Teacher register - who are you and what do you teach?

[noblegiraffe]

Having seen loads of teachers around on various threads I thought it would be nice to find out who's who and what you do.

I'm a secondary maths teacher in a comp, been teaching for 12 years, part time for about 8. No TLRs which gives me plenty of time to post ranty threads about the state of education.

I hate Gove and like to picture him in his wellies inspecting pig farms, which is what I like to think his current job is all about.

Yma! (Here)
Primary teacher here, qualified in '96 and have taught juniors ever since. In the same school! But under various headteachers and as a junior and now through primary after ammalgamation. Have worked part time for many years after having kids, now full time as they are at secondary school. TLRs held on and off for various things.

Love the job. Wouldn't do anything else. But hate the pointless paperwork and reinventing the wheel.

Plots I have been nagged for three weeks now to set an A level target for a pupil who has arrived in Y12 from another country. With no data.

I spoke to them at the beginning of the week and they seemed articulate and intelligent - and having marked their first ever essay they were above average for the class. My suggestion was 'suppose I set you a target of an E - and then I will look brilliant when you do better than that'. 'Yep,' said (intelligent) child promptly. 'So will I - that suits me'.

Secondary science teacher in a comprehensive. Been teaching 10 years after other previous careers/jobs ( which makes me even crosser on threads where people go well other jobs are hard too!)
No tlr as one of the reasons i left my primary career was that i ended up in management and hated it and was crap at it.
That means i teach every year group, am a tutor, teach 375 different kids a week and get a free about once a month ( ok so the last one is a lie but it feels like it)

Qualified as a secondary English teacher in early 90s. Took on a number of additional roles too soon in my career, all work and no play, and burnt myself out by the time I was 30. Been teaching English to students with SEN in a lovely state comp for past 15 years. (Also assist the Senco voluntarily when time allows). Have worked pt since becoming a mum last year. My heart is in SEN, not English. I desperately want to become a primary Senco - just not quite sure how to make the move!

Apologies for lateness btw, was at open evening, didn't get in until 9:30.
Is that a good enough excise miss to avoid a late mark, please?

Ive been teaching eight years - secondary - RE teacher but also second in charge of humanities department - currently on maternity leave and already dreading going back!!

Very late...I missed the bus!
HoD English in large (O)comp and SLE in a small rural (4 for last Ofsted). SLE stands for Specialist Leader in Education. A bit like Ast but no extra pay for me (but my Federation can pimp me out for cash to schools to give advice). Teaching secondary 20 years and TEFL for 3 before that. I am a lone voice for Gove's subject content reforms but not for his disdain for my profession.

Secondary English in an enormous school currently in Special Measures. Qualified in 2003, but was pregnant when started NQT year. Took six years off, and have now been back for seven years. No TLR, part time (0.6) Was in SEN for the first six years at this school, loved it, but was definitely ready to return to English. Glad to be part time, although I did spend all day yesterday marking, at least I am now UPS, so get a relatively decent salary for working on my days off!

socks that sounds like a sensible student!

School direct trainee at an urban primary. Having a lovely time, but then I was a social worker in my previous life which has toughened me up a bit!

Sorry for being late. It wasn’t me it was the bus....

Secondary Maths. Been teaching since 2000 and had various roles until going part time after children in 2010. Three days a week (mon-weds).

Hate Gove. New a-level nightmare - learning mechanics for first time despite teaching stats for 17 years. Also none of the textbooks for further maths have been published yet and we have no money for printing/photocopying. Brilliant.

I've taught stats and mechanics so I'm ok, but the new stats content is not my cup of tea and omg the Large Dataset is the most tedious thing in existence. Whoever at OCR it was that decided that teenagers would like to become intimately acquainted with the number of users of trams and light railways across the UK should be forced to teach it for eternity.

I'm with you on the new a level MrsHP. I've never taught stats, in fact I've never learnt stats. It's been more than 10 years since I taught mechanics. My hod in his infinite wisdom decided that this was the year for me to start. It's pretty much doubled my evening workload having to learn and then plan lessons for all this new content.

Hello. Sorry I'm late. Dog ate my homework. Left office job for teaching in mid 90s. Secondary English for quite a time, then moved into SEN provision. Now SENCO in indy both junior and senior. Love my job but JCQ drive me batty and sorting out EAA is stressful.

Secondary science (mainly physics, bit of chemistry, but hate biology with its snot and wriggles) and a bit of maths here and there. Been teaching on and off since 2004, part time now.

Secondary music- in my 8th year, but 1st in a private school. All Gove years spent in state so I hate him as much as anyone!

That made me laugh, squidgy. Bio and chem all the way for me. I hate the physics (but I don't tell the kids that).

With you there catand fiddles
Currently teaching magnets and shit to year 9 and hoping they don't notice i find it terribly dull.
Love biology to bits, and chemistry.

Secondary English in a large 11-18 comp. Too tired to communicate in full sentences anymore. Like teaching, despite shit-teacher day today, but frantically working on my masters so I can get the hell out before I collapse in the traces.

Secondary English - state school. Tlr for literacy coordinator as well. Taught ten years in the same school. Love it so much there. No desire to be HOD or Head of House as we have here. Very happy as I am.

We’re a faith School but it doesn’t have a huge impact on things other than a good moral standing and a trip to church once a week. I’m an atheist but feel that the Catholic element creates a good community where we are.

Bio and chem all the way for me. I hate the physics (but I don't tell the kids that).

Worth a comment, I think. I posted earlier that I'm a retired physics teacher, and by that I do mean just physics. Yes, I did dabble in GCSE and A level electronics once upon a time, but that was after school. I've also taught part of the IB theory of knowledge programme, when I was at an international school. And OK, I took a turn, like the rest of the department, at teaching Year 7 science (two years out of nine, at my last school). But mostly, just physics.

But this was in independent schools, where the sciences are taught as separate subjects, with specialist teachers, from Year 8.

Reading this thread though, very few physics teachers seem to exist. And I think I know why.

As I recall (although my memory may be clouded by cynicism) a previous government - not sure what flavour - found they had a shortage of physics teachers. And they hit upon a cunning plan. Force people who were at all interested in teaching any science to teach all of them. Of course, the law of unintended consequences kicked in, as anyone who had actually thought about it would have foreseen. Biology specialists hate teaching physics, and physics specialists can earn far more money in the finance industry and would rather do that than teach biology. So now there's a shortage of physics teachers - and probably science teachers in general.

I'm completely out of touch with the situation in state schools, but I get the impression there are no jobs for physics teachers anyway, only science teachers. So people who want to teach just physics need not apply. So sad.

I'm afraid that is indeed the case, Leonard. At least from my limited experience. At many schools now a science teacher is required to teach all 3 sciences to ks4. This can prove to be particularly difficult, especially with the new tougher content that has moved down into the GCSE from the a level. I am a biologist, and teach that to a level. I quite enjoy the chemistry at ks4, but I do struggle with the physics. Of course, it's the kids that suffer in the end...and we carry on the downward spiral of less people studying physics at university, so even less physics teachers, so even more ecologists struggling with bloody power packs and leads..........eurgh. What a sorry state. I dont think this is quite limited to science though. As the shortages really bite, I have heard of schools recruiting a general humanities teacher...and one school where several science teachers were required to teach maths. And not a physicist amongst them.

Certainly not the case there are no jobs for Physics teachers anymore.
We have a full team of subject specialists of all three scientists, though it is much harder to recruit good quality physics teachers.
We all however teach science for first three years, then all the students in the school get a subject specialist for GCSE ( whether they opt for triple or combined) and for A level obviously.
It isn't only physics teachers who can earn more elsewhere, i tokk a hefty pay cut to become a teacher and was only back at my old salary after UPS 2, and presumably would have had pay rises had I stayed in old job.

Primary RQT, currently Yr3 and loving it after years of rearing my own and a pre-dc career in journalism.

Primary teacher, semi-retired. Taught for twenty four years. Finished at fifty five. Now doing a little supply.