Nice things about working in a school

[ClassicStripe]

Apart from the holidays!
As we head back for another year I thought it would be nice to list some of the positives. This is my first year in a long time full time and I'm in a different key stage so I'm looking forward to a brand new challenge and teaching topics I haven't taught before.

Right now the only thing I can think of is August.
I’m moving to year 3 after years of year 6 though so it’s probably just nerves. Ask me in a couple of days and I’ll come up with something.

The children.
I still love teaching and the wow moments, the relationships we build in my classroom and the way we become a bonkers little family.
I'm teaching Y4.

Kids’ curiosity.
Laughs in the staff room.
Those “lightbulb” moments that kids have.
How you learn things in class, not just the kids!
How much the kids love you and you love them.

The best things: the children, the children, the children.

Every day, someone will tell me something funny or needs a little help with something where I can feel supportive.

I love watching them grow in confidence, ready for the next chapter in their life.

I liked the team and of course the children. I like how the day flies by and you never get the chance to be bored!

The bit with the children is lovely, it’s the pointless paperwork, politics and meetings that I can’t stand. However hard you work it’s never enough and it’s not reflected in the pay.

The days just fly by and there’s never a dull moment!

The children
You are never bored.

Sadly for me, this isn’t enough to outweigh the totally broken education system that we have :(

Working with the children - no two days are the same, it’s not boring ‘stuck behind a desk’ work all day (although there are parts of that).

mostly the kids are hilarious and I love watching them progress and grow.

The kids
My colleagues (mostly)
The feeling of never being bored

Close to retirement now so I'm expecting the 'new year' feeling to quickly wane (like it did last year).

The September fresh start feeling. Being so busy the time flies by and before you know it another holiday has arrived.

The students. I've got two great yr13 classes and I'm looking forward to guiding them through their final year.
I also like meeting the new yr7 groups and getting them confident and settled (or understanding what the expectations are!)
Plus seeing friends again.
I've made so many lifelong friends in teaching, it's a real bonus.

The school dinners at mine are lovely too!

The children - that’s why we do the job.

yes it’s tough at times but seeing those times when something just clicks with a child, watching them grow and develop. Feeling like you’re making an impact on their lives.

The kids.
That brilliant feeling when you look at them later in the school year and realise just how far they’ve come in the last few years. Getting to know them and their funny selves.
For me, I have the privilege of knowing a lot of my students from 5 to 18 - so the sheer joy of watching them grow from small beans into funny, confident, capable adults going out to conquer the world.

Every day something will happen to make you laugh, even just a little thing a child says or a funny answer to a question in assembly!

I sometimes feel embarrassed to admit this because I know how hard this job is but I am just so excited to be back tomorrow!

It is the start of my tenth year as a secondary maths teacher and my third as head of department and I can't imagine anything I would rather do more than working in schools and with young people.

The students are (mostly!) so brilliant and I have so much fun in the classroom and helping them learn and remember is such a privilege. I have a (also mostly!) great team to lead and I am looking forward to seeing them all again and welcoming new colleagues.

(I know that a week in I will be knackered and considering my life choices but right now I just can't wait).

The belly laughs you have with your department, especially when everyone's a bit stressed/knackered and someone makes a daft comment and you're crying with laughter together.

My lovely gardening club staff and students.

The students - there are some wonderful teenagers out there😊, even though one of two think "survival of the fittest" was coined by Bear Grylls.

The yummy cooking smells from food tech wafting along the corridor (apart from fish week).

Seeing my fantastic Dept after 8 week’s holiday.
seeing Year 11 in their grown up 6th form guise and congratulating them on their results.
Teaching Year 7 again, which I haven’t for a few years.

Yes! We get free lunches. Cooked and cleaned up by someone else!

The breakthroughs. When you see that look in the child's face and know they've heard you; that they can calm down now. When I have talked a child in full dysregulation down from the top of somewhere high/out from under a table/brought them the calm they are desperately seeking, I have the biggest sense of job satisfaction in the world.

I work with some very traumatised children and knowing that, in that moment, I was the difference between them having their worst days and a happy afternoon, is the reason I work for minimum wage. It's the opportunity to make such a difference to someone's wellbeing, who desperately deserves support they are just not otherwise getting. It gets me through every difficult day; through every kick and bite and insult. When you get to see a sustained, long term, behavioural change in a child with ongoing trauma and need - well that just has me on top of the world. I had a difficult childhood. This job allows me to be the adult I had needed and wished was there.

I love how, on even the shittest, hardest, most brutal days, there can be uncountable tiny moments of joy and success. Children are amazing.

The days fly by! Plus the kids can definitely be sweet & funny. (I work with infants.)

We used to get free school dinners if we sat and ate in the hall along with our class-loads of teachers did! It was so lovely-we could properly have a chat with them (and do some basic work on table manners and cutlery skills!) but budgets are so tight that free lunches are no more.

At ours, teachers get free lunches, support staff don't. Which totally takes the piss, especially as teachers earn significantly more!

The days do fly by, it's true. You can't think about anything else and are constantly on your feet. So it's demanding, but also keeps you physically and mentally alert.