. If she can consistently use capital letters and full stops in her sentences then it'll be easier for her to focus on the other sentence features we look at in Y1 such as use of conjunctions, adjectives, correct spellings, etc.

As for her friendship, I think you should go with your gut instinct. It may sort itself out but equally it may be something you need to intervene with.

@Thinkbiglittleone I couldn't survive without my TA, I'm so grateful for her! I think TAs can be frustrating when they don't listen though. For example, all TAs in my school are expected to do readers + interventions at the teachers discretion, my TA almost always does these and I'm happy with that but I know some TAs within the school won't do interventions even when being repeatedly asked to by the class teacher.

What do you expect a child to be able to do when they start school? If they don't start school with that foundation, does it impact on their Y1 learning and socialisation?

How do you manage with children with SEN in class that may need more personalised targets and learning plans?

I'm top of the pay scale, with a management responsibility but not London or fringe weighting. I take home £2400 after taxes and pension.

Per month.

@blockbustervideo £27k

@Boohoowhoareyou I'd expect children starting YR to be able to follow instructions, interact well with other children, communicate their needs and have had experience developing their gross and fine motor skills. There''s such a wide academic range at the start of YR that there's nothing I would expect all children to be able to do, but certainly those that can't interact well with others or who have had minimal opportunities to develop their motor skills struggle. The children in my class who haven't had that foundation are behind academically and sometimes socially.

@w00dy538 it really depends on the specific need.

What would you do re a child that finds writing difficult? She's more than capable but writes very slow, resulting in her having to work into play times, it really upsets her sometimes but her teacher says she needs to build stamina to be able to complete sats come year 6, she's in year 3.